Five Star Weekend

A recap of our weekend trip to the Outer Banks!

Five star weekend!

If you’re wondering if I am reading the Elin Hilderbrand book The Five-Star Weekend the answer is yes! It’s really good and was the perfect book to pair with crabs and a breezy beach walk. 

Also highly recommended: the Wondry true crime podcast called Over My Dead Body: Gone Hunting that we listened to on the way to the Outer Banks. It was great!!!

A family affair

My in-laws go to the beach every September for two weeks with the Bowe family out of New Jersey. The adults are all here for two weeks, and the kids (who are now adults too, haha) usually come for the middle weekend. It’s always great to catch up and enjoy the beach when the crowds have waned. 

The Donnes! 

Yes, Thomas and his dad are clones : ) 

Dash to the ocean

Obligatory “we arrived” dash to put toes in the water.

Low country boil

Upon our arrival on Thursday night, they had a low country boil waiting for dinner! 

Brioche French toast casserole

Good morning! 

Wind + Surf

The first two days we were there Hurricane Lee was sitting offshore creating giant waves and riptides.

It was hard to walk on the beach it was so blustery yet we were so far from the hurricane that we had sunny skies! I can’t imagine being closer. We watched movies and did puzzles!

vintage!

And spent a lot of time in the hot tub!

Beach Sandwiches

The best! I also brought my AG1 since I don’t tend to eat salads at the beach : ) 

Kid Trip

Nona took the boys to the aquarium, Captain Franks, and the candy store (their annual tradition) so Thomas and I had some time to chill. 

We didn’t do any swimming but we did enjoy the hot tub! 

And lots of puzzle + reading time. 

TGF the hot tub!

Lasagna Night

We made lasagna and Nona made her famous trifle for dessert!

Saturday: on the beach but not in the water

John Donne famous granola over cottage cheese! Here is the recipe: Nutty Granola. 

We enjoyed beach time, but the ocean was still too rough to swim.

The kids went to play putt-putt and for snow cones. 

Crab Night!

Our favorite OBX meal. We ate over 40 crabs!

The ultimate beach beer

Sunday morning waffles

a la John Donne!

Sunday was the perfect beach day

The waves were calm, the sun was out, and the temps were perfect. 

The big boys did not leave the ocean for many hours!

Mike’s grill out

Mike and Andy prepared steaks, chicken, and veggies on the grill – a delicious end to our trip!

Somehow this bottle of wine ended up in the kitchen! : ) 

The sun sets on another great visit to the seashore