Last summer we took a week and did a road trip out to Outer Banks, NC. It was one of our favorite trips we have taken as a family and this summer we knew we wanted to go back.
We decided to go at the end of July/beginning of August. We left on a Thursday evening and decided to take a pit stop at Holiday World. Griff had never been and we were anxious to take him to the water park there (Splashin' Safari). Knowing how obsessed he is with water, we knew he would love it. We woke up early the next day and spent the whole day there! We started the day on the amusement park side and took Griff on a log ride. He was just barely tall enough and the shortest kiddo by far in line (and there are no lap restraints on this ride though it has a pretty good drop) so I was a little nervous he would get scared, but so far he hasn't really gotten scared on anything we had taken him on so I was fairly sure he would love it. During the ride he wasn't overly animated but as soon as we got to the bottom of the biggest hill he started clapping and signing more.
After the log ride, we spent most of the rest of the day in the water park side of the park. There was one area of the park that had a bunch of kids slides all in a row, a smaller wave pool, and a kids water playground all next to each other. We spent most of the day hopping between these. Griff loved going down the slides with us and "jumping" the waves. He liked the water playground ok - but after getting a couple buckets dumped on his head by bigger kids wasn't the biggest fan. We also hopped over to the lazy river a few times and Griff loved laying back in a kids tube and floating the river (multiple times in a row!) with us.
After leaving the water park side, we hopped over to the amusement park side and let Griff ride a few of the smaller rides with us or on his own. They had a train, scrambler, arcade shooting type game, and a few others we all rode together and a few smaller kids rides he was able to ride on his own. He loved all of them! He also rode a kids "drop zone" type ride with me - he signed more when he was done but I think did get a little nervous on this one.
Tim & I used to try to take a day every summer and go to Holiday World when we were dating so it was special to get to experience it with Griff and we hope it is a tradition we get to continue! After spending the day at Holiday World we got up early the next day and headed to Beckley, WV. We stayed at the campground connected to the Beckley Exhibition Coal Mine. Unfortunately, the coal mine was closed that evening we were there. However, we really enjoyed walking around some of the outside areas of the Exhibition and ended up deciding to stop back through there on our way back to get to do the full tour. We also went over to the New River Gorge and checked out one of their visitor centers, the main bridge, & Thurmond, WV (an old mining town). Griff really enjoyed seeing the exhibits on the coal mines because many of them included exhibits on trains (as trains were used to transport the coal).
We headed out to Oregon Inlet Campground in Outer Banks from Beckley WV. We left really early and actually arrived around mid day and got set up - which was wonderful because it gave us a whole evening on the beach that afternoon-evening! Griff loved playing in the sand while we got set up and was so excited to get to the beach that afternoon. The campground we stayed at had a beach you could drive on right by it - so we had borrowed my dad's truck (since Tim's isn't 4WD) and were able to drive right up...which is sooo nice when you tote as many things as we do with having Griff. Griff isn't at all afraid of the waves so we spent most of our time at the beach chasing him around and making sure he didn't dive in the ocean! We also made lots of sand castles which Griff was a big fan of.
Our next day in Outer Banks we drove over to Corolla, NC. We stopped on our drive to have lunch by the water and then went to Corolla Beach to try to see the wild horses (you can drive on the beach with them). We didn't see a ton, but did see 3-4 wild horses! After that we drove back toward Currituck & Whalehead and walked around, checking out the old lighthouse, village, and a lodge in the area. Griff was very obsessed with lighthouses this trip and got so excited every time we saw one.
The next morning we went to a local place to grab donuts (Duck Donuts) - one of mama's favorite traditions with Griff. After we drove down to Salvo Day Use Area (a sound side beach). This is one of our favorite beaches to take Griff to because it is very shallow and very calm - so we don't have to worry about or chase Griff as much. He loved being able to splash in the water and happily spent most the day splashing or walking around in it with us in between building sand castles. That evening we also walked out to a ship wreck near our campground (Ocean Pursuit), checked out the lighthouse near our campground (Bodie Island), and found a great local place for frozen yogurt (Surfin' Spoon). We spent the next day at Salvo Day Use Area again and got ice cream again that evening - as they were easily our favorite parts of our trip this and last time. Griff also completed the Junior Ranger program (with help from mama!) and got his badge from the National Park Ranger at the Bodie Island Lighthouse nearby.
Our last day we drove our to the Graveyard of the Atlantic Museum (Griff loved the exhibits on pirates!) and took the ferry over to Ocracoke to swim on the beach and got him some ice cream. Griff got a kick out of riding the ferry over (you drive your car on!).
We woke up early and headed out for Beckley, WV again and got there around mid day on our way back. We stayed overnight here at the campground again and were able to see the Exhibition this time! I was so excited to learn more about mines and actually get to tour one (as so many of the families I knew from ASP were connected to or worked in the mines). We also got to tour a mine "town" which was interesting. Griff also loved exploring their Youth Museum (as it was Thomas the Train themed and he is obsessed with trains!).
Overall, we had the best time in Outer Banks - and our other stops on the way there/back! It continues to be one of our favorite places to go as a family - and we really enjoyed seeing how much Griff had changed as far as what he was able to do with us and explore this trip versus last! On our last day when we got Griff up to get in the truck he briefly woke up (I was hoping he'd stay asleep since we left early) and got sad when he realized we were headed home - because he wanted to continue to camp! It was such a sweet thing - and Tim and I kind of were in agreement we would've loved to continue to road trip and were glad he loved it so much. Here's to many more years of family road trips - to Outer Banks and beyond.
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