Wall St. Journal Focuses on the Outer Banks

Outer Banks Sunset

In the Life & Style section of the Wall St. Journal, reporter Bob Davis recently highlighted Duck, NC on the Outer Banks…. “where the sea is mild and the breeze is stiff.”  Davis covers what to do, where to stay, and where to eat along the OBX.

Here’s a quick synopsis of the article:

What to do:

• Lounge on the remarkably uncrowded Atlantic Ocean beaches of the Outer Banks, a chain of barrier islands. The sand is fine and the water temperature is mild.
• Currituck Sound, on the other side of Duck, is the place to jet-ski or kayak.
• History abounds:
  • Kitty Hawk, 10 miles away, is where the Wright brothers made their storied first controlled, powered flight in 1903.  Wright National Memorial has a full-size model of the biplane they flew.
  • Another historic attraction is the Roanoke colony, where British colonists first landed in 1585 and endured a few scant years. Their remains weren’t found, giving rise to tales of a “lost” colony. The national park on the site of the colonists’ Fort Raleigh is a lovely forested area.
  • The consistent winds are ideal Kite flying on the beach; Duck is filled with stores that sell all manner of kites.
  • Nearby, on Highway 158, is Jockey’s Ridge State Park, whose 100-foot-tall sand dunes give a better sense of what attracted Orville and Wilbur to the area: It’s a place where glider experiments could end in a soft landing. Instructors offer $99-an-hour hang-gliding lessons.
  • It will cost you nothing to stroll along Duck’s boardwalk, which juts over the sound.
  • Take a drive along the roads of Alligator River National Wildlife Refuge, 30 miles from Duck, a marshland where black bears lurk and cross the road at sunset.

Where to Stay: Prices for one-week rentals of three-bedroom homes start at about $1,500 in Duck and nearby Southern Shore, both of which have thick tree cover. Kitty Hawk and Kill Devil Hills lack much shade, but rentals there are cheaper.

• Beautiful vacation rental homes available.

Where to eat: There are lots of restaurants with great views of the water.

• To eat well, try The Blue Point Bar & Grill.  It offers a gorgeous view of the sound. Try the flavorful celery soup for $7. Catfish fried in cornmeal with zucchini slaw on the side will set you back $25.
• The Roadside Raw Bar & Grill, near Duck’s town square, lacks the view but has fine fare and live music most nights.
• The Sanderling Inn’s Lifesaving Station restaurant, in a restored 1899 sea-rescue building, is more casual and less costly than the inn’s other restaurants. A terrific chowder followed by shrimp, andouille sausage and grits go for $31, roughly 40% less than the fare at the Sanderling’s elegant Left Bank restaurant.