Outer Banks Logistics

Getting there

   Getting to the Outer Banks isn't particularly easy.  I drove down on a Wednesday night while my friends flew there and back on Saturdays. My GPS told me the drive was 11 hrs 24 minutes. But I am here to tell you that is impossible. No matter when you leave it will be a 12-13 hour journey from Providence. You will hit traffic somewhere. My whole plan was to get past DC before the morning rush. I accomplished that and took a little nap at a Virginia Welcome Center at 6 am. It should have been smooth sailing from there, but on one of the interstates there was a car accident that backed up traffic over forty five minutes.

   If you fly down you will probably not get a direct flight. Though prices aren't bad. Carlos scoped out tickets and he got round trip tickets for under $300. However, between leaving the house, airport security, flight, layover, connecting flight, picking up rental car and driving the rest of the way it took them from 5:30 am until 8 pm to get there. The closest airport is Richmond and it is a four hour drive from Richmond to Hatteras. Virginia Beach my also be another possibility to fly into.

   Like pretty much everywhere else, they paid about $500 for the rental car for Sat-Sat. 

Getting around once you are there

    For the purpose of this post the Outer Banks (OBX form now on) is from the northern town of Corolla to the southern town of Hatteras. When you cross the bridge from the mainland the towns of Duck and Corolla will be to the north. To the south are Kill Devil Hills, Nags Head, and smaller towns all the way to Hatteras. Protected from the open ocean by the OBX beaches is Roanoke Island which has another tourist town, Manteo, on it. 

    Pretty much any part of the islands that is not protected as a National Seashore is built up. The area from the bridge down to Nags Head is a ten mile long strip mall that comes with all of the lights and traffic as you would expect. Once you get south of Nags Head there is a lot more open land. However, it is a two lane road and you are at the mercy of the person driving in front of you. Bottom line, expect to be in traffic. 

Attractions-

   I birded everyday I was on vacation and didn't do the attractions. However, when I went there in 2007 with my son we did just about every tourist thing to do. Below is a list of things we did and a very short description of each. If you are interested in doing some of these things they would not be hard to research.

Corolla Wild Horses- in Corolla there is a population of wild horses. You can see them with a four wheel drive or go out on a jeep trip to see them. There are plenty of outfitters that will take you.

Dolphin Cruise, Manteo small boat goes out in the bay for about 90 minutes/ $20 you will see dolphins

Aquarium, Manteo pretty sure there was a touch tank

Natural Areas- Pea Island, Alligator River, area around Hatteras Light- I already wrote about these spots in my Birding Post

Bodie Island Light

There are 3 lighthouses you can visit, though due to Covid I do not know if they are open to climb. Still they make nice photos, Bodie Island, Currituck Beach Light and of course the famous Cape Hatteras Light

There are many places where you can rent canoes and kayaks to go out in the marshes. Jet ski rentals are also available. Deep sea fishing is a multi million dollar business there. So if you want to catch a mahi-mahi or tuna, it will cost you some money, but it won't be a problem. 

Wright Brothers Memorial- site where the Wright Brothers plane flew

Jockey Ridge State Park- the largest sand dune on the east coast

Lost Colony- this is a play about the English settlement that vanished on Roanoke Island. It is excellent. It did not run last year due to Covid, but if there are performances, GO!

Food

We went out to supper most every night. My conclusion the food at the restaurants is expensive and delicious. I never had a bad meal. A couple of my meals had smaller portions than I would have liked but the food was good. Case in point, we went to a little diner (I don't remember the name, sorry) that I ordered fish tacos, a side of mac and cheese, along with a soda (it was a can, their fountain machine was down). The three fish tacos were the best I ever had but I dropped $25 on the meal. I have no problem splurging on vacation but dropping $30-35 a night by myself  did get to be a little much. My companions felt the same way. Good food/overpriced

Accommodations-

   The two nights I was alone I slept at the National Seashore campground across from Oregon Inlet. I think the total cost was $56. Being in the sand dunes there isn't any shade. The sites are close together. There is another  National Seashore campground at Cape Hatteras. The campground is huge, the lawn is manicured, and the sites are far apart. If you are going to spend most of your time in the southern part of OBX this  is a far more comfortable spot. Of course, there are multiple privately run campgrounds that have far more amenities like mini golf, arcades, basketball courts, etc.

   As for motels, with Kayak, Orbitz, Hotels.com you don't need me to explain them to you. They are expensive and when I thought I was going to spend time in a motel, we were looking to spend more money than we hoped.  I have friends that stayed at Cape Pines motel for $150/night but I don't think you would find it on the major websites and should call them directly

 

My car on the left, their rental on the right
our house for the week. Below the stilts
was an outdoor shower that I took advantage of.

 We stayed at a beach house within walking distance of the marina our boat was docked at. If you go with a group of people a rental is far and away the the cheapest option. The place we stayed at had three bedrooms. One of the bedrooms had two bunk beds. The other two had a queen bed. Total cost was under a grand. It worked out to costing all of us about $40/night each. There is no way you are going to beat that. Carlos rented the house from a company called Midget Realty.