The Outer Banks

This is a SUPER long post, about a SUPER fun vacation!

We just had to take one last outing before the school year began (aka, we are tied down). We decided to visit the Outer Banks which is a 200 mile long strip of islands along the coast of North Carolina. It is chuck full of beauty, adventure, and history. I wanted to go for the history… Shawn for the beach.

We stayed 3 days in a tent (more on that later) because it is significantly cheaper.  3 days was nowhere near enough time to explore the islands, we really needed a week. But, we didn’t have a week, so we had to pick and choose the best things. We had to see the Wright Brother’s Museum, Fort Raleigh, and Cape Hatteras to cross them off our NC bucket list.

So, after driving for 4 hours….


we set up our tent, then headed straight for the Wright Brother’s Memorial...

I am fascinated with Wilber and Orville Wright. And, I thought I knew a lot about them already. I mean, they built a plane and were the first ones to fly it, right? Simple as that. But what about how many times did they fly that December 17? What was the telegraph message they sent to their father? or why did they choose to fly here in NC when they were from OH? How many setbacks did they have? Why didn’t they fly on Sunday?
I know you’re all dying to know the answers to these questions. You’ll have to visit yourselves to find out. Or just ask my kids, they’re Junior Rangers with badges to prove it!

Here’s the boys, soaking up some good info from the Ranger. They’re sitting at the exact spot that the plane took off.

This is a replica of the cabin the brothers slept in. You’ll notice their beds high above. They slept up there because the tide would frequently submerge the cabin in water, and they didn’t want to get wet.


These stones mark the 4 landings of the plane that day. At 120ft, 175ft, 200ft, and 852ft. (I just answered one of my own questions).
We walked to the first  markers, but skipped the 4th… it was too far away for those with little legs.
 

But somehow strength was mustered to climb up a ginormous sand dune to reach the monument at the top….

Each day wasn’t complete without a trip to the beach….

The kids boogie boarded the whole time!


Grant and I dug a humungous hole. And here he is, meticulously building a sand castle.

The baby put sand in and took sand out of this bucket all afternoon.

And in and out of her mouth…

A man on the beach was nice enough to offer and take a picture of my family… and cut off my daughter’s head.
I guess beggars can’t be choosers.

The next day we woke up to celebrate Shawn and my 11 year anniversary!
And what better way to celebrate your anniversary then on a vacation, in a tent, with 4 kids? (Trust me… it only got worse from there!)
Here we are!
Don’t those smiles just shout excitement? Really, I’m tired from sleeping on a rock all night (we couldn’t blow up the air mattress) and my fist is clenched because I’m scared my son is going to drop my camera. As long as we still look 19 and 20, I’m happy.

We toured Festival Park and Fort Raleigh on this day.
I am totally obsessed with the mystery of the Lost Colony. The settlers on Roanoke Island were the first English settlers in America in 1587. They built a town with 116 men, women, and children. One woman even gave birth to the first American born child, Virginia Dare. Long story short….. they were left by their governor who went back to England to get more supplies. When he returned to America, the colony had disappeared. Dun Dun Dun! The only clue was the words “Croatoan” and “Cro” carved into wood. To this day, no one knows what happened to the colonists.
I intend to become an archeologist and discover the answer. I’m not joking! I really think about them all the time. Maybe I’m weird.

Anyways, we got a chance to go aboard the Elizabeth II, a replica of one of the early settler’s ships.
My kids are so excited to be here, can’t you tell? They love when I force them to enjoy history.
I’m kidding, I think the sun is to blame….

… because once it was time to leave, we had to pry them out of the ship.
The kids, turning this in order to lift the anchor.

Reagan, making a chair leg with a tool an early settler would use.


And of course we had to play dress-up. Grant really got into character.
Don’t we look fabulous? The dress I’m wearing weighs 300 lbs at least! I don’t know how those women did it.

We walked around the woods and trails that the Lost Colony actually walked on. It was like walking on the Hollywood Walk of Fame, only better! 
Then we found ourselves at the outdoor theater at Ft. Raleigh. I snapped a picture of the set (and my kids climbing on in) to remember that I was here. See, I wanted so badly to see the show, The Lost Colony. It’s been playing outdoors here (and only here) since 1937. But, it started at 8pm and I knew the girls wouldn’t last.
Then, just as we were walking away, Shawn gave me the best Anniversary gift ever… he bought me a ticket to see the show and he offered to watch the kids.
What?!
I was a tad bit excited!

But, this picture is all I will have to remember the play with. Because that afternoon it started to rain… hard! We literally sat in the parking lot until 8pm with our fingers crossed that they wouldn’t cancel it, but they did.
It was still a nice anniversary gift, honey!

Oh ya, did I mention it was POURING? and did I mention that we were staying in a tent?
So, after a disappointing day (which also including sitting in traffic for 100 hours to get Thai food at the most expensive restaurant on the islands), we returned to find our tent surrounded by a LAKE of water 7 inches deep! The kids thought it was great fun. Stepping into the tent was like walking into a bouncy house. You would lie down and literally wade around like you were on a waterbed. We WERE on a water bed!
I was actually excited about it until I noticed water in the tent. Pillows and sleeping bags were sopping wet.
Shawn and I locked the kids in the car and began unpacking everything from the tent. We brought everything out (into the rain), then we moved our tent out of the lake and brought everything back inside. We were wet, tired, and irritable… which made for a wonderful conversation on our Anniversary, you can probably imagine!
But, we survived. Like I’ve said before, if Shawn and I could survive our 1st week being married, we can survive anything!

To be honest, I wanted to go home the next day. But there was 1 more stop on our list, Cape Hatteras.
We took the most beautiful drive through the Cape Hatteras National Seashore. I kept begging Shawn to open an Optometry office somewhere on the island so we could move there. Everywhere you look is gorgeous.  
We made it to the Lighthouse first thing in the morning.
Isn’t it pretty? It is the tallest lighthouse in America, and the worlds tallest brick lighthouse. 
And we just had to climb it!
 
Here are the kids, about to climb 257 steps to the top (equivalent to 12 stories). The baby couldn’t go up, so Shawn volunteered to sit out with her.

We made it to the top without a single complaint. They want you to limit your time spent on the top to 5 minutes. We couldn’t do it. It was a breathtaking view!


Peeking down at the original light keeper's house.

They actually moved this entire lighthouse, and keeper’s house 2,900 ft away from the shoreline in 1999 to save it.
How do you move something like this?

Here’s the boys accepting their Junior Ranger badges for Cape Hatteras.
Someday they’ll have all of them, at least it would be cool to try. Although I can’t really tell whether I want them more than my kids do. 
 

We spent the last afternoon on the island soaking in the sun on the beach.
Here we are in our new suits. Or should I say, old suits?
 

I only asked for 1 picture of the kids with the lighthouse in the background, one!
This is the best I got.
I think everyone was ready to go home at this point…. and put on some Aloe Vera, holy smokes.

Are we already planning a trip back to the Outer Banks, yes!
Want to join us?

I promise, we will not stay in a tent. At least, if we do, it will be on high ground!