Last week was my annual family vacation to the Outer Banks and this was my first trip in this semi-post pandemic phase we are experiencing now. It was so weird to be in the Southern United States during this time, because their general attitude towards the pandemic is almost the complete opposite of New England. There were no masks required basically everywhere, so we had to get used to seeing all these people maskless and walking around maskless ourselves. By the end of the week, we were used to it though. And when we arrived back to New England, our own states had forgone their mask enforcement policies as well.
This was our 19th trip to the Outer Banks, so there wasn’t really many new things to see or do. We always start our day with a walk to our favorite coffee shop, Duck’s Cottage. From here we walk along the board walk to Duck Donuts and grab a half dozen. Then we walk home and figure out what to do for the day. This year was a very relaxing year, we mostly stayed in Duck and enjoyed the beach and our house’s pool. The weather was in the high 80’s almost everyday and humid, so it wasn’t ideal for sightseeing.
We did visit Manteo and Roanoke Island though, which is something that my dad and brother have never been too. Roanoke Island is a pretty interesting place to visit, especially if you enjoy American History. They have small displays of Native American villages, gardens, canoes, etc. They even have an exact replica of the Queen Elizabeth ship that the original settlers crossed the Atlantic on. They even have a blacksmiths shop, were a shop worker shows you how they would have made the iron products the settlers would have used and needed to build. Their website has a lot of information about what they have for exhibits and events.
We visited some of our favorite restaurants of course, which included Kill Devil Grill (twice), Coastal Cantina, and Duck Deli. We even through in some new places, which is a very rare occurrence if you knew my father.
Outer Banks Brewing Station was a new restaurant we tried this year and it did not disappoint. For a beverage I tried their Sol Pilsner, which was a light German lager. For food I had the Yard Bird Sandwich, which was a beer battered, fried chicken breast with cilantro aioli. This sandwich was AMAZING. For my side, I had to try their hushpuppies of course. These were equally as amazing. Outer Banks Brewing Station was officially added to my families favorite restaurants list. See below for their website!
Big Bucks Homemade Ice Cream opened up a new location in Duck, along the boardwalk, so we decided to try it. The line was INSANE every night we went and there is a reason why… This ice cream is THE LITERAL BEST ice cream you will ever have. They have so many different flavors, everyone in your group will find something they will love. I got the Kiddie Mini sundae twice because it is such a great deal. The bottom of the sundae cup is filled with crushed Oreos and then topped with a scoop of any ice cream flavor you would like. Then you get to choose if you would like M&M’s or gummy sharks, for reasons that should be obvious I chose M&M’s. On top of that the sundae gets topped with rainbow sprinkles, whipped cream and chocolate sauce. Check out their website here for more information about their products and locations around the Outer Banks.
I don’t have many digital pictures from this trip because during the pandemic I got really into film photography. This post will definitely be updated to include those pictures once they are developed around the end of June. For now Here is a small gallery of what pictures I did take on my phone. Enjoy!
