| Outer Banks Vacation Trip Reports: IRISH MIST -
DUCK 7/19/2014 - 8/2/2014
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Summer 2014 Duck Vacation - IRISH MIST - Posted By: Jill Dwyer
OBX Vacation, Here We Come!
After a relaxing Sunday morning drive and a stop for lunch, we pulled into the Twiddy Duck office to pick up the
beach house keys. Irish Mist, our home for our two-week beach getaway,
is on Christopher Drive, the same road where the Twiddy Duck office is located (Rt.12 and Christopher). We were in the house
within minutes of receiving our keys, and quickly began unpacking our groceries, suitcases and getting the surfboard off the
roof rack. By 3:00 we were on the beach!
I’ve said it before and it’s worth saying again, SUNDAY CHECK-INS ARE FANTASTIC! Arriving in the Outer Banks in the summer on
any day, but Saturday, is the best way to go. We had absolutely no traffic issues on our trek from Richmond to Duck.
The House - Irish Mist
Our Twiddy vacation house, Irish Mist,
was recently updated, maybe within the past two years, and it shows!
It was spotless and was full of natural light.
The base floor of the house has a rec room, separate from the house (perfect for teenagers or parents who want
to escape) and an entry to the house with a large utility room and half-bath. Outside is a shower, a wooden swing,
hammock, and plenty of clothes line for our towels and suits. Rounding out the offering is a basketball goal and
grill, both of which saw lots of use.
All four bedrooms are located on the second floor, two with queens that share a bathroom with an additional bedroom.
The third bedroom has two singles and the fourth has two sets of bunk beds. The beds were all comfortable!
The top floor was my favorite. It is very open and large. Located on this floor is a living room area with sofas,
TV and fireplace, a large dining table, game table, kitchen and a half bath. The kitchen is well designed and
fully stocked, making it super easy for us to cook meals with multiple people in it all working at the same time.
There is a wrap around deck on this top level with comfortable furniture and a picnic table where we ate lunch several
times, and a cozy screened in porch, the best spot to enjoy your morning coffee.
Irish Mist is in the heart of Duck and is short walking distance to the beach, the shops and restaurants at Scarborough
Faire and the sound with the boardwalk starting just across 12 from our street.
Activities - So Much To Do, So Little Time
We went to the beach, a lot! Go figure? We don’t get bored with the beach. Will gets up each morning before the
crack of dawn to catch the sunrise while the rest of us sleep. When the rest of us finally get going, we play in
the waves on the boogie board and surf board, the kids break out their goggles on days when the water is clear, we
walk and look for treasures and trash, we read, we sometimes bring our lunch, we make sand castles, dig holes, and
then do it all over again.
After almost every dinner, we walked to the boardwalk on sound to see what the sunset was going to look like that
evening. Further north on the boardwalk the shops were open well into the evening and we found many items that we
couldn’t live without. This is Will’s favorite part of our trip!!! Ha, ha, ha – Will’s not a shopper, but I think
I’ve converted at least two of our three kids.
After sunsets and shopping, we put the game table on the top floor to good use and played several hands of poker.
Lots of lessons were learned through poker and it was fun watching the kids’ personalities come out in their betting.
In the end, Will had the biggest pile of chips.
During the first of our two weeks, we made a trip to Jockey’s Ridge one morning and after our climb to the top, we
drove to Manteo, walked around the waterfront and had lunch. I made a side trip with my parents to the outlet stores
where we all found something new. And, we had a nice morning walking the grounds of the Whalehead club, followed by
lunch in Corolla.
On our second week, Will’s brother and his fiancée stayed with us and they brought their newest toy – a drone. We were
able to take some neat video and photos from the drone of the area where we were in Duck. We also made a visit to
see Eve Turek at her new Yellow House Gallery location. I found some art, perfect for our house, and my daughter
found a few cards too. The new gallery location, across from the hospital, looks fantastic and Eve was a delight to
visit with, making a rainy day a great day.
Food - The Good, The Bad And The... Well, There Was No Bad!
We ate at a few tried and true places for our family – Duck Deli and Route 12 and this year we did try two new
(for us) restaurants for lunch. Both had good food and good service. We ate at the Blue Moon when we visited
Manteo and on our last day, on our way home, we drove down to Nags Head and ate at Tortugas Lie. Yes, I know
Nags Head isn’t on the way from Duck to Richmond, but we do our best to avoid check-out time traffic. That’s
what we call it, but it’s actually our way of delaying leaving the beach and ending our vacation!
Leaving Is Always Hard To Do
We had a wonderful Outer Banks trip this summer. The beach was packed, the stores were busy, the roads were
crammed on rainy days, the groceries were expensive and it was all GOOD! No one got sick, we didn’t have any
car troubles, the weather was amazing (no red flags), our beach house was excellent - thanks to Twiddy, and we
were at the beach, our happy place!
We have been going to the Outer Banks in the summer for two weeks for a while now and when we tell family and
friends we are going for two, we always get that look. Yes, that slightly evil, but happy for you look and
then the questions start and I am reminded that we are lucky to be able to figure out how to make this work.
Once we arrive and get out one the beach, we always think, “Only two weeks, that’s not going to do!” Ha, ha!
I am already looking at our options for next summer.
Lots of thanks to a the great people at Twiddy for another
great vacation!
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