Outer, "outta" Banks and Myrtle Beach

We have been looking forward to getting to North and South Carolina, as everyone we know talked to us about the "Outer Banks" and the quaint beauty of the southern states.  We were not disappointed.  We were coming off of busy days in Williamsburg and were ready for some beach days.  As we drove over the bridge into the northern part of the outer banks, we stopped at the visitors center, unhooked the car and headed north in search of the beloved and famous wild horses.  It was a long 20 mile drive through busy beach towns.  The road literally comes to an end at the beginning of a 10 mile beach stretch.  There are house that are only accessible via the beach by 4 wheel drive vehicles.  We let air out of the four tires, and off we were heading down the beach. 


The end of the road, beginning of beach



Stopped to see some gigantic dead turtles.  Too gross to include.



And we find the Wild Horses!!!!

It was a great different experience for all of us and Matt couldn't help himself from drenching the car in one swoop of coast line.  The boys think he walks on the moon when he does stuff like that.  I was distracted at the time and I didn't have the same reaction.    Afterwards, we found a great local secret to filling up our tires again.  Only in a small beach town would we find tire pumps lined up!

After pumping our tires back up, we headed down the road and enjoyed the narrow road of the outer banks.  Our first camp site was a nice quiet place.  We stayed for three nights and enjoyed the beaches and kite surfers all around. 


Outer banks beaches in Buxton, NC.  Quite windy and cloudy this day, so they build a fort

A favorite shot of the boys

I just love this photo.  A girl enjoying the moment

 
We moved further south, but first had to use the ferry to get off the islands without backtracking.  It's better to pay a small fee to load on a ferry, than gas to go around.  Plus, it's just more fun.  The first ferry went Okracoke Island.  A very cool small island where we found a café and went to finish up our online schoolwork.


We took up the whole side of the ferry!  Do we look lopsided?



Sometimes school includes smoothies.  This was their lucky day.

 The next ferry was a bit longer as the boats have to zig zag around the sand bars.  There are over 1500 ship wrecks and quite a few that are still visible from years before good navigation. It was a rainy afternoon, so a good time to relax in the RV with open windows, reading our books.

As we pulled back inland, we found a great park with a water slide. The kids were so disappointed that it was closed down. One of the downsides of the offseason. Our next park was on an another isle called Pleasure Island which wasn't a great park other than location. We were a block from a fantastic beach. Tanner will tell you that it was his favorite beach as he picked up an unwanted parakeet from our neighbor. As parents, both Matt and I felt like the kids were ready for a small change from the routine. They were so excited!!



This is one happy boy! Meet Tweety

Daddy finally got a beach day. We all loved playing on the boogie boards in this gorgeous surf. 

Onward south into South Carolina!  We have a 5 day stay in Myrtle Beach at a nice resort using our Passport America membership. The pool is really nice but very cold! We have the place to ourselves.

When it's that cold, the kids find other ways to play at the pool. Tanner is the taxi driver. 

We splurged on alligator adventure one day. It was a bike ride away from is and turned out to be very fun. A local park that's been open since the 90's. It's got great photos of one of the first owners/trainers getting bit by a gator. He survived and it's a great shot. We held a baby gator. I loved it.


High five little guy!

Tense moment.  (Just kidding, Dad.)



I really was that excited! 

 

We walked on Myrtle Beach boardwalk today after a library day a block away. It's a mixture of old and new architecture , stores and beauty. 

                                                 Great sign outside. Made me want to eat there.
 

                         Gorgeous day, no crowds. Very busy place in the summer. 

                  I liked this old storefront. The rotating peach has been around since 1937. 

We head about 15 miles south tomorrow to a park called Lakewood which is ocean front and has a new waterpark on site. How can we pass that up?  Photos to come.......