Trip Report Upper OBX May 2-5.

See remainder of trip report in Ocracoke forum.

We stayed in Nags Head at the Sea Foam Motel. This was a great choice for us (me and my wife). Motel is right on the beach, great view from second floor ocean front balcony. Nice to sit out on balcony and watch the surf and dolphins. Motel is a bit older mom and pop type. The room was larger than expected and very nice and clean. This is not luxury accommodations, but is perfect for location and if you are OK with retro beach motel type place. The staff was very friendly and helpful.

And even better it was right across the street from Owen%26#39;s Restaraunt and just up road from Sam and Omies. We ate at Owens Sun night and the food was very good. The best meal we had on the Banks for sure. We both had seafood and both cuts were very nice and well cooked. I would rate it 8.5 - 9 on scale of 10.

We also had a carry out breakfast biscuit from Sam and Omies on our last day that was really good and excellent value for money.

The only place we ate that was disappointing was Darrel%26#39;s on Manteo. Although we did not expect fancy or haute cuisine we did expect good seafood when we went to this mom and pop type place. We were very disappointed with the flounder and the crabcakes. While edible and reasonable portions, I expect better seafood on the coast. We would have been better off at Long John Silvers. I did see a cheesestake sandwich one of the waitresses was eating that looked good. While not terrible food, it was disappointing. Say a 4 on scale of 10.

Activities

Roanoake Festival Park which is 1/2 price on Sundays and was worth the admission. Really learned a lot from the enactors who have an extensive knowledge of history of area. Well worth the money and time.

Barrier Island Aviation Bi Plane ride. We did the 20+ min ride and it was truely awesome. Neither of us had ever flown in open cockpit plane. Ride was very smoooth (suprisingly) even in strong wind. Flew over the Sound, over Wright Bros memorial, Jockey ridge and along the beach. Saw a shipwreck underwater, dolphins and I saw a pretty large sea turtle. Although a bit expensive $200 for both, this was worth it for a splurge event.

Jockey Ridge SP. We had a great time here and luckily rain was threatening and it was not too hot. We enjoyed the Tracks in Sand trail and playing on the dunes. A couple of somewhat difficult climbs up dune sides on this path. Well worth the visit.

Wright Bros Memorial was worth the $4 admission. Nice exhibit with replica first flight plane. Very interesting and learned a lot.

We saw all 4 lighthouses and climbed Currituck and Hatteras. View from the top was very nice at both sites. Interesting exhibits. Nice drive up to Currituck to check out the upper part of island. We did Wright Bros and Jockey Ridge the same day.

The beach was the major attraction, with beautiful strong surf. We enjoyed being right on the beach for nice walks along the beach and playing in the waters edge. Down toward Hatteras and especially on Ocracoke the undeveloped areas were especially beautiful.

I guess our biggest surprise was the large number of rental houses all over the place. Although we had read about the rentals we were still stunned by the large number seemingly everywhere. Made us very grateful we had come before season. I could not imagine dealing with what must be enormous crowds during the summer. But early May was perfect for us, even if some attractions still were not open.

We really enjoyed the whole area and our subsequent visit to Ocracoke for the remainder of the week through Sat (see Ocracoke forum if interested). Thanks to everyone for their suggestions and posts.

Later

Trip Report Upper OBX May 2-5.

Enjoyed reading your review. Glad you had a great time.............

Trip Report Upper OBX May 2-5.

Sounds like a great trip and you packed a lot in for such a short amount of time!