Corolla (Outer Banks) NC About This Page:

[HiddenMickey]

I spent a very quick weekend at a house in Corolla this past weekend. This is a very short trip report for those that are interested in a different kind of beach stay (at least for us).



My BIL and SIL rented a very large house in Corolla for this week, and invited various family members to try and join them. Because our kids are not out of school, we opted to just stay over Saturday night. Check-in time was 4pm, so figuring around a 6 hour trip, we left home at 10am from Chapel Hill. I won't talk about the car ride, except to say that it was faster than we had planned. We were able to eat at a nice NY Pizza place in Kitty Hawk for a very late lunch around 2:30 and still made it to the rental agency in Corolla by 4:15. The house wasn't quite ready so we waited a bit.



In the meantime, we learned that we would not be able to drive to the house (we thought this might be the case), as the house is 9 miles off the paved road. You have to have a 4-wheel drive to get there, as the road is the BEACH! Yes, just north of Corolla, the road ends and everyone who goes past it has to drive along the beach to get to the houses (and there a lot of them). We were just at mile marker 22 and we couldn't see to the end of the island....so I have no idea how much further it goes.



We had to park our car in a lot near a public access and move all our things to BIL/SIL's car. First they had to drop off their things (and their dogs) and so we played on the beach at the access area until SIL could come back for us. The ride down the beach was just thrilling! We opened all the windows on her truck and I think she drove about 45 mph is some places. You have to watch out for other cars/trucks and people playing on the beach. We passed some awesome houses along the way and just marveled at the fact that these huge things could be built out here with no real roads to get to them.



The house we were staying at is called Morgan's Reach and it was awesome! It has 9 bedrooms and I think 10 baths (I didn't count them). It has a huge common area on the 3rd floor with everything you could think of for entertaining, and a pool table/game room on the second floor. There are two levels of decks across the "front" facing the beach and a walkway to a heated pool just on the dunes edge. The lower level has a 8 person hot tub outside and two charcoal grills. The third floor also has a very big kitchen with two islands, and two dishwashers/ovens. The other two levels also have small kitchenettes with sinks and refigerators.



There is a 3-person elevator in the house and a nice set of wide staircases.



So, the first night it rained a bit after we got there, so instead of grilling out we cooked in the kitchen. Later when the rain stopped, the kids went out to swim in the pool and DD and I used the hot tub. DS was in love with the GameCube games is uncle brought and spent some time doing that. DH the kids (and BIL) walked the beach looking for crabs and other night creatures while I made up the beds for my family in the rooms on the lower level (DS chose a room with King, we got a room with a Queen, and DD ended up in a full size Bunk bed. SIL's niece and her family were also there Sat night (niece, her husband and 2 yr old daughter) and they chose a suite on the 2nd floor. BIL and SIL had the master suite on the 3rd level. We all had our own section. It was amazing.



After we got the kids in bed around 11, we also headed on in so that we could get up and enjoy the time we had on Sunday. We awoke to overcast skies. DH was up at 7 to go search of the WilD Horses that Corolla is known for. I was up and ready by 8 and had the kids up around 8:30. At about 9 I saw DH on the beach and he's seen a bunch of horses, so our family took off to find them too. We navigated the sandy "streets" around the area that were riddled with standing water puddles.



We were able to find several groups of horses not too far from our house and unexpectedly had 2 horses (very tame) that came up to us to be petted on their noses! We couldn't believe it. I got several pictures and I'll share them later when I get them online. As we walked back to the house via the beach, we ran into BIL/SIL and their dogs, so the kids ran around with the dogs and we adults looked for dolphins. And, even with the fairly rough surf, we were able to see some. SIL and I jumped up and down excitedly when one jumped clear out of the water (twice). It was thrilling. The rest of the day was spent by various people, with swimming in the pool, DD using the hot tub again, building castles with the 2 yr old on the beach, reading by the pool, playing pool, playing video games, and later, packing up to go.



The house and stay were so wonderful that we are thinking that we'll try to get several of our relatives together there next fall if we can. It's too expensive and huge for just us! SIL and BIL really splurged on this (they said it took the place of an even more expesive trip that had to be cancelled), so didn't seem like such a stretch when they looked at it that way....plus it took pets!



This is not the kind of beach vacation for people who want to do things other than at the house or within walking distance. The trip back and forth into town is not one you'd want to do too much (in fact one renter wrote in their guest book that it got old really fast...they did travel quite a bit during their week for dinners, golfing, etc). But, the house offers so much for a relaxing vacation, if you stocked up on food and stuff before you got there, you'd be all set. I hope we'll be back.



PS....it was torture getting the kids ready to go on Sunday....they wanted to stay so badly. I think if DH had brought his computer (for work), we just might have stayed an extra night and to heck with school . The trip back was about 5 1/2 hours from the house and we arrived home about 9:15.



I hope you enjoyed reading this. Let me know if you have any questions. -HiddenMickey

[Colexis Mom]

That sounds like a great mini-vacation! I can't wait to see pictures, the house itself sounds amazing! Thanks for sharing

[GoofyMom]

Wow! That's all I can think of to say. Wow!

[KathyL]

It sounds like a great spot. The Outer Banks is a place that I would love to get to eventually. Lucky you.

KathyL

[gumby74]

I love Corolla! Sounds like you had a fabulous trip. It's so peaceful and traquil out there - and the people are really nice. We met the nicest innkeepers in Duck, N.C. one year.

Even though we live in N.C., it's nearly 6 hours to get over there, so we don't go often enough. Thanks for giving me the extra push we need to plan another trip soon.

[luvnwdwgal]

That sounds like a wonderful place to relax!!