Outer Banks Baby!

Last week Jeff’s sister, Michelle, came to visit! I was sooo happy to have her here with us! She is so much fun and is a huge help with Ryan. We did lots of fun things while she was in town, including road tripping it to the Outer Banks.

Since we’ve arrived in NC, people have told us we needed to visit the beaches at the outer banks. Basically it’s a series of Islands at the eastern most coast of NC. The area we stayed at is called Kill Devil Hills. Strange name, right? Well I found out that there are a few theories about how the place got its name, but the one I liked the best involved local brewers making rum so potent it could kill the devil. The name stuck and it became Kill Devil Hills. On the same Island are the cities: Nags Head, Kitty Hawk and Duck. I'm sure they too have stories behind their interesting names, but I didn't happen to find out what they were. I did however find out that "Duck's Donuts" -started in, where else, Duck- are delicious. They cook your donuts in front of you and let you choose your toppings. YUM!

History lesson aside we had a wonderful time! We spent the first day on the beach. The sand was very clean and soft, which for many NC beaches is a rarity. Ryan and I dipped our feet in the ocean but spent the majority of the time lounging under an umbrella. I am actually a little afraid of the ocean. Not only are there sharks out there, waiting to gobble me up, but there are jelly fish and who knows what else. What can I say? “Jaws” has ruined me. Jeff and Michelle were more adventurous and had fun swimming and jumping waves.

After the beach we got dinner at The Blue Moon Beach Grill. It is small and maybe not a 5 star establishment but the food was awesome! Shrimp and grits is a huge thing here and theirs was-according to Jeff and Michelle- very good. Having filled up on delicious food we headed out and played a rousing game of miniature golf at a course that was so elaborate it involved a mine cart train that took us to our first hole. The rest of the holes were a little bland but it was still really fun. Don’t worry Dad, I won.

The next day we visited the Wrights Memorial Museum which was very fun and educational. There were so many little things that I never knew about the Wrights brothers. For example, did you know that their first successful flight actually took place in Kill Devil Hills, not Kitty Hawk. Ha! Take that 5^th grade history teacher!!

All in all the trip was a blast and we will definitely be going back. Perhaps if more people come out to visit me you can tag along J