One of my favourite things to do in the Outer Banks is to head north to the area where they have the wild horses.
I had envisioned sitting on the beach watching wild horses race in the water (like they do in the movie “Nights of Rodanthe” with Diane Lane). That would be so cool. But, they don’t perform like that.
The wild horses sort of wander around behind the dunes, in people’s yards, on the “roads”, but I still love to try to find them.
We packed up all our beach stuff and a picnic and drove the hour north to where the road ends and you have to continue to drive on the beach.
We stopped shortly before the beach to let some air out of our tires – which makes it easier to drive on the sand (and less likely to get stuck).
Luckily we did too, as we saw a few people get stuck. The sand was pretty deep in places.
We found our spot on the beach, and set up our area. It was crazy windy, and everything got sandy. Mmmm nothing like a sandwich with gritty sand. It didn’t matter – we still enjoyed ourselves!
We headed over the dunes and went in search of some wild horses and found a few. Amazing that they just roam freely! I would love to stay in this area, but I’m not sure how comfortable I’d be not having “real roads” in case there’s a storm. I certainly know Gabe would not like it. One gust of wind and he’s checking in with us to ensure there are no hurricane warnings!
After leaving the beach, and pumping our tires back up, we headed over to the Currituck Lighthouse. Another beautiful lighthouse!
We stopped on our way home at a place called Spankey’s for dinner, where the kids had shrimp burgers and Rob and I had some mahi mahi tacos. Love all this seafood!
We made it home in time for a sunset, and Rob pulled out the kite to fly with the kids. The winds were awesome for kite flying – and Rob was excited like a little kid (and the kids were excited too).
I drove them all crazy by snapping pictures:) I got right in their faces while they were watching the kite fly. I am only posting the ones where they look happy – believe me there were a lot of “please stop taking pictures of me!”
It looks like y’all are having so much fun! Love the photos and am so glad you are having an awesome vacation.
Thank you, Nicole!
Sounds absolutely PERFECT!! We have not done the Outer Banks yet, but it is on our family travel list!-Ashley
It is a MUST!!
My kids were talking about wanting to visit the outerbanks this morning and I was like, “we already live on an island in NC – isn’t that good enough?” But ours doesn’t have wild horses. That is so cool.
Sounds pretty cool to live on a island in NC! So jealous!
I’m pretty sure that the next beach we visit should be the outer banks – after reading all of your posts I’m dying to be there!!!
I love it!
I almost missed the horse in the picture. What a site that must have been. I loved Spankeys when I lived in Savannah!
It’s funny because you see the horses wandering around and you have to remind yourself “this is not a farm”! They are wild. Pretty cool!
Love the “looking up” pictures – they seem to tell a story 🙂 And love the jumping pictures. But the sand getting everywhere? That’s the reason my husband doesn’t want to go on beach vacations 🙁
Yeah, the sandy sandwiches were a bit of a turn off!
Leah, this is crazy! I’ve been talking nonstop all week about the wild ponies of Assateague and Chincoteague Islands in Maryland. I visited them once years ago, and it was mind blowing. They were everywhere! In the parking lot, next to the bridge, on the beach, near the restrooms, on the hiking trails. I wish I had taken more photos. It sounds like a dream, doesn’t it? And they have an annual swim that you can watch, from one island to another.
One day, I will take my daughter there to see the real life My Little Ponies.
I have to check out these islands in Maryland! Sounds like there are a lot more there. It’s pretty magical when you think about it…
This looks like an amazing place to visit! And the wild horses…I would love to see that!! I need to go back and check out the rest of your vacation posts! I’ve fallen a bit behind recently on my blog reading!