Our Outer Banks honeymoon: Duck and Corolla

LisaJune 19, 2012

Monday night, we planned our next adventure. In an effort to see all of the Outer Banks in a week, we decided to visit an area each day. We looked north to Duck and Corolla for Tuesday and thought going on a horse-watching expedition would be fun. First thing Tuesday, I called Wild Horse Adventure Tours and booked an open-top tour. If you’re interested in doing this, call ahead! We went with this company specifically because they offered a larger military discount.

Tuesday dawned cloudy and gloomy. We went out to breakfast and headed down the highway to Stack Em High, a family owned diner in Kitty Hawk, and snagged two Hokie OBX stickers because Stack Em High supports the Outer Banks VT Alumni Association.

We ran back to the car in between rain showers and headed up NC 12 to Duck and Corolla. Because it was raining, we went to a few beach shops looking for ponchos or rain jackets. Luckily, we found two ponchos at Harris Teeter. We also stopped in Duck Donuts for a quick snack. Duck Donuts makes every donut fresh (they have a super cool donut-dispensing machine) and then hand-dips them in icing and toppings of your choice. I had chocolate icing with sprinkles, while Mac had vanilla icing with sprinkles. Fresh, warm donuts were the perfect pick-me-up on a rainy morning.

Then it was off to the truck and onto the beach. NC 12 actually ends as a paved road and continues as a beach highway, meaning the road is just the beach. If you have a 4×4 SUV or truck, you can apply for a permit to drive on the beach. Jill, our tour guide, was great and did a fantastic job of navigating the beach roads to find horses. Our first horse encounter was a pack of three young males running along in the surf. We pulled over to watch them, and the rain started. Mac and I donned our ponchos while the other folks in our truck enjoyed a second shower. A cold, breezy beach rain. We bounced around the beach roads and spotted more horses. Because the rain continued, we cut our tour a bit short and headed back to Corolla.

Even after breakfast and a snack, we decided to grab a quick bite for lunch. Jill mentioned Lighthouse Bagels and Deli as we passed it because they have a French toast bagel. Maybe next time. I also managed to spill my entire drink all over the counter and myself. Super. We then hopped back in the car, zipped up the highway to the Currituck Beach Lighthouse, and snagged a parking spot right next to the entrance. The line to climb was really long and full of children, so we just snapped a few photos and checked out the gift shop.

The Currituck Beach Lighthouse is in a complex of the old Corolla Village. We jumped back in the car and drove about 200 yards to the Outer Banks Center for Wildlife Education. This museum focuses on the history of hunting, fishing, and wildlife in Corolla. It’s pretty cool, and it was free. Mac found a bear pillow in the gift shop he had to have. We also walked around to the Whalehead Club, a hunting lodge, and took another photo or two.

Back to the car. We started back down south, stopped in Duck, wandered into a few shops, and grabbed dinner at the Sunset Grille. The food was.so.good. I also had a Jurassic Park drink and got this sweet cup. The kids at the table next to us were super jealous.