Corolla

Long time no blog! We spent the last week in the Outer Banks with friends, and had what was possibly the most perfect vacation ever: good friends, lots of fun, and a span of the most perfect beach weather you could imagine -- non-scorching temps and not a drop of rain or spot of clouds except for a brief, cozy thunderstorm late one night. 

In all that beach-going (and there was a lot), our favorite trip was probably the jaunt we made to the beach in Corolla, at the most isolated part, just south of the very isolated Carova village. To access the beach in this area, you actually have to go past where the main road ends and drive onto the beach, which is definitely not for beginners. You have to bring everything you might need -- water, food -- there are definitely no convenience stores. Time the tides wrong, bring the wrong vehicle, and forget your tow strap, and you might have a serious problem. You also have to keep a close eye on the kids as they play on the beach, because of the cars that go by on the regular. 

But the trip is worth it, because once you're there, you're on one of the most pristine stretches of beaches in the banks. There's nothing but dunes and sky and some of the best, gentlest waves in the area. The shelf is broad and flat and a lot easier for the little ones than the ones further south in Nags Head/Hatteras. 

We spent a few hours swimming and body-surfing and eating ham biscuits and potato salad...and then the horses came. The wild Banker ponies, supposedly descended from stallions that came ashore from Spanish shipwrecks. They wandered down from the dunes like they owned the place -- six or seven, complete with yearlings -- and I guess, if you think about it, they do. None of our group, despite many years of coming to OBX, had ever seen the Banker ponies up close and so wild, and it made for one of the most thrilling beach experiences ever. 

....besides getting stuck in the sand on the way out with the tide coming up fast, but that's a different kind of thrilling altogether.