Outer Banks

After driving through the night we arrived in Raleigh, NC on Sunday morning at about 9am. We arrived at just the right time to be able to caravan with Emily's family to Outer Banks, NC. For those of you who are unfamiliar with Outer Banks--it's a group of barrier islands just off the coast of North Carolina that stretches for roughly 200 miles. Here's a pic for those who are visual learners.

Historically the area is known for being the place where the Wright Brothers achieved their first flight (it actually occurred in Kill Devil Hills, NOT Kitty Hawk). Also, nearby Roanoke Island is the place where the 'Lost Colony' mysteriously vanished in 1587. For those romance novel lovers--Nicholas Sparks lives near Outer Banks and many of his novels are set there. He's the guy that wrote The Notebook, A Walk to Remember, Dear John, Nights at Rodanthe, etc.

Emily's parents rented this awesome beach house within walking distance of the beach.

Currituck Beach Lighthouse near Corolla

Hanging out with Bam-Pa!

We saw a few people crabbing--they used raw chicken breasts as bait.

It worked!

Back at the beach Matt caught plenty of crabs without bait...

I think the girls were checking out a rooster

My cute bride wave watching with Ceilidh

Sarah (Emily's neice) and Andy (Emily's uncle) came with us on a kayak trip on the Alligator River. We saw a lot of wildlife, but no alligators.

The only thing better than wearing flip flops all week was wearing flip flops while eating flip-flop-shaped cookies. Thanks, Andy!

The Wright Brother's Monument

Matt and Cameron flying kites near the Wright Brother's Monument

Sarah practically lived in the water. She only got out to eat and sleep. The jellyfish didn't even keep her out of the water!

Why use a spoon when your face is right there?

Em just loves the beach. Sometimes I feel guilty that we don't live a little closer to the ocean.

When we got up to leave on Sunday morning we found that we had been tagged. We love you, too! Apparently Emily didn't ask to take off work, she just called in and said she was really sick.

Here we are! Thanks for making it such an awesome and memorable trip, Jewell's!

If you want to see more pics of our trip, check out this link:

http://www5.snapfish.com/snapfish/thumbnailshare/AlbumID=1881885028/a=3550255028_3550255028/otsc=SHR/otsi=SALBlink/COBRAND_NAME=snapfish/