Ask MetaFilter questions tagged with outerbanks

Choosing between South Nags Head and Hatteras area?

franklen — Thu, 20 Aug 2009 07:59:24 -0800

Should I try to convince my family to head to The Hatteras Island area of the OBX, or just be satisfied we will all be going together and end up in South Nags Head? My family (mother, father, brother with wife and 2 kids - infant and 2 3 year old - extended cousins and aunts to be determined) are quite conservative middle-class all-americans, which I totally respect and love them as my family ---- but I'm not that. I'm progressive, nature-oriented, happier away from the commercialism of most tourist destinations. I'd rather take a day trip into the commercialized areas than a day-trip out of them to the National Parks area.

This will be the first trip to the OBX for any of us. Family members are leaning towards South Nags Head. From the little research I've done, I feel I'd prefer to go farther south to Hatteras area.

What do I need to know about these comparisons? Are there still enough restaurants and beachy shops down south to keep the fam' happy? Will I be unhappy in South Nags Head? Who can help point me in the right direction here? Or recommend something else entirely? Thanks and Cheers!

Corolla, NC beach vacation: What is a must-do?

Concolora — Wed, 01 Jul 2009 06:07:03 -0800

My whole family (parents, siblings, nieces/nephews, and assorted Serious Significant Others) is going to be staying for a week in a big house in Corolla, NC in a few weeks. What should we Absolutely Do while we're there? Mr. Concolora and I are in our early thirties and are into wine, good beer, and food (we love locally-owned places and go there preferentially over chains). We love canoeing, are learning to fish, hiking, biking (we'll be bringing our bikes down with us), and cooking. I'm an avid equestrian and an amateur wildlife photographer. We're not really 'nightlife' kind of people and this will be our first trip to the Outer Banks.

Beach-wise, we're mostly 'walk along the' and 'read on the' types, and not so much 'try to body-surf', and I'm definitely a 'ride horses on the' if such a place/opportunity exists.

We're primarily looking for some 'just the two of us' type activities for when we're away from the Mad Horde (17 of us!) of my family, but if there's anything that can finish cementing our place as the 'Cool Aunt and Uncle' with the kids that'd be fun too.

Help us love our vacation, AskMeFi!

Gifts to represent ten cities for an anniversary.

librarianamy — Mon, 23 Feb 2009 08:22:57 -0800

Help me distill these ten cities/regions into a giftable essence: Boston, Maui, San Francisco, New Orleans, NYC/Hoboken, Ann Arbor, Toronto, Outer Banks NC, Central PA (Dutch Country), Columbus OH. This year marks our tenth wedding anniversary, and I would like to give my husband something that represents the ten cities/regions that mean the most to our relationship (other than where we make our home).

If you were to give one gift representing one of those regions, what would it be? If you are from one of those areas, what is it that you crave the most when you "think of home"? I'm looking for something meaningful as a gift, not just a symbol of the area (so for New Orleans, I'd lean more towards a good gumbo cookbook than I would some plastic Mardi Gras beads).

I have some ideas, but in some cases we spent only a memorable week there, no more, so I might be missing something really stellar and neat that shouldn't be missed, gift-wise. We lean more to locally owned companies than large well known chains, indie book and music stores more than sports teams, museums more than beaches, and are big foodies. We live in Pittsburgh, so items must be able to be purchased online and shipped within a 2 month period. I'd really like these to be symbols of ten great years with an amazing man, so I don't want to be shortsighted on ideas. I look forward to your suggestions! Thanks!

sweet southern weekend

kidsleepy — Wed, 18 Feb 2009 08:23:08 -0800

Weekend getaway in May in the South? The boyfriend and I will have a long weekend in early May to do something fun. He's usually in NJ, while I'm in NC, but he has to be in Atlanta on a Monday, so we're making a long weekend out of it; say, Thursday through Monday morning. He could either meet me in NC or I could meet him in ATL, or something in the middle. Either (short) flying or driving distance is fine.

Should we stay in Atlanta and go to the Coca Cola factory and the aquarium? Go to Savannah or Charleston and do some eating and shopping? Cross our fingers that it's warm enough and go to the Outer Banks? There's so many options near by that we're having trouble narrowing down our choices!

What happened to Bubba's?

jmoneystl — Sun, 01 Jun 2008 14:54:03 -0800

OBX Filter: What happened to Bubba's? I haven't been to the Outer Banks in 12 years. My family used to come here every summer. Since we were last here, Bubba's has become a BBQ-plus-Mexican place! I know Bubba died a number of years ago, so did the place sell out? Is it under new ownership? It seems the chopped pork sandwich is relatively unchanged, but a symbol of my childhood has been altered!

Anyone have the skinny on Bubba's?

North Carolina Vacation

unexpected — Thu, 24 Apr 2008 14:40:27 -0800

North Carolina Coast Vacation: Help me figure out where we should go! Next weekend, (May 1 - 3), several of my friends and I will be going to North Carolina beachy area - we just haven't figured out which one.

We're a mixed gender motley group of six. The girls want a nice beach, boardwalk and fun restaurants, some of the guys want to do surfing/kayaking/hang gliding/kiteboarding/wind surfing (x-treme vacation), and I'm fine with either, but would like a place where we could be around people, maybe go to an active bar, and a place where I wouldn't get in trouble if I hypothetically stumbled home drunk at 3 am.

Even though we went to college in NC, none of us are from there, and people that we've asked so far give us differing opinions on what's good or not.

Our initial thought was to go to Outer Banks. Of course, Outer Banks itself is a big hodgepodge of places. Given our requirements, we thought Kitty Hawk and Duck were viable options. We heard Hatteras was a no go.

Then some us (me) chimed in and said that Outer Banks seems ultra-naturey and that it might be nice if we went somewhere a little more "populated" - so we started thinking Carolina Beach/Wrightsville Beach.

Then we tried to combine the two approaches (you can surf at Carolina Beach, but can you rent a boat? kayak?), and thought we should explore Oak Island or Nags Head or Figure Eight.

Basically, we're all really confused, but that's what you guys are here for!

If I had to prioritize our wants it would be:

1) a place for random adventure
2) water sports - we're all beginners. We're not looking for killer waves or anything like that. Just some place where it's easy to maybe take lessons, experiment, have a good time.
3) "culture" - cute shops, restaurants
4) alcoholism
5) cost - but we must stay ~300 a night.

Last Minute Outer Banks, NC Trip Planning

inigo2 — Fri, 25 May 2007 07:27:44 -0800

Outer Banks, NC: Heading down there for the week (yes, last minute travel-planning). Any suggestions on what to do while we're down there? Places to stop at on the way down there from DC? (Aside from the fact we'll be stopped on 95 the whole way down...) We're staying in a house in South Nags Head. Meals are pretty much taken care of, so I'm not looking for restaurants or bars or anything like that. More for a few things to check out for the days we don't hang at the beach. We're interested in science/nature stuff (national parks, the sand dunes, etc.), and we think we want to try hang gliding. Any specific place we should try to do that? Any other suggestions, or can't-miss type places?

Thanks!

What To Do At The Beach

ZakDaddy — Tue, 18 Jul 2006 17:11:36 -0800

VacationFilter: We're going to Duck, NC on the Outer Banks for a week, leaving on the 22nd. I know what I'm going to do; what sorts of things might be fun for the kids? They're 18 months, 5 and 7. OuterBankers, what would *you* do?

FYI, this is the first time I've been to the coast since I left for Iraq, and the first family vacation I've been able to attend for one reason or another in 3 years, so I have high hopes for the Bezt Vacay Evar.

Please Help.