Good places to stay at outer banks, nc? ?It's my parents, my sister and her friend(both 16) and me and my friend (both 14) and we will be going to the outer banks the first week of August. we've been looking at duck, we found a nice 4 bedroom place in duck for about 2,500 and are thinking about renting that, it's about 750 feet from the ocean... | |
Yes, been there many times. Sounds like you have done some research, so you know that Duck is North of where many of the sights are. Even tho the milage isn't super far, it will take over 30-40 minutes to get down to Nags Head; traffic is a bear that time of the year. Also, you can expect a very long wait in resturants, but since you are not traveling w/small kids and you plan accordingly, it might not bother you for a few dinners. We also like to cook in and hang out, so we prefer to be away from the center of activity. Duck and Corolla do have cute shops and resturamnts, and all off the main road, so it is easy to find places and won't take days to see it all. the rest is more of a drive (due to traffic) so you can plan just a few days to drive to Nags Head, Kitty Hawk, Kill Devil hills to check it out. There are tons of good seafood places, so sometimes it is a good idea to eat "off hours" (like 2:30 in the afternoon) at the more popular places like Awful Arthurs. If yuo have never been to that area and are up for a little drive, drive down to some of the lighthouses and Jocky's Ridge and Kill Devil Hills to see the Wright Bros. memorial...they used these dunes to fly the first powered plan. If you like seafood, order it at every resturant...they know how to cook it. You can also buy fresh stuff at fish markets and cook it at home. You can find all this stuff at the Visitors Center as you enter the area. So, yes, Duck is nice if you don't mind the drive to see the other sights.
EDIT: I should add, that Duck will be more quite. Most places in Nags Head (and the other places) are either on the main Beach Rd. whcih can be very busy or sandwiched between there and the highway, so can get a little noisy w/cut thru trafffic (look at a map; you'll see what I mean). Places in Duck tends to be fairly nice. Many are on the beach side and ahve a little community pool so no crossing a main rd to get to the beach. Some larger homes even have a private pool. Don't bother looking at anything near Salvo/Rodanthe; not much to do; very few shops/resturants. Definately stay North.
Jane gives you a lot of good information so I won't go over it. It's all good. You may want to look at South Nags Head, below Whale Bone Junction (milepost 17). There are loads of nice houses down there and it's quiet but not far from where everything is going on. The new fishing pier is fantastic. It's only 15 minutes from Roanoke Island and the Lost Colony outdoor drama. Eat lunch at Darrels in Manteo. There is a 6 foot multi-use path extending along the beach road the whole length of Nags Head. I think you would do better down there. A big plus - from South Nags Head it's only a day trip to see and climb the Hatteras Lighthouse and take the free ferry to Ocracoke Island. Go south, to South Nags Head.
