On November 29th, we were standing at the Pacific Ocean in San Diego, California. One month later, we were standing at the Atlantic Ocean in Rodanthe, North Carolina. Coast to coast in such a short time span – what a treat!

The theme of the first half of 2016 was “new home” with us selling our home and buying a new one. The theme for the second half of 2015 was “travel” because we simply couldn’t get enough. So it made perfect sense to take a little trip to the Outer Banks and ring in the New Year with my mom, stepdad, sister and all the dogs.

Off season on Cape Hatteras is quiet and peaceful. Many things are closed and nearly all the tourists are gone. It’s a great time to relax and enjoy the empty beaches and mild weather. The first few days were cloudy and rainy, but warm so we had some fun time on the beach. Our last day was cold but sunny and we saw a fabulous sunset on the ferry from Ocracoke Island to Cape Hatteras. Enjoy the pictures and Happy 2016!

We woke up to the sun trying to come out from behind the clouds on our first morning. 

We went down to Hatteras Island for the day and drove by the lighthouse, checked out a few fun shops and sights and had lunch.

New Year’s eve it was 70 degrees so we headed to the beach with the dogs. The water was chilly but not cold enough to keep me and Stella from getting our feet wet!

Me and my sister Angie with Lucy and Stella.

Stella’s beach dress has seahorses on it and little ties on the straps. It’s adorable.

My handsome hubby and his girl. <3

After our time on the beach, I set Stella in the pool on the first step and rinsed her off. She proceeded to get super hyper and got crazy “zoomies” – she ran around the pool area at least 20 times. Me and my mom were cracking up. I then gave her a bath in the tub as she completely covered in sand by that point. Sean and I got in the hot tub and let Stella out on the deck with us. Well, that wasn’t enough for her. She walked right up the steps and launched herself into the hot tub and started swimming. It was hilarious! Of course, we took her out right away because it was too hot for her but we were dying laughing. Our crazy fluffy girl.

Later that day Sean and I headed into Manteo on Roanoke Island for lunch and to explore a bit. The weather was pretty dreary but we still managed to have lunch at Poor Richard’s Sandwich Shop, walk around the marina and visit several shops. We carried on our tradition of getting a souvenir Christmas ornament from our travels in one of the local stores.

Manteo is a cute town and although many things were closed for the season, we still had fun. I mean, how could we not with random things like enormous chairs in the square?

Our New Year’s Even dinner was “build your own pizza” an idea Sean had from what they used to do when he was a kid. It was a lot of fun. We then played the card game “hand and foot” until about 11.30 when we opened some bubbles and watched the ball drop. 

New Year’s Day was spent relaxing. Aside from going outside, we didn’t leave the house. It was still cloudy but not raining and the temperature had dropped into the high 50s.

The house was cozy and quaint and the kitchen was surprisingly well-stocked for a vacation rental. We speculated that the owners must like to cook.

We enjoyed the hot tub, the shuffleboard table and many rounds of card games before Sean made us an awesome dinner of sweet and sour pork. Everyone loved it.

On Saturday, we drove down to Hatteras Island and got on the ferry to Ocracoke Island. It was cold but sunny.

We went for lunch at the Ocracoke Oyster Company and had – you guessed it – oysters.

Like Cape Hatteras, many places on Ocracoke were closed for the season. But the nice weather and lack of traffic made it easy to walk around the island and its lovely, tree-covered and sandy back roads.

The island has a quaint harbor and a small lighthouse that Sean referred to as “the shitty little lighthouse” because it stands only 75 feet tall. I still like it.

We began to head back to the ferry in the late afternoon, knowing it would take about 2 hours to get back to the house (2+ hours on the ferry and a 40ish-minute drive). We stopped at the beach on the way. It’s different from the beaches of Cape Hatteras in that it’s wider, flatter and has much smaller waves. It’s stunning in its natural beauty and often makes it onto lists for America’s Best Beaches. 

The sunset over the Pamlico Sound while we were on the ferry was such an incredible treat. I think we saw every color of the rainbow as the sun dipped behind the clouds, turning them bright pink and leaving glittering light on the water. Ahhh.

We left early the next morning for the 9-hour drive back to Atlanta. I still feel Sean didn’t get the full OBX experience because so many things were closed. While I don’t like coming in peak season of the summer, May or September have both proven to be great times to visit as the crowds are much smaller and everything is open. Until next time, Outer Banks. You are still the most beautiful place in the world to me. So remote, natural, tranquil and with such an uncertain future these barrier islands are not to be missed!