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We took a 3 night trip to the Outer Banks (+1 night in Wilmington) recently in May. Below is what we did while there.

Day 1 (Sunday afternoon):

We decided to stay at the Cape Hatteras KOA Resort in a one bedroom camping cabin instead of pitching a tent for this trip. Glad we did because it was a little chilly at night and quite windy. We recommend this campground as it is in a quite area and directly on the beach with easy access. Our only negative was that the bathhouse is in the RV section and was a walk in the middle of the night.

We knew that there weren’t many options for groceries in Rodanthe so we stopped at a Food Lion in Columbia on the way into the Outer Banks for groceries. If you are staying on this end of the islands, we suggest doing the same! We made dinner at the campground Sunday night and were going to call it an early night after driving all day. That was until we got a text that the campground was hosting a s’mores night around 8pm. Obviously we had to go for dessert!

Day 2 (Monday):

Monday morning we decided to drive north and check out the northern end of the Outer Banks. Our first stop was Wright Brothers National Memorial. The cost is $10/adult (free with NPS pass). We started in the visitor center and made our way around the memorial. Next stop was Duck. We parked at Duck Town Park Boardwalk and walked the boardwalk over to some shops – where we ended up buying new tennis shoes. If you are also in the market, Sound Feet Shoes was extremely helpful and made sure we purchased what we needed for our lifestyle. Our plan was to get Duck Donuts from the original, but they were closed already. We had lunch at Pizzazz Pizza of Duck. Very good buffet and reasonably priced for the area. After lunch, we continued driving north to Corolla and out on the beach for a few miles (only recommended for 4×4 vehicles!). Walked Currituck Banks Maritime Forest Trail Head, but unfortunately did not see any wild horses. Stopped at the Whalehead Club and walked around the grounds (free). Then we slowly made our way down stopping at different stores along the way. Tim played a round of disc golf at Casey R Logan Disc Golf Course in Kill Devil Hills. Then it was time for supper. We found Sam & Omie’s and decided to give it a try. While waiting for a table, several people coming out said it was worth the wait and sure enough it was! Cassie had a garden salad with fried shrimp. Tim had the fried shrimp and scallops with fries and onion rings (for Cassie). Each came with a piece of heavenly corn bread. We would stop again for sure! We ended the night with a campfire at the KOA.

Day 3 (Tuesday):

Our first stop of the day was the Pea Island National Wildlife Refuge for a short mile walk around a gorgeous area. Next up was the Fort Raleigh National Historic Site in Manteo. It started raining while there, but we made the most of it and truly enjoyed exploring the area. We picked up subs then checked out the historic downtown area of Manteo. There was plenty of parking in the public parking area. We walked around the Waterfront Boardwalk area and checked out the lighthouse. There were several cute boutique stores and restaurants downtown. We wish we would have waited to eat downtown because the restaurants looked amazing. Tim needed dessert after the walk so we got soft serve ice cream at Frosties Downtown. They had more toppings than I could count plus a dairy free ice cream. We could have spent hours walking around town. Tim even said that he would live here in a heartbeat! Which is unusual for him because he is more of a mountain boy than a beach bum. On the way back to the campground, we stopped at the Bodie Island Lighthouse. The lighthouse was not open to go inside. However, we enjoyed walking around the area. For supper, we walked across the street from the KOA to Mirro’s Cafe. The food was good, but nothing special. The weather cleared up finally and we got to enjoy the beach for a few hours before nightfall. 

Day 4 (Wednesday):

This day we headed south with plans to spend time on the southern islands. First stop was Buxton Woods Trail at the Cape Hatteras Lighthouse. We briefly stopped at Frisco beach (next time we want to spend more time here, the beach was BEAUTIFUL!) before catching the ferry at the Hatteras Ferry Terminal. This is a free ferry service that runs hourly to Ocracoke – be sure to come early as it fills up quickly and we had to wait for the third ferry. Because of this we were not able to stop anywhere in Ocracoke in order to catch the next ferry. We planned on stopped at the Pony Pen, but that will have to wait for next time. The ferry from Ocracoke to Cedar Island was a long 2.5 hour ferry so we sat in the lounge area upstairs for most of it. Note: you do have to book this ferry a day in advance on the NCDOT website. From Cedar Island to Wilmington was about a 3 hour drive, which wasn’t bad. 

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