8 Ways to Enjoy Your Vacation in Corolla, North Carolina

Vacation! My favorite time of year. This year we decided to try something different and take the shorter trip to the Outer Banks instead of driving all the way to Hilton Head Island, SC. I had never been to the Outer Banks before so I wasn't sure if I would like it. Hilton Head quickly became my favorite vacation spot a few years ago so I was a little bummed that we weren't going there. Nevertheless, I decided to enjoy OBX with an open-mind and stop wondering how it compared to HHI.

The first thing I discovered actually surprised me. The water was blue. I'm originally from New Jersey and the water is definitely not blue there, nor is it blue in Ocean City, MD, Virginia Beach, or even Hilton Head. So why in NC, in the middle of all these places, do we have blue water? The Outer Banks appears to be much farther out in the ocean than Hilton Head which accounts for the cleaner, bluer water. Once I saw that, my mind was definitely open and ready to see what else this place had to offer.

Here are 8 things you might try on your vacation in Corolla, NC

1. Heritage Park - Yes, even I am surprised that the beach was not first on my list but there is something about this park that just captivated me. I went there almost every day of my trip. It was a large park that sits along the Currituck Sound with a few piers you can walk way out on and a beautiful footbridge. The grounds are immaculately cared for and we never had a problem claiming a picnic table. This was a good place to sit and people watch or just stare out over the water watching the sunset. If you walk out onto the piers and peek down through the water, you can see blue crabs moving around. Plenty of people were having fun catching them. We also took a short walk to the old mansion and sat in the rockers on the porch. It was a wonderful place to go that didn't have the normal tourist crowds but still provided a very great experience.

2. The Beach During the Day - I am more like a lazy kind of beach bum. I just sit in my chair and read and take pictures and sometimes walk along the waters edge and look for shells. This was a beautiful beach to sit on because the water was so pretty. I could hardly focus on my book because the blue water was still amazing me. I will warn you that if you're taking a morning walk watch out for the crabs. They pop up out of these holes in the sand and go scurrying along. There are a bunch of them. My husband said if they pinch you, the only way to get them off is to break their leg. I don't know if that's true or not but it was a good enough warning for me. Don't worry though, I only saw them on early morning walks, not in the afternoon when we had all of our gear out.

3. The Beach at Night - I will never understand why it's not more crowded on the beach at night. That is one of the best times to be out there. The sky is full of stars and the breeze is strong and cool. It's a perfect way to end a summer day. We were in for a huge bonus in Corolla. After we watched about 90% of the sunset in Heritage Park, we drove to the beach to catch some stars and for the first time in my life, I saw the moon rise out of the ocean. It was easily the coolest thing I had ever seen.

4. Wild Horse Tour - Corolla is known for its wild Spanish Mustangs. There are about 90 or so that live along the beach and in the dunes. You can rent a jeep and go hunt for them on your own or take a guided tour. We opted for the tour and I'm glad we did because most of the horses we saw were not near the beach, they were back in the dunes and it would have been hard to discover them on our own. We saw about 13 during our one-hour tour.

5. Currituck Beach Light House - This was a nice little climb to the top but it wasn't terribly bad. I counted it as my workout for the day though. There are places where you can move off to the side and rest and allow others to keep going past you. When you get to the top the view is great. The lighthouse staff was friendly and glad to take pictures of us as well as point out some interesting sights.

6. Lazy Afternoons - Rent a house with a pool and a hot tub. Although we had near perfect weather the entire time we were there, the option to enjoy a pool at home was great. We spent many lazy afternoons climbing from the pool to the hot tub before laying on the covered deck to have an afternoon nap in the shade.

7. Vacation Air - We spent some time just driving through the other parts of the Outer Banks with the windows rolled down breathing in "vacation air" and checking out shops in the other little tourist clusters. It sounds silly but it really was fun. I missed "vacation air" when I returned home.

8. Fireworks - Not sure if it's legal or not but where we were staying we could always count on one of the neighbors to set off their own personal fireworks display every night which we enjoyed from our deck.

On any vacation I always make sure I rest and Corolla was no different. There's nothing like waking up late and then realizing that your only responsibility today is packing up the cart to take to the beach. I tend to be an early riser on weekends and vacations. I'm so excited that I don't have to work I just want to get up and do things. My husband likes to sleep in. And he's right. Sleeping in is good. We never run out of enough day to enjoy the beach or some shopping. But I'm right too, because some activities, like climbing to the top of an un-airconditioned lighthouse, are better to do early in the morning before the heat of the day sets in. So whether you want to get up early to tackle some items on this list, or sleep in and make the day wait for you, make sure you set aside enough time to rest so you don't need a vacation to recover from your vacation.