Our Fabled Nest

Spring is the perfect time to hit the road! While we normally love to bring our home with us everywhere, this trip is slightly different in the best way possible! Charming Outer Banks of North Carolina, a sunny coastal drive full of views, little villages along the way, delicious restaurants, rich history, and most important, dog friendly! Even though, admittedly, the mountains will always call me back, the Outer Banks have been on my mind for some time!

In being a different trip than our usual, here’s a bit of backstory and logic (hopefully). Duck, NC is roughly three and half hours from our homebase. We originally were going to stay at Currituck KOA. Even had this booked for a month or so now. We were talking about what we wanted to do while there; the main thing being a road trip down to Frisco. Funny enough, we realized check in wasn’t til 3pm on Friday and checkout is 11am on Sunday. Hmm, so we would be hauling our home down to basically spend a day driving and sightseeing only to get up Sunday morning pack up, and head home …. yeah, no. Briefly we thought of bringing the RV to Frisco, even Ocracoke (she fits on the ferry!) but there lies the road trip problem. No way we can stop in all of the tiny towns for sightseeing with our 36ft home in tow. Dismayed and annoyed, we canceled the RV reservation resolved to figure out something. A day trip (long albeit and rushed) might work – just find handful of things to see and rush home Saturday night but still no. Logic here! I, then, pondered could we potentially get a place to crash for Saturday night? That way, logically, Saturday, we could spend our time road tripping, sightseeing and enjoying every bit of the Outer Banks all the way down to Buxton, NC. Then Sunday leisurely head home stopping at places we loved or perhaps missed on the drive down…. this could work. Kind of like that Hail Mary Pass in the fourth quarter! A small (well not small but) issue is we have four huskies. Even though all are well behaved, it is not normal for someone to allow that many dogs or the pet fee is astronomical. On a mission, I called and emailed over 20 places. I am beyond grateful one out of all of those reached back out. It is literally the perfect place – she wanted to know about the fur kids and couldn’t wait to meet us! Bonus? It is right near Cape Hatteras Lighthouse in Buxton- perfect! An absolute angel, I’d say, even with the pet fee. Now that’s settled, on to the fun part!

As a husky mama, my main goal for any trip is for all six of us to enjoy the trip! From the snacks to the stops – everything! I don’t mind the leg work of calling and making sure what’s on the itinerary is dog friendly. Policies change, management shifts and things happen – I get it but I don’t want to show up somewhere where that has happened, and we can’t enjoy with all four in tow. The other thing I check for is gluten free options at restaurants. We also have to think about handicap accessibility for Forrest. This also lends to which stroller to bring depending on the terrain – lots of things to think of before we even hit the road! While I don’t mind carrying him in his bag, I love pushing him in his stroller; so, he can do his happy dance…. the sweetest thing ever!

Even all well thought plans can get derailed. Our idea of what we pictured the Outer Banks and how our weekend went are almost two different things. We wanted to start in Poplar Branch and wanted to work our way to Frisco. Hoping for beautiful weather or at least clear skies but the whole weekend we were running from angry cloud threatening to pour rain at any moment. But it’s okay – we made the best of it and cannot wait to come back!

Poplar Branch has a fun place called Digger’s Dungeon. We did drive by and a huge monster truck on display. This was on our original list along with the monster truck ride – looked like a lot of fun and it will be on our to do list next time! Another fun find is Fort Raleigh in Manteo beside Elizabethan Gardens. Elizabethan Gardens has a one pet per human rule so keep that in mind if visiting with furry friends. We passed both since the weather was ominous and playing in the ocean was more important.

As we continued our trip, we knew we couldn’t miss the North Pond Trail especially at being only half a mile! We started here for our “hiking”. After being cooped up for a bit in the truck, Forrest and everyone else was more than happy to get out and stretch their legs. I loved this easy walk for my tribe. ADA friendly, and easy to find plus beautiful views! Parking lot is relatively small. At the other end of the trail, in a residential area, there is a bit of parking along the road.

After a quick walk here, we concurred to visit the Wright Brother Memorial and Jockey’s Ridge State Park, hopefully, Sunday or another time. I wanted to make sure Forrest saw a lighthouse and the Bodie Lighthouse was close by. Seeing the towering clouds and rain off in the distance, we decided to make our Bodie Lighthouse was free to park and walk the grounds. The grounds are pet friendly, but the buildings are not. Forrest had boundless energy – he wanted to walk here, and we were more than happy to let him explore!

Along route 12, there are multiple places to either pull off the road or park in designated areas to visit either the ocean or the sound. Pea Island National Wildlife Refuge seemed like a beautiful place to set up a picnic and find some shells along the beach. Plus, we are water lovers despite the chilly April air – making the best of it! Something to note is that all of the Outer Banks’s beaches are dog friendly. However, do not take your pets to the west side of highway 12 in the Pea Island area. This is towards the sound side, and they are not allowed. After we carried Forrest, pulled our wagon and were settled on the beach, the kiddos were super excited to wander along the shore finding shells and splashing in the ocean. Chilly – yes but so refreshing! As we wandered along the shore, the storm clouds lingered nearby so we had our picnic in the truck – easy enough and I’m grateful we could just roll with it!

Salvo Beach was next on our list! We stopped and loaded our wagon, carried Forrest – basically repeat of earlier. Forrest was determined to walk along the beach, so, we pulled the wagon behind us just in case he needed a break. Believe it or not – he didn’t want to rest! He was a curious kid, seeing the waves didn’t frighten him but rather piqued his interest. Despite the weather, it was beautiful! Rough seas, angry skies and watching the waves crash while seagulls seemed to fly in place was surreal. Watching the kiddos splash and play in the waters while we combed the beach for shells was absolutely perfect. They behaved so perfectly, and I loved the silly grins plastered on their faces.

Once back in the truck, we decided to drive the rest of the way to Frisco. Along the way we made notes on several RV parks, restaurants and places for our next visit! We definitely need more than a weekend to explore all of the goodies the Outer Banks have to offer! On the way back to our Airbnb, we stopped at Chilly Hanks. A local ice cream joint that had rave reviews. We can see why! This place takes allergens seriously – no peanuts here and I love they have an allergen book on the counter. I asked about their gluten free options, and he pointed out everything. He knows his shop and it was a relief. I happily ordered a kid sized peach ice cream. Pup cups are only a dollar here and we purchased 2 for the kiddos to share. Hubs went with a loaded milkshake. So, so good!

Our Airbnb was cute, right-on route 12 and close to everything. It would be literally the perfect place for a summer vacation. While most of the attractions and restaurants are closed for the season, this would be ideal in the summer! I’m beyond grateful for her allowing us to stay the night and allowing all four kiddos! We are used to all of us sleeping together for the most part so, the bed would have been too small. We just scooted the click clack sofa to butt up against the other, threw a few blankets on top and fell soundly asleep.

After waking rather early, especially considering this is a “vacation”, we knew we needed to get on the road asap. The weather radar was rather ominous with storm warnings and the radar showing red, and yellow storm cells popping up. Being near Cape Hatteras, we stopped quick to see the infamous lighthouse. Which to our dismay, was under construction but we drove to the old site. Here, we were able to park and enjoy a little bit of the ocean. Kiddos loved finding shells and splashing in the ocean. Beautiful way to soak up what little bit of nice weather we had left. As soon as we were all safe in the truck, the heavens opened up dumping buckets of rain in mere minutes.

On the way back, we stopped at Duck Donuts. Not at all gluten free -the cashier even joked for me to “not touch the coffee”. This place was for the hubs and the kiddos. Basically, a customizable donut shop. I chose a plain, glazed, maple bacon, blueberry pancake, chocolate caramel crunch and a bacon in the sun… I know my hubs way to well!

With the relentless rain not letting up, we realized this was going to be a very long ride home and we were not going to be able to see much else. We took our time and even went 12 north to grab Duck Deli in Duck. We found rave reviews about their gluten free options. Definitely not disappointed – the smoked chicken salad was delicious even with the celery obstacles. Hubs ordered fries -not gluten free but he said they were decent. We also split the turkey club. Can’t go wrong with bacon, swiss and turkey! Simple, effective and yummy!

A few mentionable area attractions we can’t wait to go back and actually check out are Currituck Bank’s Reserve and historic Corolla Park and the Currituck lighthouse. Duck also has a boardwalk, and a place called the Duck Trail – we can’t wait to wander around! Ocracoke is also on our bucket list. From the ferry ride over to Springer Point Preserve, Ocracoke Lighthouse and Hammock Hills – so much left to explore!