World United States North Carolina Buxton

On the Road Again

Hatteras Island, NC May 23, 2011

From beautiful Hatteras Island in the Outer Banks of NC …



Monday, May 23, 2011

We arrived on Hatteras Island Saturday afternoon. Charlie and I stopped for lunch in Avon at Atlantic Coast Café. We sat outside on a screened porch just yards from the ocean although we did not have an ocean view. If you have visited the Outer Banks before, you know that the dunes can be quite high, so sometimes you have to walk up over the dunes to see the ocean.

We had a very fresh delicious lunch which was served by a most friendly staff. Charlie had an Oyster PoBoy, and I had Fish Tacos with grilled mahi mahi.

Our check in time for our rental house was from 4:00 to 6:00, but in the past we’ve always been able to check in a couple hours earlier than that. So we showed up at the Hatteras Realty office around 2:30. Unfortunately, the cottage wasn’t ready yet. So we waited, and we waited. Eventually, everyone else in our party arrived while we waited some more. Finally, they gave us the keys right at 6:00pm.

Our rental house, Spartina, is located in the village of Buxton. You drive down a gravel driveway past a few other houses to get to ours which is located at the end of the road right on the Pamlico Sound. The panoramic views are absolutely amazing. There is truly a view from every single window in the house. There are decks and screened porches off every bedroom and living area with a hot tub outside on the second level. The house itself is custom built and truly incredible. We have stayed in a lot of nice houses down there, but I think this one takes the bill.

We have already cooked some great meals in the gourmet kitchen and had lots of good times on the decks, in the large living area on the fourth floor, and in the game room with pool table and foosball on the second floor.

My parents are here along with our three boys, Chuck, Adam and Matt. Two of Charlie’s sisters are also here, Pam from West Virginia and Missy from Delaware. So we have cars parked in the driveway from four different states. My sister and her family are also on the island renting a house just a few miles from us. It has really been a fun reunion.

Unfortunately, on Sunday I felt really bad and spent most of the day laying on the bed. I did manage to get up and help fix dinner. Charlie cooked cheeseburgers on the grill, and Chuck made homemade French fries. Everything was yummy.

On Monday (today), I finally got my system back to normal. After we took our morning walk, I made scrambled eggs, Dad made from scratch biscuits, and Charlie made his sausage gravy. And Adam and Matt did the dishes!

Everyone went to the beach for a couple hours, and we are getting ready to go out for fresh seafood tonight at a place called Rusty’s that has gotten good reviews.

The weather has been great so far. No rain and high in the 80s. Sounds like a perfect beach vacation, doesn’t it? Life is Good. : )