Outer Banks Everyday Magic: Hurricane Wedding

Posted on December 15, 2011

Hurricane Evacuation

Thanks for sharing your OBX magic Elizabeth!

I have my own special OBX magic. My husband and I were married in the Outer Banks in August 1993 at the magistrates office. It was the day that they mandated an evacuation in preparation for Hurricane Emily.

We arrived at the magistrates office after getting our marriage license at the old courthouse in Manteo. When we arrived everyone was leaving and we had no witnesses. The magistrate, went out the door and retrieved two of the employees who stood up for us. After saying “you know there’s an evacuation, don’t you?”, we were married.

Afterwards we headed to the cottage we rented, and packed up not sure what to do next. We drove to Chesapeake, had lunch and talked over what to do next. A family overheard us and offered to let us have our “wedding night” at their house. Feeling a little unsure we graciously declined but felt it was a sign that we should stay nearby.

We ended up in Newport News, where we stayed a few days, and we returned to the Outer Banks when the all clear was given.

We spent the rest of the week at our “honeymoon cottage,” and we come to the Outer Banks every year at the end of August to relive our “magic”.

Such a great story! It’s amazing how much the Outer Banks touches peoples’ lives and how many awesome stories there are.

Please share your Outer Banks Everyday Magic story with us too….we’d love to hear it! You can use the form below to submit it to me.

Outer Banks Beach, Surf, & Fishing Report – 8.5.11 – Great Beach Weekend. Surf on Sunday?!

Posted on August 5, 2011

Outer Banks: 8.5.11 - Great Beach Weekend

Good morning. Here’s the Outer Banks Beach, Surf, & Fishing Report for Friday, August 5, 2011.

This video was shot at the Kitty Hawk Pier at 9:00 AM.

Before I dive into the report, I’d like to say a quick Happy Anniversary to my Grandparents who are celebrating their 67 wedding anniversary today. Considering that they are in their 90′s and don’t know how to use the internet, it’s a safe bet they won’t see this video, but I’m sending out my love and good vibes none-the-less. Thanks for being great role models!

Back to the beach! It’s a start to the weekend with great beach conditions. It’s been in the 90′s all week, but the temps have cooled to the mid 80′s today, and will stay there through the weekend. The sun is out, the sky is blue, and there’s strong wind blowing off the ocean out of the east, northeast.

The winds are chopping up the water pretty good for today and tomorrow, but the winds will switch offshore out of the southwest by Sunday…just in time for some surf!….hopefully.

There has been some excitement this week about the potential for surf from Tropical Storm Emily, but that storm dissipated over the Caribbean yesterday. Now that it has broken apart a bit, the surf doesn’t look quite as promising, but we could still have a great day of surf on Sunday and Monday.

The forecasts have dropped the swell from shoulder to waist +, but with a great offshore wind, sun, air and water temps in the 80′s, waist + surf could be all we need for some prime OBX summer surf conditions. Keep your fingers crossed!

As for OBX fishing, tight lines all around. Offshore is catching wahoo, dolphin, big eye and yellow fin tuna, and some bill fish mixed in. The piers, bridges, surf, and Sound are very consistent with a wide variety of fish – speckled trout, spot, croaker, blue fish, Spanish Mackeral, flounder, sea mullet, trigger fish, cobia.

Hope to see you soon. Have fun!

OBX Pic O’ the Day: Great OBX Beach Day & More Surf on the Way?!

Posted on August 4, 2011

Outer Banks: 8.4.11 - Longboard Wave in Kitty Hawk

Another great Outer Banks beach day. Bright sun, blue skies, temps in the 90′s, water temp 75 – 80. And a fun longboard wave with southwest wind keeping the waves clean. Tight lines all around; fish are biting offshore, near shore, piers, bridges, surf, & Sound.

Some more good surf this weekend? The forecast for Tropical Storm Emily keeps it out to sea and moving past the OBX Sunday and Monday with an offshore wind! Great wave conditions. The surf forecast shows swell jumping to chest to shoulder for Sunday and Monday and clean surf. Keep your fingers crossed!

Tropical Storm Emily Forecast - 8.4.11

Outer Banks Surf Forecast - 8.4.11

Outer Banks Beach, Surf, & Fishing Report – 8.3.11 – It’s a hot one…

Posted on August 3, 2011

Outer Banks: 8.3.11 - Hot One at Avalon Pier

Good morning. Here’s the Outer Banks Beach, Surf, & Fishing Report for Wednesday, August 3, 2011.

This video was shot at the Avalon Pier in Kill Devil Hills at 9 AM.

Another great beach day, but it’s a hot one! We have temps hovering around 90 degrees all week, and today could be the hottest day of the week topping out around 95 degrees. Perfect day to be at the beach!

The sun is out, there’s a light offshore wind out of the southwest, and the water temps are at 80 degrees!

The southwest wind is cleaning up the tiny wave that we have. If you find the right spot, there could be a fun longboard wave, but there’s no significant surf. However, the good news is that swell is building over the next few days.

The forecast for Tropical Storm Emily has the storm staying out to sea, but it will swing close enough to the OBX to send some swell our way. Unfortunately, Friday and Saturday will most likely have an east wind knocking the waves down, but Sunday could be great. It looks like the waves could be in the chest high range on Sunday, and there should be a nice offshore breeze out of the southwest keeping the waves clean.

Chest high surf, light offshore breeze, 90 degree temps, and 80 degree water?! Sign me up. Hopefully all of the conditions come together. We’ll keep an eye on it, and let you know.

As for OBX fishing, there are tight lines all around. It is a great time to be fishing on the Outer Banks. Offshore is catching big eye and yellow fin tuna, dolphin, wahoo, and some bill fish mixed in. The piers, bridges, surf, and Sound are all very consistent with a wide variety of fish – spot, blue fish, speckled trout, croaker, flounder, Spanish mackeral, trigger fish, cobia, sea mullet.

Hope to see you soon. Have fun!