In case you haven't guess it...I love to travel. We usually do a few trips a year that include visiting family, camping, other smaller trips and one "big" vacation. I like to do Disney, a cruise, or something similar for our "big" vacation.
This year was a little different mainly due to financial reasons. A "big" trip was out of the question. My husband's side of the family wanted to do a family trip to the Outer Banks area in North Carolina. Now the beach is not my thing but family is important to me and the price was right.
We were in the car for 11 1/2 hours to make the 7 hour trip down to the Outer Banks. That is always a fun time in the car when you have a 5, 3, and 15 month old. After many potty stops and some traffic we made it down there. Thankfully we made it home in only 9 hours.
We rented a 4 bedroom house with 3 1/2 bathrooms. We had two rooms and a bathroom for our family and the two other couples in the family each had a room and bathroom. We planned ahead and brought down all our food in coolers.
The trip could not have been better. We were able to use the pool/beach club of the owners. That meant that after a 2 mile drive we could park once and go to both the pool and beach at the same time. They were just steps apart. There were also bathrooms, showers, and a restaurant by the pool. Most days we would head down with our lunch packed and set up at the beach. When the kids were bored with the sand, too hot, or found enough shells we could grab a towel and take them up to the pool.
I may not be a beach person but I am definitely a pool person and this pool was awesome. Mainly because half the pool was 2-3 feet deep. My big kids could jump in and play without me having to hold on to all the non-swimmers. It was a very relaxing place to be with them.
There was also lots of things to do besides the beach. Based on the ages of our kids we decided to go to the Lost Colony of Roanoke Settlement. They had a great indoor children's museum that covers the history of the area from when the colonists arrived to present. They also have a full size replica of the Elizabeth II which is the ship colonists came over on and you can walk onto the ship. They also have some outdoor areas that show more about colonial villages (we didn't get to that part). So much to see and learn there. We had a great time.
Kitty Hawk is also in the area and only a couple miles from where we were. This is where the Wright brothers had their first flights. There is a memorial area there too. There is also an aquarium on Roanoke Island.
There is so much to do in the Outer Banks area for families. I highly recommend checking it out for a family vacation. Rent a house and share it between a few families and it can be a very reasonable vacation. It wasn't quite as relaxing as being in a high end hotel since we had no maids and had to cook our own food (of course we chose to cook to save money) but overall it was an awesome experience and we WILL do it again.
Where do you like to vacation? How has your vacations changed because of financial needs?
