A Windy Week in the Outer Banks of North Carolina

Have any of your kids been obsessed with the Outer Banks series? Well, our teen and her friends have been. We knew when we were heading South that we needed to make a stop on the way by in the Outer Banks. We weren’t familiar with the show or the area at all, except for Emma. So we booked a site at the KOA that was there and went in blind.

The first thing that was news to us was that the whole island area out on the coast is all known as the Outer Banks. We thought the island we were on was OBX. Not so. On the map below, the whole red-dotted area is the Outer Banks. We stayed at the KOA in the middle of that in Rodanthe.

We booked a pull-through site at the Cape Hatteras/Outer Banks KOA Resort. When you want a remote location, the coast of NC is where it’s at. It’s miles upon miles of bridges and coasts on both sides of the road. We’ve never been to a place quite like it.

We could literally see the sunrise over the ocean on one side, turn our chairs around that night, and see the sunset on the other side – it was that narrow of an island.

The site we were assigned to was 216, which was a very short walk to the beach. In true KOA fashion, the park staff directed us to our site via golf cart upon arrival. An hour later we were all set up and ready for a week on the beach!

This KOA had many different site types to choose from. There were different varieties of cabins and many different types of RV sites, including some with a private dog pen (if you don’t have a fence for your dogs – we love ours. Check them out here! If you don’t have a fence like this, you may want to consider booking a dog pen so your furry friend can be off-leash.

The cutest site I saw though that I’d check out if you don’t have an RV is these camping yurts. They are elevated off the ground and just super cute! Talk about Glamping!

This campground has a lot of sites all packed in, but not so crowded you feel like someone is looking in your windows. It was also November when we were there so that could account for the quieter crowds. We were happy with our site and its proximity to the beach. We had such beautiful sunrises and sunsets when we were there!

Instead of going into full details of how the campground was laid out, check out our YouTube video of the road through the campground. We are getting better at video editing and they are coming out much smoother even as we ride our Lectric bikes and video. Check it out here (and subscribe to our channel while you are there):

We spent the first and last full day at this campground on the beach. They were the least of the windy days and the weather was the nicest on those two days. It was just gorgeous to wake up and have the beautiful ocean right there. We walked on it. We got our feet wet. We chilled – and all on the ocean.

Given that it was November the water was chilly. It was also incredibly wavy and signs were warning of the riptide. I’m not sure you’d want to be swimming here, especially not with children. Also, we saw a lot of jellyfish along the shores while we were walking. That enough would keep me out of the water! The kids were quite fascinated with these animal sightings though…

If you aren’t a beach fan, the campground pool is open year-round, but very chilly in November. I would think if you are going to keep the pool open later in the year than other campgrounds, wouldn’t you have it heated? When I say it was cold, I mean it was freezing! Good thing there was a hot tub though, which was very popular. If you do jump in the cold pool, you would want a soak in the tub afterward. The pool was quite relaxing just to sit next to.

A campground with a beautiful pool and the Atlantic Ocean right there – what more could you ask for?

We found two main attractions that we wanted to go to while we were in OBX. One was to see more wild horses in Corolla and the other was the Wright Brothers Memorial. And we got to go to both.

Corolla is a town north of where we were, but still in the Outer Banks. It is the northernmost part of the islands, bordering Virginia. You can literally drive out on the beach with any vehicle with 4-wheel drive and look for wild horses. This is totally free and is just marked with signs – not manned. There are many warning signs telling you to let the air out of your tires to between 15 and 20 psi before driving out on the sand. We weren’t going to do it, then decided to do it so we didn’t regret not trying. We didn’t see many horses, but the 6 or 7 we did see were just breathtaking out there on the open sand. We are so glad we made the trip out!

We drove right up to the Virginia line on the beach, which was blocked off signaling us to turn around. Upon returning to the main roads, there were air pumps to refill your tires. Just know – there were no gauges on the pumps to tell you how much air you had in your tires. Our truck has pressure readers on the dash so were were able to see that way, but just keep that in mind!

Check out these great deals from Amazon! (As an Amazon Associate, we earn from qualifying purchases, at no additional cost to you!)

Auto Amazon Links: No products found. Blocked by captcha.

A separate day we stopped at the Wright Brothers Memorial to learn about the first flights taken there in Kitty Hawk. We had learned some of this information while visiting the Smithsonian in Washington D.C. last month, however, seeing the information in depth made it more real. They had a replica of their first plane (the real one we saw at the Smithsonian) as well as many artifacts and details about the planning process for them both back home and here in NC. They also have the ground marked with monuments from where the four flights that day took off and where each one landed. Such a cool piece of history to walk and see in person! A great school day was made out of this stop for us. Plus, we’ve been getting our National Park Passport stamped when we stop at these places, so we got a new stamp here! More to come on that!

Near to this was the Bodie Island Light House. This is another spot where we got our National Park Passport stamped. We learned from a park ranger that this was actually the third version of this lighthouse. The first two were both in locations that are now underwater due to the shifting of land. The lighthouse was closed to walk up during this time of year, but you can walk up to the top during the summer months. Something to consider if you head to NC!

We are finding that with each place we stay, there is history all around. It really aids in your appreciation of these sights and places when you learn the history of them. And with each thing you learn, you really want to learn more and see more. The kids have been engaged and interested in each one. We look forward to see more national parks and getting the kids into some of the Junior Ranger programs.

As for the OBX, we had a great time. It really was an enjoyable, relaxing time soaking in the salt life. The KOA here we would recommend if you are in the area. The amenities were great and you can’t beat camping right on the edge of the ocean. Check out this KOA.