Touring the Lighthouses on the Outer Banks..please help!

[Briansmom]

Hi Everyone....DH and I will be taking a getaway trip while sweet, special DS is away at camp for kids with autism. We are thinking about touring the lighthouses on the Outer Banks on the Harley. I have never been to the Outer Banks except for Kill Devil Hills one afternoon a million years ago so I am clueless how to plan for this. These are the parameters we are working with and I need help with planning the timing of where/when we stay so I can go ahead and make reservations ahead of time. Don't think I want to go off the cuff for a trip like this.

We are leaving on Monday morning and must return Thursday nite or early Friday morning.
We live in the center of the state.
I would like to spend 2 nites in one place so I can 'relax' a little and not be on the back of a bike the entire trip.
I want to experience some of the real uniqueness of the Outer Banks
I think I want to go from middle of state up to Currituck and end at Harkers Island then head back to central NC.
I can't break the bank.

So, anyone with any experience on a trip like this? In the little bit of looking I have done at accommodations, many places seem to want to book a week at a time and that won't work for us obviously.
I appreciate any advice and knowledge anyone could share with me. :)

[VAdizneefan]

Shutters on the Banks at Outer Banks -- that's a motel type place we stay that is ocean front and very reasonably priced. They have two buildings, the main building with the lobby and two floors (outside room entrances) and the tower building with four floors (also has outside room entrances and an elevator). I either stay in the pool side rooms or the bottom floor of the tower. There are two pools, one inside and one outside. In our experience, they both stay pretty cool unless you're in the dead of summer. They have free breakfast in the morning but it's just your run of the mill fare.

There's a second place we stay when we go in the fall with extended family. It's called Cambridge Cove at Bermuda Bay. These are townhouses that people own and rent, you can rent for just one day at a time if you want. They have a great waterplay and pool area for the townhouse owners and guests. This place is also very reasonable. The townhouses have a garage and are three levels in total. Some are nicer than others based on the owner's style and furnishings but we like it there. This place is not ocean front at all though if that matters.

The Outer Banks is really family oriented has lots of rental homes and older motels. If you look at a map of the whole thing, you've got Corolla up at the top followed by Duck, Kitty Hawk, Kill Devil Hills, Nags Head, and then all of the southern cities like Salvo, Waves, Rodanthe, Buxton, Ocracoke, etc. It is a really LONG drive from Corolla all the way to Ocracoke (well you've got to take a ferry over to Ocracoke itself anyway) but the drive is nice and you can see a lot. Corolla down to Nags Head takes probably 20-30 minutes depending on traffic. Four lighthouses, Corolla Light, Bodie Island, Cape Hatteras, and Ocracoke. You can go up inside of Corolla to the top and Hatteras (but this one is pretty strenous) but you can't go in Bodie or Ocracoke. There's also the Wright Brothers Memorial which Cambridge Cove is actually situated very near. Jockey's Ridge is a huge sand dune area that is very outdoorsy that you might like. Wild horses supposedly roam north up in Corolla and you can take jeep tours out to see them. We've never done this but have always wanted to.

Piles of restaurants, some really good and some way overpriced and touristy. You've pretty much got to hit the spots the locals go.

There are two main roads through Kitty Hawk to Nags Head. The beach road is the oceanfront road where all the little run-down motels sit side by side with gigantic multimillion dollar houses. Shutters on the Banks is right between Kitty Hawk and Kill Devil Hills, very close to Cambridge Cove but on the oceanfront side. Everything down there is listed by the milepost it is located at. Kitty Hawk starts the counter and Nags Head pretty much wraps it up around MP 16 or so. The other main road is the bypass which is where all of the restaurants and most of the stuff to do is. You cannot (safely in my opinion) walk across the bypass to the beach road. I've seen people do it but I wouldn't. It's way to far of a walk from Cambridge Cove to the beach too.

Hope this helps and I didn't ramble too much. I had just typed this up for someone else so I thought I would share. Have fun!

[Briansmom]

This sounds great....like a good place to start. I think I will plan for us to stop at one of these places early afternoon on the first day so we can enjoy what that area has to offer and maybe plan on going down towards Hatteras Island mid day the next day. Thanks so much for such wonderful information. I do have a question on Shutters....it sounds great but was reading on Trip Advisor that their mattresses are wrapped in plastic....is that the case? I have slept on mattresses like that and never could really cool off and my husband is like an industrial heater and not sure he could get comfortable. Thanks again!

[VAdizneefan]

I don't recall whether or not their mattresses are wrapped in plastic; we've never found them uncomfortable. You could always call their front desk and ask. They are very friendly. :)