Outer Banks News 
There are currently 16 blog entries related to this category.
St. Patty's Day Parade OBX
Thursday, March 22nd, 2012 at 4:42pm. 85 Views, 0 Comments.
I think this was the 23rd Kelly’s St. Patrick’s Day Parade. Maybe it was the 22nd, maybe the 24th--somehow none of that really seems to matter when it comes to Mike Kelly’s showcase event. Frankly, sometimes I’m not sure it’s even a parade . . . perhaps more a celebration of the joy and importance of being different.
Oh sure, there’s marching bands, the American Legion, police cars, fire engines and drill teams. But let’s face it, when was the last time you saw any parade where the drill team performed with beach chairs--and they’re good, too . . . even if half of them are men dressed as women and the other half are dressed, well, uniquely.
There’s a reason why people begin lining the parade route a good hour to an…
OBX Thanksgiving Festivities
Monday, November 21st, 2011 at 12:22pm. 223 Views, 0 Comments.
After the crowds go home, life on the Outer Banks is pretty much a village atmosphere--maybe a small town but nothing bigger than that.
Except for Thanksgiving and Christmas. And Thanksgiving is the big one when, for one glorious week in late autumn, this place explodes.
If there is such a thing as a homeowner’s week, this is it. That’s not to say that other people do not come down for the week, but homeowners really seem to take advantage of the extra long weekend, pack up the bags and bring the family plus cousins, aunts and uncles to the beach for a holiday feast.
It is remarkable how many people make coming to the Outer Banks during the Thanksgiving holiday part of a family tradition.
Needless to say, with everyone…
Outer Banks Fall Fun
Monday, November 14th, 2011 at 1:42pm. 180 Views, 0 Comments.
It’s been a weekend of fun on the beach--if, that is, you consider running 26 miles 385 yards fun. This has been the Outer Banks Marathon weekend.
Actually it’s much more than just a marathon now. Four races--the marathon, a half marathon, the Outer Banks 8K and Bucanner 5K. And for good measure there is a one mile fun run on Saturday.
For the record, Tim Surface from Raleigh was the overall winner with a time of 2:38:40. The overall women’s spot went to Megan Hovis, Charlotte at 2:54:38.
This was the fifth marathon and it has been growing in popularity and importance ever since the first one was run in 2007. It is now one of the qualifying races for the Boston Marathon, and it doesn’t hurt, either, that the course…
Parade of Homes 2011
Thursday, September 29th, 2011 at 1:29pm. 344 Views, 0 Comments.
For
19 years the Outer Banks Parade of Homes has been a showcase for everything
that is best about owning a home on the Outer Banks--true craftsmanship in
construction, innovative design and beautiful settings. For the second year in
a row, Resort Realty will be teaming up with SAGA Construction to show the
outstanding features of a SAGA built home and talk about the advantages of
property ownership on the Outer Banks.
“We are pleased to partner with SAGA construction in representing their fine homes to our Parade of Home attendees,” Chris Toolan, Business Development Director for Resort Realty, says. “These superior investment homes and our experienced and dedicated real estate brokers will provide an elevated experience to those…
Outer Banks Upcoming Events
Tuesday, September 13th, 2011 at 9:19am. 227 Views, 0 Comments.
Autumn may be the best time of the year on the Outer Banks. The weather is warm, but not hot. The water temperatures are perfect. And there are still a ton of things to do.
The premier fall event on the Outer Banks is the Duck Jazz Festival (www.duckjazz.com), October 9th. A free outdoor festival, if there is one show to come on the Outer Banks, this is it. It has evolved into a weekend long celebration of music, festivities and food in the Village of Duck.
The Outer Banks Forum for the Lively Arts (www.outerbanksforum.org, 252.255.2274) has been around for a number of years, and they seem to have really outdone themselves this fall. On September 24th and 25th Always... Patsy Cline is being presented at First Flight High School--which has…
Reconnecting Hatteras After Irene
Monday, September 12th, 2011 at 3:05pm. 287 Views, 0 Comments.
Here on the northern Outer Banks, life has pretty much returned to normal--except for the piles of broken tree limbs, trees, branches and homes that still line the residential streets.
Unfortunately, the same cannot be said for Hatteras Island, although to their credit, NCDOT seems to be moving heaven and earth (and a lot of earth) to reconnect Hatteras with the rest of the world.
When Irene breached Pea Island just north of Rodanthe, it did more than just wipe out 200 yards of road. The electric power supply was also severed and at this point in time, all power from Hatteras Village to Rodanthe is being supplied by a series of diesel generators that are just adequate to meet the needs of the residents. It’s not that visitors are not…
Hurricane Irene - After the Storm
Thursday, September 1st, 2011 at 1:03pm. 473 Views, 0 Comments.
I am amazed at how quickly Dare and Currituck County emergency services got things up and running after Irene. Two days after the event, the northern Outer Banks (unfortunately that does not include Hatteras Island) was open and ready for business again. All that being said . . .
Now the cleanup begins. Which might be the most miserable part of a hurricane--especially this one. There was a lot of wind, a lot of rain, but the worst part of Irene was the flooding. It was not the ocean that poured over the dune line this time, it was the sounds rising to levels even people who have lived here all their lives had never seen.
My neighbor and I gave the high water mark on our homes a quick eyeball, estimated the distance from the floor of the…
Tracking a Hurricane
Thursday, August 25th, 2011 at 12:32pm. 404 Views, 0 Comments.
It is an odd, even bizarre, thing to be tracking a hurricane knowing there is a
reasonable chance the eye will pass over your house. You find yourself spending
inordinate amounts of time on the National Hurricane Center website tracking
the predicted path of the storm. That’s followed by 10 minutes of wading
through the NHC discussion trying to figure out just what a dropsonde is (a
weather sensor designed to be dropped from an aircraft) and what they mean when
they say “The new ECMWF shows much more amplification of the trough.”
Then, you spend the next 15 minutes checking out other weather websites to see if there is any hope that the storm will head out to sea--which as it turns out, is a possibility. The GFDL (not that it matters,…
Outer Banks Daredevils Baseball
Friday, July 29th, 2011 at 1:22pm. 683 Views, 0 Comments.
I've
been to two Outer Banks Daredevils baseball games this year and I've got to say
the level of play on the field is surprisingly good. Well, at least the
Daredevils seem to play a good brand of ball. Opening night, when they crushed
the Petersburg Generals 24-2--that wasn't very good baseball. The best I can say
about the Generals is they did not look as though they were ready to play yet,
and their season could only improve from that point.
The Outer Banks Daredevils are a member of the Coastal Plain League, which has 15 teams playing in South Carolina, North Carolina and Virginia. The League is made up of some of the best college players around, and for a lot of them, it's the first time they have ever used a wooden bat, which is a must…
The Lost Colony
Wednesday, July 27th, 2011 at 10:15am. 430 Views, 0 Comments.
The “Lost Colony” has been a part of Outer Banks life since 1934 and is the longest running outdoor drama in the country--which is as hardly a reason to go see it. The reason to see the 2011 production is how good it is.
One of the reasons the “Lost Colony” has survived--well, thrived--is that it has consistently reinvented itself.
The core of the play has not changed. Old Tom was and always will be a drunken loser who finds redemption in the New World. Sir Walter Raleigh is a vigorous man filled with dreams and vision, yet ultimately a broken figure, living out his life in chains. Queen Elizabeth is regal and Chief Wanchese and Manteo are filled with a personal enmity for one and other that complicates an already violent…
