Outer Banks question

[SASM]

Hi ladies,

I've done a search of the archives and now I am here. :) We are planning a trip to the OBX next month (before Memorial Day). Other than the aquarium, Jockey's Ridge, and the beach, I am stumped on what activities to do with the kids (ages 4 and 2). I recall someone telling me that she would bring here kids to a ship with a pirate theme. The kids would dress like a pirate, eat like a pirate, do pirate things on the boat, sing pirate songs and do a pirate craft. Sounded cute but I cannot find anything like that online. Does anyone know anything about this?? Also, can anyone recommend anything else to do with a 2- and 4-yo? Any favorite restaurants? We are staying in Kill Devil Hills but are planning on taking day trips south to check out the rest of the area so we are open to traveling. :)

Thank you soooo much in advance!! :)

[purpleeyes]

Oh, we love OBX- I've been going there since I was a kid and we hope to get down there this summer, too!

Anyway, there is a carnival (kind of hokey, but good for kids) midway down the main road (sorry I don't know milepost #s). Jockey's ridge and the aquarium are good choices, too. There is also a neat nature center/historic house/picnic area down in Whalehead-It's called the Whalehead club, and it is my favorite place there! :) There are a lot of family friendly restaurants, pizza and ice cream in the little shops, as well-Scarborough Fair (spelling?) in duck is a good example but just driving around you'll tons of shopping.

HTH and have fun!!

Beth

[mmaimp]

We go to the Outer Banks every year and I'm not sure where the pirate ship is but we do go to the Wright Brothers Nat Museum. My 4 yo DS loves air planes and can stay there all day. I find it a big boring year after year. ;)

Jockey's Ridge is just a giant sand dune. It's really fun to watch the hang gliders or to bring kites to fly. Don't go there in the middle of a hot sunny day. There is no shade on the dune.

We play miniature golf and check out the light houses. We go with a couple of families and we will have 3 - 4 yo boys, 2 - 2 yo boys and one 17 month old girl. We spend lots of time in the pool and on the beach plus playing at the house.

We also go to the aquarium and then to the water front shops in Maneto. There is good shopping in Duck too. Up in Corolla there are wild horses and a light house that is easy to climb.

Please let me know if there is anything else I can help with and if you find the pirate ship I would love to know about it!

[SASM]

Thank you so much, Beth ~ AGAIN!! :) I think I remember reading about Whalehead Club. The name alone sounded intriguing. :) I am definitley looking into those places ~ YEAH!

[SASM]

THANK YOU SO MUCH! You definitely can relate to having a 4yo and a 2yo! :) I forgot about the Wright Bros Museum! Ian would LOVE it! We did JR the last time we were there (less than 24 hours) and DH actually pushed our e3 with 3yo Ian and 15mo Bryn all the way up the dune! People thought he was insane ~ actually so did I! Our neighbor still comments on it! So...we are looking forward to trying it without the stroller this time. :)

If you can think of anything else, feel free to email me or post. :) I have an email into the visitors bureau regarding the pirate ship thing. It is driving me NUTS! I could have sworn that the woman was talking about the OBX. UGH!!! I wish that I'd jotted it down somewhere. UGH!

[mmaimp]

Too bad we will not be there at the same time! I think the Whalehead Club is right next to the light house in Corolla. I will email you if I come up with more things. Also there is a little spa in Manteo that the women go to every year if you are interested in the name let me know.

[sdoyle]

I'm glad you posted this! We are thinking about going to the OBX the weekend before Memorial Day. Can I ask how you guys find hotels there? Any recommendations? Thanks!

Stacy

[lizajane]

play in the sand!!!

you really don't need a ton of planned activities, IMO. i have a 2 and 4 year old and we are headed down to the outer banks on sat. we don't go anywhere. we just play in the sand. granted, there is a pool where we are and a playground right there. but i have been going to the outer banks since i was 3 years old and we never did a bunch of stuff while there. sand can be very entertaining.

[SASM]

I am emailing you. :)

[SASM]

I am emailing you. :)

[SASM]

Oh...believe me...we will MOST DEFINITELY be in the sand as long as there is sun! Ian and Bryn have already dug their sand gear out of the garage!! :) However, I think that DH and I will need more than the sand though, even if the activities will be preschooler-based! We have only been there once before, for less than 24 hours, and we really want to see the area and get a feel for the history. That is why I am really interested in finding this pirate thing. :) The Corolla horses thing sounds really interesting, too. I hope that we'll be able to see them with young children. I thought that I read somewhere that we would have to ride ATVs back there. :( Not an option for us ~ I hope there are other ways.

[Jen841]

Last year with a houseload of kids all we did with them was Jockey Ridge for 'outings' and some dinners out (and ordered in). We did LOTS of bike rides, kite flying and playing on the beach (sandcastles, "golf", frisbee,...) We had a pool so we did a lot of that too.

Go to Jockey Ridge with well rested kids b/c they will tire out from climbing up the dunes. We sat midway up and 3 3-yr olds ran up and down to us. I did wish we had a sled with us, I think it would work with going down them. If you have a roll-up sled I would pack it for kicks.

The Mom's had an outing to a spa and the outlets. By a minature golf place by the outlets, and in the inlet people wind surf/sail (forget the term). On the ground they practice on little carts. The kids could watch the 2 for hours. We ate at a restaurant that we could see the 'sailors' which was a huge hit!

[mmaimp]

I emailed you but wanted to reply to this too. One year b/c, before children, we rode through town the the horses were everywhere. You are not supposed to feed them and the locals get mad if you do.

The next year, b/c, we had a lot of 4 wheel drive vehicles and we went on the beach past Corolla and we did not see one horse that day. It's kind of a long ride to Corolla from Kitty Hawk so we have not been up there since we had been going with the kids.

[kristenk]

Oooooh! Can you email me, too? :)

I would love to do a family vacation at the Outer Banks. If you have any recommendations on places to stay, I'd love to hear them. Most likely, our trip would be next year.

[SASM]

I am emailing you. :)

[SASM]

I know that some of you ladies were expressing interest in the pirate cruise, if I ever found the info. It is out of Hatteras Village. It is not a pirate ship but rather a fishing boat with a pirate theme. Still sounds neat for a preschooler and adult, who is interested in area history. :) It looks like it is $20 per person (plus I found a $2 off coupon), age 2 and under are free, and runs June through September. "Free" eyepatches, swords, and root beer for everyone. :)

http://www.insiders.com/outerbanks/main-recreation3.htm

http://odensdock.com/?cid=headboats

Area coupons: http://www.sunnydayguide.com/hatteras_ocracoke/pdfs/coupons/HO06_act.pdf

HTH someone! Happy travels! :) Happy Mother's Day!!! :)

[lizajane]

if you did drive up to corolla, DH took the DC to the wildlife education center right by the lighthouse. i think they had a good time.

ETA: DS1 was also THRILLED by climbling the lighthouse steps.

[SASM]

Thank you so much, Liza! That is reassuring to know since your DS#1 is the same age as my DS. :) BTW, HUGE congrats on the weight loss!! :)

[HallsofVA]

The Corolla
>horses thing sounds really interesting, too. I hope that
>we'll be able to see them with young children. I thought that
>I read somewhere that we would have to ride ATVs back there.
>:( Not an option for us ~ I hope there are other ways.

While you can do the horse tours on ATVs, they also offer air conditioned 4x4 tours (with a guide driving). On most of those really young children (not sure of age cutoff) may go for free if they can sit on your lap. There are several companies that offer these tours. Here's just a couple of them that I found from a quick google search (I have no experience with any of these companies personally.)

http://outerbankstours.com/wildhorsesafari/ (kids under 3 in laps free)
http://bobshorsetours.com/

Be sure identify some rainy day activities just in case. We went to OBX (Duck/Corolla area) the week of Memorial Day for several years in a row, and ran in to several rainy or cold days each week (now we go later in the summer). There's a nice paint your own pottery place in Duck (Scarborough Faire) that we took the kids to last year to make father's day presents. There may be one closer to Kitty Hawk too if I remember right from the yellow pages. There's also a movie theatre in Kitty Hawk, and a bowling alley somewhere down there I think.