We left Richmond Saturday morning with the Tahoe packed to the gills with two
weeks worth of beach supplies. When you have three kids under the age of ten,
there is no such thing as packing light. With the Nintendo DSI and the DVD
player keeping the children entertained, we managed to make it to the Wright
Brothers Memorial Bridge by 11:30 AM in light traffic. There was much cheering
and celebrating as we drove onto the bridge and started talking about our
upcoming week. We took a left on Route 12 and headed North for Corolla.
We arrived at the Twiddy & Company office in Duck about 12:15 PM to see if
there was any chance of an early check-in. The girl working the desk said that
the rental was ready and we could get in early. Now that was an unexpected
surprise! We took the keys and the directions and headed North through Duck to
Ocean Sands. At this point, my oldest son Evan was starving and reminded Jill
and I how we always stop at the Route 12 Diner for lunch before going to the
house. I considered going straight to the house, but decided lunch at the diner
sounded good. We pulled in, had a great lunch at Route 12 and talked about our
plans for the day.
When we arrived at the house, everyone was in high spirits and ready to check
the place out. The kids ran inside and spent a few minutes looking around for
the room they wanted. The one with the two bunk bed sets won out and we all
unloaded the Tahoe. Jill and I chose the Master Suite on the third floor and
left the master on the second floor for Jill’s parents who would be joining us
on Wednesday morning from Florida. After unpacking, it was about 3:00 and we
all walked to the beach to see how it looked. Hurricane Bill had just passed
by, way out in the Atlantic, so the surf was kicked up and the red flags were
flying. This didn’t dampen our spirits one bit as we surveyed the wide,
beautiful beaches of Ocean Sands. We went for a stroll in the breezy ocean air
and the kids ran around and built sand castles. Our trip was off to a fantastic
start and we enjoyed a lot of family time back at the house that evening.
The next morning was beautiful. I woke up early and walked down to the beach to
watch the sunrise. The red flags were still flying, but the sunrise was amazing
and the clouds were rapidly dispersing as Bill moved way off to the North. It
was shaping up to be a good beach day. We spent the entire day on the beach
building sandcastles and collecting shells and the occasional piece of
seaglass. We couldn’t get in the water due to the rough surf, but that was only
a minor inconvenience. The big waves also washed up a strange object that
caught my six year old son Jack’s interest. It was a rock with a gold-colored
piece of metal protruding from it. After posting the photo on the OBX
Connection message board, someone suggested that it was a very old square brass
nail used for building sea-faring ships. Jack thought it was cool and now has
it sitting on his dresser at home.
The weather turned hot and beautiful and the red flags came down the next day.
We spent the next couple of days on the beach and in the ocean, having the kind
of fun you can only have at the beach. On Tuesday, we spent the morning on the
beach and then went to the shops at Timbuck II. Jill looked for clothes, while
the kids and I spent an hour or more in the Michael’s Gems and Glass – a really
cool rock shop with everything from fossils to mummified piranha. After the
rock shop, Evan and jack went for a spin on the go karts at the Corolla
Raceway. They had a blast and attributed their surprisingly good driving skills
to playing Mario Kart on the Wii.
After a quick lunch, we visited the Bodie Island lighthouse and had a great
time exploring the grounds of the property. We then returned to the beach house
and went to the beach until dinner time. Life is good!
Jill’s parents arrived from Lakeland, Florida on Wednesday and settled into the
upstairs bedroom and the beach groove. This was their first visit to the Outer
Banks and we wanted to show them everything we could fit into the next seven
days. We took them to:
1. The Beach
2. Jockey’s Ridge
3. The Wright Brother’s Memorial
4. Ben Franklin (You have to stop there at least once)
5. The Currituck Beach Lighthouse
6. The Whalehead Club
On Saturday morning, we packed up the vehicles and checked out at the Twiddy
office in Corolla at 10:00 AM. We thought we were going to have six hours to
kill before we could check into our house for the second week, but the awesome
people at Twiddy & Company gave us the keys to the new house and said we
could check in at noon! I was amazed at how well they took care of us and the
attention to details. They even gave us a little video camera to use for the
week and return at checkout, where they will send us a DVD of the video we
took. A cool idea and a great company. I am more impressed than ever with the
way they treat their guests.
With only a couple of hours to go before we could get into our new house, we
showed Jill’s parents, Jim and Elaine, around the Currituck Beach Lighthouse
and the Whalehead Club. We climbed to the top of the lighthouse and admired the
view before leaving to move into our new house in Ocean Hill.
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The crew on the beach
Clouds from Hurricane Bill
Kids in the surf
I love the beach!
Brass square nail
Jumping the pool
Corolla sand dunes
The rock and gem shop
Speed Racer in the green go-kart
Kids at Bodie Island Lighthouse
The crew at Jockey's Ridge
Helping Grandma up the dunes
Atop the Currituck Beach Light
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