OBX Vacation tips?

[infocrazy]

Barring any hurricanes :praying: we will be heading for our first OBX vacation in a few weeks. This is our first time there. We will be renting a down the street beach house in Corolla. Anything for sightseeing ideas? Preferred grocery stores? Cool parks or playgrounds? Must dos? don'ts? Rainy day ideas?

I know we want to see the wild horses (DS1 LOVES horses!!!) any special way to see them?

There will be an almost 4 yo, my 3 yo and 1 yo, all boys. It's gonna be crazy and I can't wait!

Anything we should know in general?

Thanks!

[pakin]

"Jon & Kate plus 8" had an episode about OBX vacation recently. You can check it out on TLC.

The episode is called "Wild Horses."

We went to Corolla in 2001 and 2002. It's a small town. There was only one grocery store--Food Lion. Not sure if it's different now.

Pakin

[tnrnchick74]

There are very few groceries out there. On the way out to Corolla there is a Harris Teeter - your best bet for organic stuff. Their meat & deli section is pretty good. Otherwise, the check out the local Mom & Pop places to eat.

[LBW]

IIRC the only way to see the wild horses is on a jeep tour. I remember deciding not to take the tour with DS1 a couple of years ago when he was three, probably b/c we couldn't use a car seat. But, I might not be remembering that correctly.

The Food Lion and Harris Teeters are both close to Corolla, so you have options for grocery stores.

The historic area of Corolla is nice for walking around for an hour or so. There's a great bookstore with a nice selection of kids books.

We liked the little Currituck lighthouse. It's close (unlike all of the other OBX lighthouses). Nearby there's a nature path that takes you out through the marsh onto a pier.

We really enjoyed Kitty Hawk. We got National Park stamp books for each of the boys and their first stamps. They got another stamp at Roanoke.

The aquarium is small, but worth a trip if you have a rainy day.

Overall, I'd say spend as much time as you can on the beach. Driving anywhere takes a long time, even in September, because the main road is pretty narrow. So, any traffic at all backs it up. We never made it to any of the other lighthouses because they would have been an all day trip, mostly driving, and we didn't want to do that.

Oh, and there's a go kart track nearby that was a huge hit. You or your DH can ride with your oldest boys. My oldest son still talks about it. http://www.corollaguide.com/corollanhraceway/

The shopping center that the go kart track is located in (Timbuk II) is the ONLY place where we found an ice cream shop. I was shocked that there weren't more great homemade ice cream stores!

Have a great time! We loved it and hope to return someday.

[caleymama]

Oooh, have fun! DH and I honeymooned in Corolla. We rented a house several miles up the beach accessible by 4-wheel drive only. We saw the horses quite a a bit just on the dunes by the beach and up and around our house. One day we were driving back from being out somewhere and there were horses in the parking spot under the house (open, b/c the house was raised). Needless to say, we waited for them to move before parking the car, LOL.

Since it was 8+ years ago, I don't know what is up that way in terms of activities and shopping other than what PP have mentioned. For other things a little further away, I love Jockey's Ridge and the Wright Brother's Memorial. We've been back since but we went south, way down to Hatteras.

I went quite a bit as a kid with my family, but we always stayed in the Nags Head/Kill Devil Hills area. Such wonderful memories!

[MartiesMom2B]

You should PM lizajane. I believe her parent's own a beach house in Corolla.