Matt, the kids, and I spent 4th of July week in the Outer Banks in North Carolina on vacation with his family. Here’s a recap!
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4th of July week in the Outer Banks
We’ve been spending one summer week in the town of Duck in the Outer Banks with Matt’s family for years and years now – since 2012, I think? We’ve stayed in different houses over the years in different parts of town, but have always been in Duck.
But – this was the final year! Matt’s parents decided they are ready to mix it up and do something different next summer. Matt and I and the kids may still rent a small condo or house and go on our own next summer, as Matt’s best friend from growing up and his family will still be there, but this will be the last year Matt’s family goes, too. We were sad this was the last year – it’s been a fun run – but it’s always fun to try something new.
Here’s what we ate and what we did for our final OBX Mauney family week!
What we ate
The meals were more low key this year than in previous years (long time readers know Matt’s dad, Glenn, is a big foodie and loves cooking) as it was a smaller crew than usual. The first half of the week it was just me, Matt, the kids, and Matt’s parents.
The second half of the week Matt’s older brother and wife and their 3 boys joined us (they had to miss the first part of the week due to a work conflict), as well as our friend Shane, who has been friends with Matt since they were kids. Matt’s younger brother and his wife couldn’t make it this year at all as they were in Italy (!) for a friend’s wedding. We missed them!
Breakfasts
I didn’t bother taking many photos of breakfast since they were super simple – eggs/egg muffins, toast with nut butter, fruit, oatmeal, etc. Summer produce is always amazing at the beach thanks to the farm stands.
I ate so many peaches and so much cantaloupe and watermelon while we were there as they are my beach favorites!
We did have oatmeal pancakes courtesy of Matt’s dad one morning, though. I think he just used a pancake mix and added some oats into them for chew. Yummy!
Lunches
Lunches were typically either sandwiches or random leftovers from dinners.
I made my avocado tuna salad a couple times as Riese likes it (and so do I; sadly Wes is not a fan, but he’s very into plain buttered toast right now as his new favorite books are the Mercy Watson (Amazon affiliate link) books, and she loves hot buttered toast), and we also had BLTs with some amazing summer tomatoes one day.
Also pictured below is a leftover fajita situation from dinner (more on that in a minute), and some leftover chicken, sausage and veggie kabobs with hummus and tomato pie for me, and some watermelon and a hummus, salami, and pickle sandwich for Riese (enjoyed out by the pool).
Matt and I also took the kids out to lunch twice. The first time was earlier in the week, when we went into town on the boardwalk to explore a bit. They wanted to mix it up from the beach/pool routine!
We got lunch at Eventide on the boardwalk, which is a cute spot with counter service so it’s fast and easy with the kids in the mix. I had a side salad which was yummy (the fresh parm took it up a notch) and a veggie sandwich that didn’t blow my mind tbh.
Our other lunch out was on Saturday on our way out of town, when we went to a spot called Fishbones. We ended up there after trying to go to NC Coast and it being too crowded, but it actually ended up being really good!
I had a delicious grilled shrimp salad, plus some raw oysters and some fries shared with the others.
Beach Happy Hours
Ah, beach happy hour – my favorite! We had happy hour on the beach before dinner most nights we were at the beach and it was lovely. Sometimes it was just with our small crew, sometimes it was with our friends from the other house, too!
It’s my favorite time of day on the beach – a little cooler and more relaxed, and a lot less crowded. 10/10. I typically had Prosecco, plus whatever food we had around – fruit, cheese, crackers, hummus, olives, shrimp cocktail, and even fresh raw oysters one night!
Dinners
As for dinners, we kept things mostly simple this year! Matt and I brought a big prepared fajita meal from Balducci’s at home that served as our dinner the first night. We ordered it before we found out his older brother, wife, and kids weren’t coming til later in the week, so we ended up bringing it over to our family friend’s house to share because there was so much of it!
Our meal came with chicken and steak, and our friends made some fresh fish to add to the spread, too. I went for the salmon which was delicious! Plus lots of chips and guac on the side.
We had a simple soup (Italian wedding soup, Riese’s favorite) and salad night the next night with the Mauneys, and the night after that we had big Mexican-themed salads with the leftover fajita chicken that needed to get eaten.
Mid-week, Matt and I got out for an evening with our friends Tom and Janice, plus our friend Shane who came to stay for a few days and join the party. We went to a new-to-us spot called The Village Table & Tavern which ended up being delicious!
We shared some appetizers to start, and then I had the scallops for my entree. We also shared some dessert – the cobbler was awesome.
After dinner, we took the party outside to their casual outdoor area by the sound, and enjoyed some lawn games and a gorgeous sunset.
The whole gang, bathed in a sunset glow:
On the 4th of July, we took the kids to the parade, which is always cute. My favorite was this adorable fire truck dog! And the kids’ favorite was obviously anyone giving out candy.
Dinner on the 4th of July was a BBQ at our friend’s beach house. Burgers, hot dogs, watermelon, various sides, etc!
Plus some unpictured pie for dessert.
Wes did not want to stay up for the fireworks (he’s pretty sensitive and doesn’t like loud noises, and he was super tired anyway) so I took him back to our house after dinner and got him to bed. Matt stayed with Riese and everyone else and they caught some fireworks on the beach once it got dark, which looked amazing!
Our final dinner of the week was pizza! Plus salads to use up any leftover produce in the fridge.
Other Fun
Besides all the good food, we of course spent a lot of time at the pool at our house, and also at the beach! Typically we tried to get out to the beach in the morning, and then came back to the house for lunch and some downtime followed by pool time in the afternoon. And then sometimes we went back to the beach in the late afternoon for happy hour!
The waves were a bit too strong for us to bring the kids in the ocean with us, but they loved running around in the surf, looking for shells, and building things in the sand.
There was a big storm one of nights that left a big cliff type situation down by the shore – we were all fascinated by it! It only lasted for one day.
Wes and I spent a lot of time like this enjoying the surf:
And I enjoyed swimming around in the waves on my own a bit, too! I’ve always loved the ocean, it’s definitely my happy place.
As for non-swimming fitness, I made it to a yoga class at my old fave Duck Village Yoga early in the week on a rainy day. It felt lovely to stretch after lots of time in the car! And Matt and I also made it out for one hot and sweaty morning run with our friend Tom.
It was a fun week! I will leave you with a random hot tip – if you also have kids who are terrified of auto-flushing toilets (like those in most rest stop and gas station bathrooms on road trips), bring some post-its with you and stick one over the sensor while they are using the bathroom. That way it won’t flush until they are ready!
Thank you to Matt’s parents for a great week – really, for a great decade+ of Outer Banks weeks!
