My family visits the Outer Banks of North Carolina on a fairly regular basis in the summer and fall. However, this was our first Christmas venture to the region, and we knew there would be a different set of priorities. So, instead of the more remote Corolla settings like Ocean Hill, we decided to go to the Four Seasons Community in Duck, one of the older settlements.

Late Sunday night driving time from Philadelphia was six and a half hours; coming home, well, that's another story. Anyway, the eight bedroom house was cozy and welcoming, plus already mostly full with my sister and her family; they had arrived Saturday, as we were given a Saturday to the following Sunday "week". (Nice!)

Our home for the week, Beach House on the Moon, is set back from the road and the trees are quite grown up around it, so there's privacy and a nice woodsy feel to the setting. The beach is a bit of a walk away, down a walkway that goes past back yards and is rather a nice walk in itself, but of course it wasn't really beach weather. The huge indoor pool in the community center right next door did just fine for the swimmers, and the house's hot tub was used a fair amount, too. There's a playground near the beach where the kids played (including the 20 year olds!) but the house and community center filled most of our time, along with, of course, playing with the new Christmas games and toys.

This was Baby E's first Christmas, and he seemed to enjoy it a lot: forget the toys, go for the tablets and iPhones. It cracks me up to see a bald baby--who walks like a penguin with good posture and who's only got four teeth--find his way around on a computer. (He's got that slide thing down pat.) Little J and the Princess were quite involved with their PlayDoh toys, and the older kids did the board/card game gathering each night.

We didn't end up going out to dinner, but we did eat well. Harris Teeter Supermarket isn't too far away, and they're pretty well supplied. For Christmas, sis had brought down a huge smoked ham from her local butcher, and the kitchen was well equipped to handle the full meal. (Two stoves, two dishwashers, two microwaves, three coffeepots--plus all the pots, pans, dishes and such that you need.) Our one excursion out was to Duck Doughnuts, where they have a little assembly line where the doughnuts are baked fresh. They even had one in the assortment with crumbled bacon; not sure who was brave enough for that one! They're cake-style doughnuts, and quite tasty when fresh.

It was really a lovely time, and I can recommend the area for Christmas week. Even though we didn't do much, there wasn't any problem in getting what we needed and there were options available if we had wanted to venture out more. I wanted to write this little report as there wasn't a whole lot of info on the OBX at Christmas, so I thought I'd add my bit! We had 18 "kids", evenly divided between the over 12's and under 12's. and both groups seemed to enjoy themselves quite a lot. We've had more active previous Christmas weeks (Pocono Mts, a Philadelphia stay, Pittsburgh) but they're all very fond of the OBX and enjoyed the leisurely time off from school, college, and work--or, in the case of the two youngest, the time off from home!