Outer Banks - Day 1

All the kids had off the entire week of Thanksgiving.  Like we did in 2012, we decided to visit the Outer Banks for a few days earlier in the week.

We drove to Raleigh on Sunday, spent the night with Brian's parents, and then drove to Manteo on Roanoke Island the next morning.  Monday was gorgeous! Our first stop was the Roanoke Marshes Lighthouse.

Then we grabbed some lunch at a local deli called the Hungry Pelican before searching for a multi-cache geocache over back by the lighthouse.  The waterfront was peaceful and a great place to walk around.

Next we headed over to Fort Raleigh NHS.  This is the site of the Lost Colony, the first English settlement in the present-day United States.  We spent some time in the visitor center and walking around the site.

The boys also completed the Junior Ranger Program to earn their first badge of our trip. 

After awhile we headed east and north up the coast to the Wright Brothers National Memorial in Kill Devil Hills.  Again, we spent some time in the visitor center and then walked around outside.  And the boys also did the Junior Ranger program here to get another badge.

There were no clouds at all that day and the setting sun was beautiful.

We walked up the hill to the actual memorial.

As it was staring to get dark, we headed to our hotel (a TownePlace Suites in Kill Devil Hills that had opened a few months earlier).  After getting all our stuff into our room, we headed back out to dinner at Jack Brown's.  It's a small chain that Brian has actually been to in Nashville but their burgers were amazing!!!

The hotel had a great indoor pool and the kids got in a swim before we headed to bed.