August, 2018: Nags Head, Outer Banks, First Colony Inn
The last week in August. It was supposed to be a seven-day cruise on the Danube river from Budapest to Nuremberg to celebrate our 50th wedding anniversary. But Mother Nature decided the Danube should run low on water, and the Viking River Cruise folks let us know three days before we were scheduled to fly out of Atlanta that much (and maybe most) of the trip would be by motor coach because they couldn't move their boats where they needed to go. We, having bought travel insurance, declined, and the trip was postponed until next April (2019), with no money lost except for the cost of the insurance.
So, what to do on short notice? We had always talked about a visit to the Outer Banks of North Carolina, but would we be able to find a room there in August? We did (thank you booking.com), and a splendid one at that. The First Colony Inn, a 26-room bed & breakfast inn, which is on the National Register of Historic Places, had a room available, so we grabbed it. On Saturday morning, August 25th, we dropped our three older dogs (Tina, Bentley, Bailey) at the vet's and headed to Asheville with our youngest rescue (Abby) to spend the night with my sister. Sunday morning we decamped, leaving Abby with my sister, and drove from Asheville to Nags Head on the Outer Banks, a trip of a little over seven hours. The roads were all good, mostly interstate or similar in quality, and, except for the Raleigh-Durham area (thank goodness for GPS), most with light-to-moderate traffic.
The First Colony Inn is on the main road that runs up and down the Outer Banks. The Inn was built in 1932 and moved from its original location to where it stands today. No elevators, and our charming room was on the third floor, but well worth the climb. Happy hour (free wine and snacks) from 4:00 to 5:30 each afternoon (yes we did). Here are some pictures of the Inn, our room, some of the attractive and well-kept surrounding grounds, and the path from the Inn to the beach.
Left-click on image to see larger view. For videos, use controls at bottom right to enlarge to full screen.
The grounds were expansive and well-maintained. Lots of flowers and shrubbery, with birdhouses, a trellis, arbors, a scarecrow, and a king and queen on their colorful flowered thrones.
After unpacking and heading for a quick gander at the beach, we went searching for dinner and found it at Owens, a really nice restaurant that was part of a nearby motel. Very nicely decorated inside (nautical motif; who would have figured?), and the food was delicious. Patty captured a picture of me at the front door. When we entered I told the receptionist "so were we," and it only took her a minute to realize I was referring to the sign outside above their door.
