Outer Banks Travel Guide
Alright y'all finally getting to put together this post and I am so excited because I love this beach and the whole area and really wanting to be back there already. But since I can't be back there, I wanted to share with all of you the details about where we stayed as well as some of our favorite food places, beaches, shops, and activities. So lets hop on in shall we!
Food
Basnight's Lone Cedar Cafe | If you want to have some of the freshest and best seafood you will ever have, you NEED to go to Lone Cedar because this place is truly incredible. They have fresh catches every day and even have their own oyster buckets and crab bins behind the restaurant-- I'm not kidding, really fresh. Every time we are in the Outer Banks, you can count on the fact that we will be there at least once! The one thing I get every time is the steamed shrimp and it is so delicious!
Blue Water Grill and Raw Bar | We love this place because it is located in the same place where we usually stay and they have such fresh food because literally they are located right in the marina. If you go fishing that day out of the marina, you can bring the fish that you catch that day and they will cook it for you and serve it to your group which is super awesome! They even have an outdoor bar you can sit at and listen to some live music every now and then.
Mulligan's | Close to the beach and close to Jockey's Ridge-- I mean come on there is no other perfect location to eat at. They have an upstairs and outdoors area that is perfect for a night out with your friends, but the actual restaurant is fantastic! It's a great and fun environment and the staff is truly so nice and love to be there and make the experience 10x better.
Sam and Omie's | This is another perfect location and is straight across the street from Jennette's Pier and is such a great environment. They are more of a bar restaurant but do serve breakfast, lunch, and dinner. But if you ask anybody in the Outer Banks somewhere to go to eat, they will definitely tell you Sam and Omie's because it is such a fun and happy environment.
Fish Head's | Now we just found this place on this past trip and it is officially one of my favorites because it is on the pier sits right on the ocean so it is beautiful scenery. The staff is super amazing and you could literally not find another place like this one. My all time favorite thing about this place was that all across the ceiling is different koozies from all kinds of different events, weddings, and other restaurants. Highly suggest going to this place!
What I get every time I go to Lone Cedar! Truly delicious!
Inside Blue Water Grill and Raw Bar. Overlooks the Marina!
Check out the koozies along the top of the ceiling! How cool is that!!
Beaches
There are two great piers that we love to go to and they are Jennette's Pier and Fish Head's Pier. Both of these places are great to relax for the day and for kids to play in the water and even have restaurants connected to both of them so you can grab a bight to eat if you get hungry. Now I do have to warn you about a few things about the Outer Banks beaches-- because it is so famous for ship wrecks, there are still parts of ships out in the water so just be careful when swimming in some places. Most places will have signs warning you so you know, but please just be careful. Now besides that the ocean is so pretty and clear most days but it is a little chiller because this is a little farther north compared to other beaches like Wrightsville or Myrtle! But it is so refreshing and the sand isn't really that hot to walk on.
Jennette's Pier Fish Head's Pier
Activities
Jockey's Ridge | The highest place in the Outer Banks-- if you think I am kidding, I'm not! It is just a fun place to go and something a lot of people don't know is that it is actually a State Park now. But the cool thing about this place is that because of the wind, these hills and cliffs change all the time. They will even let you parasail off these cliffs and hills and is really cool to just sit there and watch them do it.
Jet Skiing | Now this might seem like a simple thing but one of the coolest places to do is right as you go over the big bridge over into Nags Head because it is in this kind of cove area but you are able to go further down into the inlet! Super fun and you can definitely get a thrill ride out of it when really get going.
Chartering A Boat For Deep Sea Fishing or Off Shore Fishing | Now I have never been Deep Sea Fishing but my dad has and I really want to go! But this time we did go Off Shore Fishing and it was fun even though we did go in the morning and had to be up early. It was fun but personally for me it was hard to catch on because I don't fish that often-- but the captains of the boat will definitely help you and teach you the best techniques. The two biggest places to fish out of are Pirates Cove Marina and Oregon Inlet Marina.
The pictures above are all views from the tops of Jockey's Ridge
Shopping
Kitty Hawk Surf Co. | This place is so cool because it basically all of the big surf brands in one place along with some other cool Kitty Hawk specific clothes. They even have different kinds of boards for surfing, paddle boarding, etc. and you can customize them how you like. There is even something cool for the kids inside and that is a mechanical shark-- you know like a mechanical bull but the shark version of it! Highly recommend checking this place out for some cool gear.
Duck Village Outfitters | Now this place is more of a place where you can rent stuff like surfboards, paddle boards, kayaks, and bikes. But the cool thing about Duck Village is that they even have surf lessons and paddle board lessons that are a great sources of exercise. They even have cool kayak tours that you can participate in that are super, super fun and cool to participate in!
Kitty Hawk Kites | When I saw this place is awesome, I truly mean it is awesome! They have a rock climbing wall, a whole kite area, a Wright Brothers area, and so much more. It is also conveniently located in the same place as the Kitty Hawk Surf Co. which makes it super easy to go from one shop to the other.
Who wouldn't want to ride this mechanical shark!
I mean come on look at all these pretty kites!
Where We Stayed
Whenever we go to the Outer Banks we always rent a place at Pirates Cove because it is truly the coolest place to stay and is so convenient. Not only is the Blue Water Grill and Raw Bar located there but the marina is too and it is so beautiful at night when the sun is going down. This time when we went we rented a place and whenever we were there we would be sitting out on our big back porch because it faced the marina so we could watch the big boats come back in at the end of the day and even go down to the docks and see what all of them caught.
There are so many things that I love about this area but my favorite thing is that it accommodates all sorts of people and families. There are pools, tennis courts, and most of the time you can typically see people traveling by golf cart around the place. There are even different villages that have different kinds of housing. What I mean by that is they have condos, townhouses, single family houses, big houses, and the list is endless. This makes it perfect because when renting you can definitely find a place that is specific to the number of people you have going on that trip with you! I would really, really HIGHLY recommend checking out Pirates Cove when going to the Outer Banks!
Some of the townhouses that they have at Pirates Cove!
This is the condo building we stayed in right on the Marina!
View of the Marina and Sunset that we had every night from our balcony!
And this isn't even close to all of Pirates Cove!
Here are some extra and fun pictures from our trip to the Outer Banks!
If you are ever planning a trip to one of the East Coast beaches I strongly suggest the Outer Banks because it is such a beautiful and fun beach to go to and you will definitely never be bored when you go!
Love, D
