Duck for the summer
Following a short, but very enjoyable, trip to Southport, we were packing our bags again for a weeklong adventure in Duck, NC. For those unfamiliar with North Carolina coastal geography, Duck is located on the norther section of the Outer Banks - a narrow chain of barrier islands stretching from the NC/VA border in the north to the mouth of the Cape Fear river in the south. There is one main road, NC 12, running along the bulk of the Outer Banks (affectionately called ‘OBX’ by tourists). The majority of towns are accessible from the mainland via NC 12, however, towns such as Ocracoke require traveling via ferry and have limited access to the mainland. We chose Duck as our destination due to its consistent ranking as a top family friendly beach in the US. It also offers very budget-friendly house rental options when compared to some other coastal destinations, but do not think that this is a cheap or overly inexpensive vacation destination. The home we rented from a local realty company, Beach Realty, certainly had its pros & cons. The rental company itself was incredibly responsive to any questions and made booking a breeze - I will gladly rent from them in the future when our travel plans bring us back to the OBX. The property featured a small in-ground pool and tons of deck space. There was ample bedroom space for all of us (6 adults and 2 toddlers in total) to spread out and not feel like we were on top of each other. The house itself was, well, dated and had certainly seen a fair amount of visitors over the years. As expected with any vacation rental, it was not in immaculate condition and needed some TLC. The location felt private as it was tucked away in an oceanside community with about 45 other homes. We were not quite oceanfront, maybe a three minute walk or thirty second golf cart drive had us at the nearest beach access. One thing to note about Duck is that public beach accesses do not exist. All of the accesses are within communities without any public parking.
Our week here resulted in lifelong memories that can never be replaced. Our daughter learned to swim in just a few days, something that had proven to be quite a point of frustration for Taylor leading up to this trip. This was also the first time we had taken a full-week trip with my side of the family, including my sister who flew in from job training in Nashville, TN. We planned our meals ahead of time, built around food allergies (my sister) and pickiness (my kids). Most of the groceries we carried down, but still had to make a couple of grocery store runs during the week. Food prices are high on the OBX, not quite Florida Keys high, but more than they were back home in Raleigh. Duck offered a lot to explore for us, but we honestly did not take advantage of the Duck Boardwalk as much as we should have. One unique aspect to the northern part of OBX are the wild horses commonly found in Corolla and Carova. Every Wednesday during the summer, the Corolla Rescue & Rehabilitation Sanctuary opens its doors to the public for a tour and visit with the horses. We traveled from Duck over to the farm with the kids for a quick visit and to see the horses. Once we arrived, it seemed neither child remembered how to walk so my mother and I quickly became pack mules giving tours to two toddlers around the property. On top of our newly added weight, it was HOT that day. The only air conditioned room was the gift shop and that was a tight space for everyone. A few donations and souvenirs later, we were back into the car and off to Duck.
I mentioned our daughter learned to swim over this week of vacation, and that may have been the highlight of our entire summer. She had been very timid when it came to the water, due in part to a very bad experience with a local swim school. Taylor worked diligently, as did everyone else at the house, with our daughter in the pool every day. While it was not a huge pool, it was quite the accomplishment to watch her swim from one end to the other without any help. The reward, aside from buckets of confidence, was one wonderful pool noodle that still lives in our garage today (and has made many trips to our local pool ever since last July). To this day, she still speaks of swimming across the pool to my sister or mom and how happy that made her. Keaton also had the opportunity to play on the beach for the first time in a very long time. Initially, he was not too sure what to make of the sand and waves. All it took was him finding deceased moon jellyfish (non-poisonous & no stingers) that had washed up and his day was made. He started slinging these things everywhere. No fear whatsoever to go pick up a dead jellyfish and chunk it back into the ocean. In fact, the only thing that got him off the beach and away from hurling these carcasses into the sea was a thunderstorm, and even then he did not want to leave this newfound joy. To me, that’s what the family vacations are all about. Those memories that will never, ever be erased.
