Eight weeks after moving to North Carolina, both Michal and I were feeling a little cabin fever. After moving from Poland (where we had no car) to Salt Lake City (where we lived downtown and hardly used our car)... we were having a hard time in Winston Salem, because there are no sidewalks and very very few places to go walking. We had already taken a trip to DC (which we LOVED because we got to walk) and Charlotte (where we walked the malls for several hours) and Asheboro to the zoo (where it was worth every $21 we spend because we were able to walk for four hours). Needless to say, we wanted to get out somewhere where we could walk. Naturally, I figured we could find a nice trail nearby... or we could always go exploring malls in Greensboro or High Point. Instead, we got a notice in our email inbox that we had a free hotel night that would expire by the end of October if we didn't use it. It didn't take us long to decide where we were going! So we jumped on the opportunity to go stick our feet in the sand and walk along the beach for hours.
Five hours later we arrived in Kitty Hawk, North Carolina. Home of the Wright Brothers and the infamous Outer Banks. It was the weekend of the Seafood Festival and numerous weddings, yet the beaches were empty! We walked for about 4 hours in the morning and evening and ran across (maybe) a dozen people.
We didn't mind. In fact, we loved it. Lily, on the other hand, wasn't such a fan of the ocean.
We later learned (AFTER) our trip, that babies don't like the sand and are scared by the ocean. We were so excited to introduce this place to her that we had no idea! We dressed her up in her little crab outfit and were just so happy to be in the Outer Banks.
While we were there we ran into mostly locals. And we found out a plethora of knowledge about the outer banks. We learned what beaches are the best to go to for: Seashells, Sand, Less Visitors, Waves, and Rocks. Apparently - there are several different beaches to go to for Seashells - it just depends what type of shell you are looking for. The Sand is the best in Corolla. The Least amount of visitors visit any beach south of Hatteras (which is where almost every local we asked preferred to go if they were to take a "vacation" there). Waves... I forgot. And Rocks is Duck Beach. Hence, if you want the cheapest hotels - go to Duck Beach because they have the rockiest beaches and locals hate going there.
Participating in the seafood festival was fun, but we arrived just as it ended. So we got lots of good food, for free - but Michal was just dying to have some more.
This picture is one of my favorites of Lily because she is always making me laugh. We took a stroll on the beach at night. And we tried to take pictures of it. But Lily kept on closing her eyes for the flash. Which then got Michal & I laughing, and she would just sit and giggle because we were laughing.
The following morning, we only got to walk for about 3 hours before having to head home.
In our short little trip we saw wind surfers (and don't worry, I added this to my bucket list because it looks so awesome).
And my favorite... Michal thought he would show off his macho-manly skills by throwing a rock way into the ocean. He threw it in all right and about twenty steps later....
... look what washed up onto the beach. The same rock! Michal was defeated. But I sure thought it was funny. It could have happened to anyone.
We also took a slightly different approach at introducing Lily to sand the following day. And it was much more pleasant.
Even though we arrived in Kitty Hawk Saturday morning, and came back to WS Sunday evening - it was totally worth it and we can't wait to go back again!
February 7, 2014: Update. We still have sand in our stroller. We still have sand in our shoes. And we love it! We love bringing home the magical smells and remembering them over and over again.
