If I go back, I’ll definitely try Blue Point. Thanks for the tip. We are the last people that expects “fine dining”, but we got frustrated after everywhere we went, its either deep fried in a ton of batter, or bad quality.
Since we moved to NC, we have hit up almost every beach within a 3-4 hour drive. But now we find ourselves sticking with Wrightsville and Topsail.
Neal, do you have any names of these places to by seafood in your head?
I will definitely be looking to cook some good food in June. Thanks
Our annual January Outer Banks trip was just cut short by winter storm Jonas. Even in the off-season, we have had good luck with fresh seafood at Coastal Privisions Market and Carawan Seafood (both in the Kitty Hawk / Southern Shores area). A solid addition to Blue Point for dining out is the Blue Moon Beach Grille located a bit further south (milepost 13 I think).
I have probably been to OBX 100 times. Bluepoint is a very good restaurant in Duck. And occasionally it can be great. The list is OK. They do allow corkage. But it is about 30 min from KDH. We usually arrive about 20 min before our reso and have a drink on the sound side outdoor bar and watch the sun set. Be careful with driving, especially with speed and ETOH. The better area is the Northern beaches. In mid May you should be OK. But on the weekends, in summer, the houses change over and the roads are jammed. A 20 min drive can turn into 2.5 hours. Tommy’s Market in Duck is a good place to get some provisions. At the right time the Sanderling is a good place to stay, but it is pricey. I would avoid the life saving station. Kimball’s Kitchen(formerly The Left Bank) is the top restaurant at the Sanderling. Just across the street. Not eaten there yet. I would try to see as many lighthouses as possible.
OK, It’s on. I will be there Thursday the 23rd through Sunday the 26th, checking out Monday the 27th.
I still don’t have the exact coordinates, but I’m sure we will be somewhere in the north. I will do my own research and reach out to locals, but any INLAND suggestions for a day trip on Friday? I would probably mix that with a Civil War site close to a really good barbecue place within a 2hr drive of Manns Harbor? When I know where we are actually staying, I will update. But I figure Fri night rehearsal dinner, Sat wedding Sun brunch so not that much time to do stuff other than Friday or Monday after we check out and maybe stay somewhere inland at the end of the day. Need to be in Philly for Phish on the 28th!
Is the wedding in Manns Harbor? If so, the nearby Tranquil House Inn in Manteo was very nice when we stayed there some years ago. That isnt the northern banks though. That is south of Nags Head.
The Naval museum in Norfolk is interesting and has the USS Wisconsin moored outside to tour. It is within your 2 hour drive when there is no traffic. End of June? Iffy, and totally impossible on a weekend.
The Northern beaches are a long way away. 1-3 hours depending on traffic.
I’m staying in Nags Head. Comfort inn. Apparently didn’t make the cut for the beach house. Driving down Thursday departing Monday. Parents might not be able to get much more time off work to make a full week. Google Maps is telling me to take the coastal route through Norfolk, so it looks like I will be spending time at Kitty Hawk.
I revived the B’s Barbecue thread; I will try to make a day trip of that Friday and get back to the beach by mid-afternoon to avoid traffic.
Mama Kwon’s looks like it’s on the list for fish tacos. Has anyone tried High Cotton Barbecue? As all of you who have commented in the thread so far, every restaurant in the Kitty Hawk/Nags Head/Kill Devil Hills area seems to have a ‘touristy’ element to it, but this one seemed to have good reviews on Yelp, along with the Kill Devil Grille and Spanky’s Grille. That should pretty much cover my needs for a 4 night stay around a wedding.
There is no coastal road from Norfolk to NC. Between the Outer Banks and VA is a wildlife refuse. What is the name/number of this alleged road?
Google Maps says once in Delaware to take the 1 south, which I assume is a state coastal hwy which goes down through MD (becomes the 13) and then 168 south from Norfolk. If it’s really faster to take 95 straight through that could help me accomplish getting to B’s Barbecue in Greenville on Thursday instead of doing a day trip there on Friday.
No, 168 is the route, it just isn’t along the coast. It takes you on the western side of the Sound and then across the Wright Brothers bridge, which on the weekend in the summer can be absolute torture. You’ve been warned!
You have the touristy part right. Black Pelican is OK for lunch. But nothing more. Ocean Boulevard is OK for dinner. But you usually have to ask them to leave off 2-3 things from a dish. Heavy on the Cali wines, with all the usual names, if that is your thing. I really struggle for places to eat. Blue point is the bright shining food star of the whole damn OBX. But probably an hour from you. Really pretty amazing that most every place sucks. No good restaurant has lasted more than 2 years. You should be good going in on Thur. but beware late Fri afternoon. And watch your speed at all times, especially on Beach Road.
Just stumbled across this thread and feel comfortable to comment. I’m originally from NC, my family has had a house in Corolla since 1996 and my folks have been living there full time since the early 2000’s.
Neal and Gary are right, the Blue Point is good. Their NC farm raised catfish is very good, it’s been on the menu for at least two decades. It’s not overly battered either which is something I can’t abide. Here’s the wine list if you’re interested.
http://www.thebluepoint.com/menus/wine/
Further south from there at the intersection between US 158 and NC 12 is Steamers. Their steamer pots are good, albeit pricey. Since moving (they were in Corolla) they have more dine in space. I also recommend their chowder, it’s very good. IIRC you can also buy fresh seafood there if you’d rather buy something specific instead of opting for a steamer pot.
And up in Corolla is North Banks at TimBuck II. For lunch their shrimp cake burger is hard to go past, as is their yellow fin tuna burger. It can get a bit busy at dinner. Also, their New England Clam Chowder is very good as they’ve gone back to their original recipe. For a couple years there they were serving what I termed hipster clam chowder, with kale of all things in it. it was an abomination but thankfully they’ve come to their senses and reverted to the original.
Across the street from TimBuck II is a new Mexican restaurant, Agave Roja. Their tequila selection is on point and their Chamorro (pork shank) is killer.
For wine in the Corolla area I recommend Bacchus. It’s also across the street from TimBuck II in the Food Lion shopping center on the south facing side of the complex. To my knowledge they’ve got the best wine selection on NC 12, granted that’s not a huge endorsement. Largely domestic but there are some old world wines as well. Further they’ve got a decent selection of cheeses.
http://bacchuswineandcheese.com/wine/
For down on US 158 I can’t speak highly enough about Trio in Kitty Hawk. They’ve got a solid selection of wines including a decent portfolio of Burgundy and Piedmontese wines. Their cheese and meat selection is competent. They also have a very healthy wine by the glass program as they’ve got 20+ bottles in Enomatic machines. You could spend an afternoon in there tasting by the glass and I suspect you wouldn’t be disappointed. Here’s what they’re selling by the glass at the moment.
http://obxtrio.com/outer-banks-restaurant-menu/wine-menu/
As for things to do around in the area that’s largely dependent on if you’re down there for the peak tourist season. If so then you can pretty much guarantee all sorts of tourist trap style offerings will be available. Other things are year round, like the Wright Brothers Memorial, Jennette’s Pier, Lighthouses, the Whalehead Club as well as the new Outer Banks Center for Wildlife Education. North of Corolla you can drive on the beach year round and it’s quite likely to see the wild horses either on the beach itself or up in the dunes after you’re north of the wildlife refuge. Do not do this if you’re not in a capable vehicle though, especially if it’s during peak season and the beach is tore up from traffic. You will get bogged. You will pay at least a couple hundred dollars to get towed out. If you’re there during peak season you can get a guided wild horse tour. If you opt for that I recommend the tour provided by the Corolla Wild Horse Fund as they’re a nonprofit charity setup to assist in herd preservation instead of a for profit business driving people up and down the beach.
And finally I should mention that personally I much prefer to be on the Outer Banks during winter instead of peak season. Corolla has maybe 200-300 year round residents so when the tourists aren’t around the place is positively tranquil (excluding the F/A-18s coming out of Norfolk on the regs or the occasional rocket out of Wallops). Also historically (maybe 30 years ago and before) Corolla wasn’t really the tourist destination it is now and was probably best known for waterfowl hunting. If that’s your sort of thing and you’d like to do some duck hunting down there drop me a PM. My old man is a hunting guide and has access to plenty of bush blinds in the sound in Currituck county. He’s got hot plates in the blinds as well and is well known for cooking up boneless pork chops and scrambled eggs in the blind for everyone for breakfast. A hot meal out on the water when it’s below freezing makes duck hunting much easier to tolerate in my opinion. Mike Marsh did a write up about him in the October 2015 issue of American Waterfowler. He knows his stuff when it comes to waterfowl hunting.
Some wineries out there, no?
None worth looking at to my knowledge. Sanctuary vineyards is over on the mainland in Currituck county (or Dare county, I’m unsure) but I’ve never had the fortitude to have a look.
http://sanctuaryvineyards.com/shoponline.html
If you do venture over there drop into the Digger’s Dungeon, the home of Grave Digger.
http://www.gravedigger.com/ContentPage.aspx?id=51
And for the locals apparently the Saturday nights at Dennis Anderson’s Mud Motorsports Park are all the rage. Dennis owns Grave Digger/Digger’s Dungeon. Teeth are optional.
Andrew,
Thanks for your suggestions. In my particular case, perhaps I will try to check out Steamers and Trio but everything else looks a bit far away for me. Your posts definitely have great info for folks headed to the north or south.
Andrew, thanks for the info. Most of that is familiar to me, but any little bit of info helps. An every year treat for us (Whalehead).
Anytime folks. Feel free to reach out if you have any questions. If I can’t answer it I’ll pass it on to the fam and let them have a crack.
Re-upping this, as we’re headed to the Outer Banks next month. We’re flying into Norfolk, and driving the rest of the way. We’ll probably bring a case of wine, but ideally we’d like to find a wine shop to stop at along the way (or once we’re across the bridge).
Any recommendations?