We were so excited to spend our last week of summer on the Outer Banks of North Carolina. Unfortunately, an air traffic control problem delayed our flight for five hours on the morning of our departure, but thank goodness it was never cancelled and we made it to Raleigh just before dark and on to the beach after midnight. I was also really thankful that we didn't have to deal with diapers or bottles and our kids happily played on their ipads for hours at the airport! Lots to be said for older travelers.
We didn't get to check out the beach until Sunday morning but it did not disappoint.
The view from the living room was gorgeous, although a bit bright when Ben was trying to watch a little Scooby Doo with breakfast.
Personally, I enjoyed the porch in the mornings for some ocean breeze with my coffee.
We spent nearly all of our time at the beach. It was perfect - clean, pretty, uncrowded, great waves for playing, and temperatures around 85 each day.
Rodanthe was the perfect place for us because it was full of families out to relax on the coast.
After the first full day at the beach, we were rewarded with a fantastic sunset over the sound at dinner.
A few members of our party seemed to be a little tired during the meal, though! Alex was completely zoned out.
He managed to chase down the ice cream truck one day and savored his sweet reward! We never managed to stop it again because we weren't on the public road, just a private driveway...he may have shed a few tears over that problem.
The kids loved boogie boarding and could ride waves forever at low tide. I think it was probably their favorite activity of the entire week.
Matt got to enjoy some surfing but the summer waves weren't always big enough, so he put his energy toward an awesome campfire tower.
One of the neighboring houses was apparently used to film the movie Nights in Rodanthe. I'd never heard of it, but plan to watch it now just to see the scenery. Turns out it was released just after Alex was born and we lived in Singapore, so no wonder it never caught my attention.
We had tons of fun in the sand!
We got to enjoy a great fire one evening.
Hanging out on the beach as the sun set was just beautiful.
We roasted plenty of marshmallows and tortillas.
Alex and I went early one morning to watch a sea turtle nest excavation. I had no idea that so many other people would be interested in doing the same thing!
They removed all the tiny babies and protected them to release them at nightfall, when they'd be safer from predators. We all got some closeups with the precious turtles. Alex was on the front row...I should have given him the camera!
We did venture away from the beach just a bit. One morning we went north to check out Nags Head and Kitty Hawk. The Wright Brothers Memorial was an interesting stop.
On a different day, we explored south as far as Hatteras and visited the Cape Hatteras lighthouse, the tallest brick lighthouse in the world at 210 feet.
The view was impressive, but not to those who were afraid of heights! Alex couldn't wait to get down. Ben was fascinated with the lighthouse and could have stayed there all day asking the park ranger questions.
Our second favorite activity was enjoying the hot tub on the porch. Nothing like coming in from the beach and relaxing with a view!
Alex loved catching ghost crabs on the beach. The boys even talked me into letting them bring home some hermit crabs, so we now have two new pets - Hermie and Chicken.
The boys each cruised on some waves with Matt on the surfboard.
We walked to the Rodanthe Pier one morning and went out to see the views. You can tell it's been hit by a few major hurricanes and earlier in the year an 80-foot section broke off the end after a storm.
Definitely not a stormy day when we visited! We lucked out with the weather - all the storms came overnight, so we got gorgeous beach days.
We didn't see much in the way of fish off the pier, but got to watch several enormous sting rays in the clear water.
Much of our fire pit made it through the week, despite storms and kids, so we used it one more time and finished off our marshmallows!
Our last sunrise was a memorable one, then was reluctantly packed up the house and said goodbye to Hatteras Island. It was such a wonderful week to spend relaxing and playing together. It was the perfect way to finish out our summer and come home refreshed for a new school year. Thanks for the memories, Rodanthe!
