Outer Banks - 5.17.11 - Cool Start at 5th St.
Cool start this morning. Overcast with a mix of sun & clouds today, but temps will be in the upper 70′s. Waist high swell is coming through. Some choppy, rideable sections, but southeast winds are not cleaning the surf. Fish are biting – offshore, near shore, Piers, Sound, and bridges.
Outer Banks - 5.16.11 - Great Spring Day at Avalon Pier
Good morning. Here’s the Outer Banks Beach, Surf, & Fishing Report for Monday, May 16, 2011.
This video was shot at 10 AM at the Lillian St. beach access in Kitty Hawk.
Already May 16th?! Wow, May is flying by. Really starting to feel like summer. We had a gorgeous OBX weekend with sun and temps in the upper 70′s, and that weather is going to carry into this week. Sun and 70′s with the chance of a few isolated thunderstorms, but the isolated thunder boomers are pretty standard for this time of year. As the temps and humidity pick up, the Outer Banks tends to see afternoon, isolated thunderstorms. They are generally not too widespread, but there’s always a chance for a quick shower.
There is a fun longboard wave out there today. We had good swell all weekend, but the wind was not matching up to clean the surf. Most of that swell has died down, but we have a good offshore wind this morning cleaning up the leftover swell, and making a great longboard wave. After today, it looks like the end of the week is our best chance for more surf.
The Outer Banks fishing is picking up quite a bit. There are a wide variety of fish in the area, and catches from a variety of spots.
- Offshore is still seeing tuna (mainly yellow fin), dolphin, and some bill fish!
- Near shore = blue fish and Spanish mackerel
- Piers = sea mullet and blue fish
- Sound = Spanish mackerel, blue fish, flounder, sea mullet, & blow toads
Enjoy!
Outer Banks: 2011 Currituck Spring Food & Wine Festival
This is Sanctuary Vineyard’s Big Spring Festival!!!
Your admission gets you access to taste over 30 different local and regional NC wines, live music from Pairadocs All Star Band and more – vineyard hayrides, winemaking classes, reserve barrel tastings and the first 100 through the door get free custom wine bags!
Then there’s the food….Local BBQ smoked over grapevines, fresh seafood and delicious dishes from Weeping Radish Brewery and Butchery highlight Sanctuary food offerings for 2011. (Food not included with admission)
You can buy tickets in advance for $20 at any Cotton Gin location or online atwww.sanctuaryvineyards.com or www.cottongin.com
They’re $25 at the gate, so save $$$ and buy in advance – this event is rain or shine.
Friday the 13th!! Oh no! Luckily it has turned out to be a great day here in the Outer Banks. We started the day off a little sunnier and warmer than it is now but we wont complain because it is going to be in the upper 70′s this weekend. Glad everyone will be able to hit the beaches and enjoy some warm weather.
Today was the opening day of the 2nd annual Outer Banks Shootout Surf Contest @Jennette’s Pier, sponsored by Duck Village Outfitters and Catch Surf. It is supposed to be going on all weekend but we were lucky enough to make it up there today to watch some pro surfers and body boarders catch a couple of waves. They were hoping for a cleaner surf than what actually moved in but it was still pretty sweet to see the beach full of surfers and the little bit of swell in the water.
Spring fish are still biting and there were a couple more reported 40+ pound cobias caught off the Southern beaches. The piers were a bit slow yesterday but the blue fish are still biting along with some sea mullet and a couple flounder here and there. Water temperatures have been in the 60′s so hopefully those will continue to heat up and the big fish will be moving this way.
Every so often a girl really needs to have time away with the ladies. They need some time to relax on the beach, have a glass of wine, do some shopping and plan some fun activities with girlfriends. Well if this sounds like something you are in the mood for, its time to plan your next trip to the Outer Banks. 
Here at Seaside we are lucky enough to have the opportunity to share in part of such a unique experience of learning how to cook local Outer Banks cuisine through our Club Seaside program. The Outer Banks Epicurean cooking classes are relaxed, fun ways to learn new culinary tricks and taste fresh local harvests, catches and specialty items. Participants will be offered generous tastes and samples of all recipes in all classes.
Why not do some wine tasting and learn to prepare a summer meal of country ham, saged stuffed shrimp skewers, jumbo lump crab cakes, and fresh berry tart? You can enjoy a fresh Outer Banks meal and take all the tips and tricks back home with you to your family and friends to show off!
Our friend Amy at the Outer Banks Epicurean sent us over some pictures of a fun group of gals from New York who wanted to relax and unwind in celebration of an upcoming OBX wedding. The coolest part is they planned the whole thing from Manhattan and everything was set up for them when they got here! The girls even made an entirely vegetarian meal of spring rolls and lasagna with homemade pasta.
For more information on the Outer Banks Epicurean or to set up a class, visit their website and get ready for a fun new twist to your “Girls Only” trip to the Outer Banks.
P.S- Don’t forget that this Saturday May 14th is the Colington Crab Classic from 3-7. Go check it out and go Team Outer Banks!
This slideshow requires JavaScript.
Outer Banks - 5.12.11 - Fresh Salt Air at Kitty Hawk Pier
It is a gorgeous spring day. The fresh salt air smells great. We have sun and temps in the upper 60′s today, and it will warm up for the weekend. There is decent head high swell in the area, but northeast wind is not allowing the surf to clean up. The surf could clean up a little tomorrow, but I’m not sure if we’ll get any good surf out of this swell…I hope I’m wrong. 
Spring fish are biting – offshore tuna and dolphin, inshore and piers – a lot of blue fish, some sea mullet and croaker.
Continuing with our Outer Banks Treasure Series. I am proud to present a behind the scenes and “exclusive” 
tour with Eric Reece, one of the owners of the Outer Banks Brewing Station .
How many times have you been on a vacation and thought about where to take the family to eat that is good, reasonably priced, and fun? I know this has happened to me many times and so I thought, how great would it be if I could help make this decision an easy one?
Well look no further! On your next Outer Banks vacation make sure you check out all the great things the Outer Banks Brewing Station has to offer. The food is top notch, ranging from a sandwich to a prime rib entree OBBS has delicious food prepared by award winning Chef Pok. If you’re in the mood for some great beer and drinks this place has everything you could want. With house made root beer, cream soda, ginger beer, and multiple types of handcrafted and in-house brewed beer, from the brew-master- Scott Meyer, there is something for the whole family.
Although the nightlife on the Outer Banks can be rather limited there is always something fun going on at Brew Station. There is usually a local acoustic band there during weeknights and on the weekend they bring in some awesome headliners and open the backyard for fun and games. There is an outdoor bar, cornhole, and the latest addition is the beer wagon, a traveling one stop shop for all your favorite beverages, ice cream and treats.
The Brewing Station is definitely one of the best features for dinning and fun here in the OBX and I highly recommend stopping by. There is fun and great food for vacationers and locals, and for families or friends. If you are heading this way you can find the Outer Banks Brewing Station by looking up until you see the 93 foot wind turbine which powers over 10% of the establishment and is the first wind powered brewery in the United States!
To learn more about OBBS check out their website where you can view all of their brewed beers, specials, menus, and event calendar.
The world is a canvas..so paint it! Calling out to all Outer Banks fans….show off your creativity and your love of an Outer Banks vacation as part of the Seaside Vacations T-Shirt Design Contest.
Love catching sunrises on the beach? Is building sandcastles your thing? Or maybe visiting the wonderful local Outer Banks attractions is why you love the Outer Banks. Whatever represents an Outer Banks vacation to you, let your creativity shine!
The grand prize winner will receive a free official Seaside Vacations Summer 2012 T-Shirt.t to show off your winning design! Not to mention a 4-Day/3-Night stay in one of our fabulous Outer Banks vacation homes! How can you go wrong with a free vacation?
Are you up for the challenge? If so please visit our website for more information and design criteria. We are looking for something that really represents all of the great things that make an OBX vacation…so start brainstorming and get to the drawing board.The submission deadline is September 30th.
I was told that the “Across the Universe” album is the best for bringing out artistic creativity so give it a shot.
Beautiful day here in the Outer Banks but man it got a little chilly! With temperatures in the mid 60′s this afternoon we are ready for those 80 degree days to come back so we can get back on the beach.
Footprints in the sand
Not much surf today. Some decent longboard waves but the water is up to 63 degrees so it wont be long before we are shedding the wetsuit and going straight in. At least for now everyone can ditch the gloves and booties.
Still consistent fishing reports from the piers of bluefish catches and bluefish and spanish macrel out of the surf. Offshore boats are still reporting dolphin, yellow and blackfin catches.
With these water temperatures on the rise it wont be long before surf fishing gets hot! The pier was pretty full this morning so hopefully there were some decent catches even with the colder temperatures today.
Come on back warm temps, I am ready to hit the beach!
Oh man. What a beautiful day today. Temperatures in the low 70′s but the sun is out and there was just a little breeze from the North at about 5mph so it felt warmer. Not much for surf- knee high waves, probably stick to the stand up paddle board or longboard today.
Good surf fishing all weekend. Blues everywhere including the piers. 1 to 3 pounders. A few Flounder and Sea Mullet. There also have been Stripers seen in the surf so lets get ready for some good eats!
This pic was taken from our beautiful home “The Pearl” oceanfront in Kitty Hawk. It still has some open weeks so book soon!
