The Outer Banks’ Glorious, Glorious Beaches

September 9, 2010 By

I fell in love with the 130 miles of unspoiled coastline in the Outer Banks.

Though truth be told, I only explored a very small portion of it.

Everyone has a different idea of the ultimate beach vacation. When we were evacuated from Hurricane Earl, we spent part of the afternoon exploring Virginia Beach. A popular boardwalk, the beach was littered with tourists, tattoos and revelries. The atmosphere was upbeat, fun and for me, completely overdone.

The Outer Banks’ pristine coastal villages were the very antithesis of this party atmosphere. My very first morning, I arose before dawn (at 4 a.m. Denver-time; oh, the insanity) to watch the sunrise and collect seashells. It was the perfect kick-off to an idyllic vacation.

Getting lost and wandering around for an hour trying to find the beach house afterward? NotSoMuch.

I truly did not know how Bode would react to the ocean. Haddie fell in love with the surf in Puerto Rico but Bode is notoriously the more timid of the two. But within a few minutes, he was the madman of the ocean.

Just picture him on the bow of the Titanic with Kate Winslet in this shot.


Hadley was predictably in her element, even forsaking her Colorado mountains and declaring herself “a beach babe.”


Sigh. I just know I’ll be fighting off the boys sooner than I’m ready.


Some of my favorite beachfront moments:

So great was my love for the beaches of the Outer Banks that I was even tempted to declare myself a “beach babe.”

But then remembered it would likely entail actually getting wet.

© Crazy Bloggin’ Canuck–A Denver Mom’s Blog
Filed Under: Bode, Family, Family travel, Hadley, Humor, travel Tagged With:

Kiteboarding, golfing and islanding–Outer Banks’ family travel fun

September 8, 2010 By

Despite my family’s premature evacuation due to Hurricane Earl, the Outer Banks was one of my all-time favorite family travel destinations. This long string of narrow barrier islands off the coast of North Carolina is pristine. Raw. And achingly beautiful.

The beach house my mom rented in the Southern Shores was one of hundreds of million-dollar mansions that dotted the Atlantic Ocean.

Despite its name, Southern Shores is actually in the northernmost part of the Outer Banks with a busy shopping hub. For our next trip, my goal is to stay on the southernmost tip, Okracoke Island. Accessible only be ferry, it boasts untouched beauty, whimsical lighthouses, a quaint village and me.

Gotta start planning now.

During our five days in the Outer Banks, we crammed in a whole lot of family travel fun. Some highlights:

Kiteboarding

The Outer Banks is renowned as the Kiteboarding Capital of the World. My brother Pat (an avid wakeboarder) has recently taken to this surface water sport that uses the wind to pull a rider through the water on a small kiteboard.


I have never been a water person, nor am I talented enough to fly a simple kite so this sport was beyond my ability level. Knowing my aversion to water sports, my sister-in-law Jane tried to convert me to “Dragging.” Basically, this is kiteboarding without a kiteboard. You are harnessed to the kite and let the kite guide you as your face is used as a skipping stone across the water.

I remained shore-bound.
=======================

Miniature golf

There are oodles of non-beach activities for children in the Outer Banks that include amusement parks, an Indy Kart racetrack, skate parks, horseback riding and so much more.

Our “more” was going miniature golfing at Lost Treasure Golf in Kill Devil Hills with cousins Jaxson and Connor.


To access the first hole, we rode on a mining train through caves, “ancient” ruins and under waterfalls.


And I confirmed that Bode and cousin Jaxson are actually long-lost twins.

=======================

Roanoke Island

One of my biggest disappointments was being unable to travel to Okracoke Island (tourists were evacuated a couple of days prior to Hurricane Earl). Roanoke Island, one of the Outer Banks’ primary visitor destinations, was The Next Best Thing.

What we could have done:

Pet the stingrays at the North Carolina Aquarium, strolled through the breathtaking Elizabethan Gardens, saw the popular outdoor drama, The Lost Colony and enlisted the kids in Pirate Adventures where they could seek out treasures aboard a pirate ship.

What we did do:

Time was short and the weather was hot so one morning, Jamie, Hadley, Bode and I drove to Manteo. This charming hamlet wraps around Shallowbag Bay on the eastern side of Roanoke Island.

We strolled the Manteo Waterfront and devoured coconut chicken salads at the Magnolia Grille. Next, we searched for fossils at the waterfront’s pirate-themed playground.

We explored the cottage-style Roanoke Marshes Lighthouse.


And climbed trees. The kids did, that is.


Though this activity did not involve liquid face-plants, I still deemed it best to remain on solid ground.

=======================

Pool

We started and ended each day playing in our house’s pool….


And hot tub.

(My niece Ashton’s darling girls.)

And reached for the sky.


(My toe has never looked better.)

The lowlight: When The Lord of the Gourds tossing me into the pool fully-clothed. My trespass? Mocking The Great Pumpkin, of course.

In my defense, who wouldn’t make fun of the GPC (Great Pumpkin Commonwealth)….

Stay tuned tomorrow for details on THE BEACH!

© Crazy Bloggin’ Canuck–A Denver Mom’s Blog
Filed Under: Bode, Family, Family travel, Hadley, Humor, Jamie, travel Tagged With:

How my family literally looked into the eye of Hurricane Earl’s storm

September 7, 2010 By

(Originally published at Mile High Mamas)

Poor eyesight. Baldness. Big feet. These are all things that can be passed down from generation-to-generation.

In my family, our inherited trait is bad luck.

And also the aforementioned misfortunes.

We come up a wee bit short in the gene pool.

I hail from an uproarious, fun-loving Canadian family but if anything bad can happen, it usually does. That said, what do you get when your entire Murphy’s Law clan congregates for the first time in 10 years in North Carolina’s famed Outer Banks?

Hurricane Earl, that’s what.

And I only wish I was joking.

Our week-long vacation actually started out smoothly. My generous mother rented a beach-side mansion that accommodated all 15 siblings and cousins in the Outer Banks’ Southern Shores.

For five glorious days, we splashed in our pool, built sand castles, chased the waves, explored quaint fishing villages, kite-boarded, stalked crabs at night and collected sea shells at dawn. It was as close to utopia as The Bad Luck Clan has ever come and I never wanted it to end.

Hurricane Earl had other ideas.

We had been casually tracking the hurricane’s progress. We knew when we planned our vacation that it was peak hurricane season but, as my friend Tom queried on Facebook: “What are the odds of you being there when a hurricane is coming?”

Evidently pretty darn good because, out of all the destinations along the Atlantic Ocean, the Outer Banks was Hurricane Earl’s first stop.

We were unsure of what to do. As Canadians, the only natural disaster with which we’re familiar is having our nose hairs freeze in sub-zero temperatures.

The southern portion of the Outer Banks was evacuated in what meteorologists initially predicted would be a Class 4 hurricane. Our beach house was 45 minutes north. While we did not want to cut our vacation two days short by leaving, we also did not want to take any unnecessary risks.

The county made the decision for us by ordering mandatory evacuation of all visitors.

We hurriedly loaded up our cars. As the queen of worst-case scenarios, I was ready. We had bottled water. Ample food. A full tank of gas for our inland escape route. If nothing else, escaping Earl’s clutches would make for some great blog fodder.

Except the drama never really unfolded.

I had anticipated being stuck for hours in traffic with other desperate, fleeing tourists.

We easily cruised across the bridge to the mainland in record time.

I envisioned the storm leveling houses and flooding streets.

The area did not even lose power.

In the end, Hurricane Earl sideswiped the Outer Banks causing some flooding but no injuries and only modest damage. Though it was a huge upset in our family vacation, it was an instance wherein it was better to be safe than sorry.

Unless you’re my Crazy Canuck brother Pat who wanted to kite-board through it all.

My mother had wisely invested in hurricane insurance. She was not only reimbursed for the two nights we had to leave our beach house but also for the cost of our stay in exile.

Because even Murphy’s Law deserves a silver lining now and then.

© Crazy Bloggin’ Canuck–A Denver Mom’s Blog
Filed Under: Family travel, Humor, travel Tagged With:

How my family literally looked into the eye of Hurricane Earl’s storm

September 6, 2010 By

Poor eyesight. Baldness. Big feet. These are all things that can be passed down from generation-to-generation.

In my family, our inherited trait is bad luck.

And also the aforementioned misfortunes.

We come up a wee bit short in the gene pool.

I hail from an uproarious, fun-loving Canadian family but if anything bad can happen, it usually does. That said, what do you get when your entire Murphy’s Law clan congregates for the first time in 10 years in North Carolina’s famed Outer Banks?

Hurricane Earl, that’s what.

And I only wish I was joking.

Our week-long vacation actually started out smoothly. My generous mother rented a beach-side mansion that accommodated all 15 siblings and cousins in the Outer Banks’ Southern Shores.

For five glorious days, we splashed in our pool, built sand castles, chased the waves, explored quaint fishing villages, kite-boarded, stalked crabs at night and collected sea shells at dawn. It was as close to utopia as The Bad Luck Clan has ever come and I never wanted it to end.

Hurricane Earl had other ideas. CLICK TO READ ON

© Crazy Bloggin’ Canuck–A Denver Mom’s Blog
Filed Under: Family, Humor

Just when you thought pumpkins ruled this roost

September 2, 2010 By

The entire Canuck clan is in the Outer Banks this week (18 family members = concentrated chaos).

The only member who was left behind was Remy a.k.a. Fat Kitty. The fat dude can survive if we leave him for a weekend by himself but an entire seven days?

Ugly.

We found this out when he stayed behind for 10 days as we journeyed to Utah.

“But Jamie was with him,” some may protest.

Let’s just say the Lord of the Gourds ain’t too willing to snuggle up to our somewhat needy fat kitty.

Remy is like most cats: he sleeps a lot. He hangs out around us in the morning and after dinner and disappears for several hours for his afternoon naps. But the evenings? Fat dude comes to life and desperately needs to cuddle up to someone in bed.

As he found out last week, that someone ain’t Jamie.

Poor fat cat was so stressed from the lack of affection that his hair started falling out in clumps.

And so I have brought in reinforcements while we are gone. I, the very woman who never even wanted a cat, have hired a cat sitter to stay with him. To snuggle him. Take him for walks in our backyard until he throws up from eating all the grass.

Oh wait. That’s only what happens when Jamie forgets to bring him inside.

Despite Jamie’s indifference to the cat that the rest of us adore, I was surprised to discover he named our production company after him.


Didn’t know we had a production company?

Neither did I.

But to tide you over ’til next week….

Enjoy this revealing video that demonstrates pumpkins probably do rule this roost.

P.S. Is it just me or does the Lord of the Gourds not even pronounce “pumpkin” correctly?

© Crazy Bloggin’ Canuck–A Denver Mom’s Blog
Filed Under: Humor, Jamie, pumpkins
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