Outer Banks NC - Sept 2021

NC Crew + Snarrs

For Shawna's final (although Keith doesn't believe it) 50th birthday celebration, we rented a house in the Outer Banks over Labor Day weekend with our NC friends.  We had 7 couples and 4 kids in the house and had a great time enjoying the surprisingly great weather, playing games, laughing our hearts out and eating way more than we should have!  Included in the house were: Keith/Kate (with the two girls), John/JoAnna, Phil/Joyce, Kim/Jonathan, Steve/Amy and Kim/Tom (who drove down from NJ with Riley and her friend).

Our rental house

We flew into NC a few days prior and stayed at John's house - Keith visited properties while Shawna worked from the house.  On Thursday, we all drove out (we rode with Phil and Joyce as John didn't have enough room in his car) to the beach with most of us arriving around 4pm (the Snarrs came on Saturday).  We checked into the AirBnB rental which was a great house - three stories with plenty of bedrooms, a very large kitchen and dining/living room on the top floor with views of the ocean, several decks out back, some games and a movie theater on the ground floor, and a pool and hot tub in the backyard.  Our only complaint is that the landscaping in the back could have used some work.  After we landed on our bedrooms and got settled in, we had some beers and enjoyed some of the amenities of the house.  John and JoAnna ordered pizza for dinner from Nags Head Pizza Company and then we had some ice cream for dessert from Booty Treats that was right across the street from the house.  

Hanging out on the deck

Pizzzaaaa

On Friday morning, most of us (except John and JoAnna) went on a two hour boat tour to see dolphins in the sound - there were plenty to see!  It was also nice to see some of the islands and lighthouses out on the water as well.

Dolphin Tour

For lunch, Jonathan and Kim made their yummy veggie wraps and then that afternoon, we hung out at the pool/hot tub.  For dinner, Joyce made an amazing meal of Caribbean lamb stew with beans and rice and of course a lemon cake (Shawna's favorite) for dessert.  

Yummy Caribbean Lamb Stew

On Saturday, we went out to the beach in the morning and then had lunch hosted again by Kim and Jonathan who this time made a great salad and sausage rolls.  Kim and Tom arrived right after lunch, bringing cookies with them from Crumbl which we of course all tried.  In the afternoon, we hung out again at the pool/hot tub, drinking and chatting.  

Beach time

That evening, Shawna and Keith hosted dinner - we had arranged for Outer Banks Boil Company to do a seafood boil at the house including shrimp, corn, potatoes, lobster and crab along with key lime pie for dessert.  We all had dinner out on the deck and while we all ate a ton, we still had some leftovers that we used the next day to make chowder.  

Yummy seafood boil

On Sunday, everyone did their own thing in the morning - there was a group of us peeling all the leftover seafood to make the chowder.  After lunch, we kicked off the 'Beach Olympics' which sounds way more active than it really was.  We divided the teams into girls and boys and each person wrote down their proposed competition on a piece of paper.  Joyce was our judge who then drew each competition from the bowl and then we had to decide who from our respective teams would compete, knowing that everyone eventually had to play one of the games and you could not have someone compete in two games in a row.  The games included: standing up from a lying down position while holding a cup of water, describe in a sentence the plot of Forest Gump (which was quite funny), Catch Phrase, shuffle board, holding breath under water, hair flip in the pool, pool relay on floats, shot put, and the ultimate competition - relay running into the ocean and tagging John's hand while we stood out there battling the waves!  The girls won 6-4!  Needless to say there were a lot of laughs.  That night for dinner, the Artins made a tasty Italian meal of pesto pasta, sausage, and eggplant parm!

Beach Olympics!

On Monday, everyone (except Kim and the girls and Steve/Amy) did a 1.5 hour kayaking tour along one of the rivers.  We saw snakes and a spider and lots of pretty plants and trees.  

Kayaking Tour

On our way home, we stopped for an ice cream treat and then had lunch which was leftovers from prior meals plus some freshly boiled shrimp.  That afternoon, we spent more time on the beach.  For our last dinner, Steve and Amy made over two hundred dumplings along with some beans and steamed fish - so yummy!  Since we did not have enough of games from the day prior, we decided to do the cereal box game which brought a lot of laughs - JoAnna won again!

Yummy dumplings!

After a quick breakfast on Tuesday morning, we packed up and left the house around 9:30 to head back to Raleigh.  We rode back again with Phil and Joyce who then dropped us off at John's house.  Once we got there, we went out for a burger and fries (as if we needed anymore food at this point) at Red Robin in Brier Creek and then took a nap back at the house before heading to the airport to fly back to Chicago.  

"Fashion" shoot!

What a great way to wrap up the summer and to celebrate with great friends!