Outer Banks Articles & Shorts - Issue 11: Summer 2016

PUBLISHER’S LETTER

Outer Banks This Week - Summer 2016 - Issue 11Take a moment to see how many songs you can think of about summer. (Wait, don’t read my list here until you’ve done your own mental inventory.) Hot Fun in the Summertime, Summer Breeze, School’s Out, All Summer Long, Summer Nights, Summertime, Summer in the City, Summertime Blues, In the Summertime, Summer of ’42 … ok, that’s all I can come up with off the top of my head. How’d you do? I find it interesting that there are so many songs about this time of year. If we were to attempt the same exercise about any other season, I don’t think we’d come up with as many. 

Summer is our season in a way that gets into our skin, and I don’t mean only sun-kissed bodies. We wear summer with many fewer barriers than winter. We open ourselves up to the warmth, the sand, to Mother Ocean without the arm’s length that often comes with cold. We dive in and let summer surround us. Perhaps that’s why we celebrate it so in song (and in poem too, btw). It’s a primal season, and we get back to our roots under the summer sun.

Those of us who live here deeply understand this pull, and it makes sense to us that the thousands of visitors who come to swim in the ocean and merge with nature are looking for what we locals chose to live around. We make room for them and know that the same filling up the soul process we experience every day of summer is theirs for the week or two they’re here. There’s more than enough to go around.

We’re so excited to bring you this Summer Issue of OuterBanksThisWeek.com magazine. It’s filled with stories about local businesses that give you a better insight into who they are vs. only what they do. You learn about the people behind the business and their motivations. As always, we hugely enjoy co-creating with these business owners and appreciate their enthusiasm and their trust in letting us help to get their word out to locals and visitors. 

Since our feature story is about novels set on the Outer Banks — and there are so many you need to read! — we encourage you to grab a chair, umbrella, some cold drinks and your favorite local book and head to that warm sandy beach to read away a summer day. You’ll feel renewed!

Happy summer, everyone!

VIEW A DIGITAL VERSION OF THIS ISSUE

At the Heart of a Village

By Amelia Boldaji
Located at the heart of historic Corolla, Spry Creek is the brainchild of Outer Banks locals Karen and John Whitfield. More than a decade ago they converted Karen’s dad’s old garage into one of the most fun and interesting shops for home accents and gifts on the northern beaches. “Although we’re located in a beach... Read More

20 Years of Family Fun

By Lexi Holian
Are you and yours ready for a little friendly competition? At Corolla Raceway, the entire family will find their fun in a playful and safe atmosphere that all ages can enjoy. Cruise around the track in go-karts, bounce in bumper cars and visit the fully stocked arcade with classics such as ski ball, basketball and... Read More

It's Awfully Good

By Amelia Boldaji
Seafood buffs have been flocking to Awful Arthur’s Oyster Bar since they first opened their doors in 1984. Their popularity is no surprise — as the only authentic oyster bar on the Outer Banks, diners can watch their steamed seafood being prepared fresh to order, and it’s also famous for serving up succulent oysters... Read More

Take a Walk Back in Time

By Amelia Boldaji
Celebrate the past this summer at Roanoke Island Festival Park, where the fun never ends! Start your journey inside their state of the art Adventure Museum where you can enjoy a variety of hands-on activities that paint a picture of what life was like for early 16th-century explorers and help you learn more about all... Read More

Red Sky at Night, Dine In (or Out) With Delight!

By Heather Frese
You’ve settled into your rental house, spent a long day at the beach and now everyone is cleaned up and hungry. Maybe you don’t want to wrangle the kids or your large group through a restaurant, or maybe you want to relax and eat on your sun deck, minus all the shopping, prep and clean up. Chefs on Call to the rescue... Read More