Favorite Travel Destination: Ocean Isle Beach, NC

Centsational Girl is hosting a link party about favorite travel destinations and since we recently took a family vacation, I thought this would be the perfect time to post a few pictures from our trip to Ocean Isle Beach, North Carolina.... our ultimate favorite vacation spot!  We LOVE it... family oriented, quiet, relaxing and so, so, so peaceful.

The husband and I have traveled to Ocean Isle with the kids for the past few years during the summer months to meet up with family and friends.  We were here only a few short weeks ago.... beautiful!

Just about every morning, we'd climb up and over the dunes...

...to experience this gorgeous view...

We'd take a walk...

... search for shells...

...create a little art...

... and feel refreshed...

Ocean Isle is a tiny island on the southeastern part of North Carolina.... about an hour north of Myrtle Beach.  The beaches are fairly quiet and low-key, so our kids are free to run and explore (within a reasonable distance) and have fun.

The housing on the island is mostly residential with a few small shops and restaurants (when I say few, I mean like three or four).  We love to rent beach houses that are located on the east end of the island (we use Cooke Realty).... the tide comes in high at times on the east side, but we think it's the perfect spot for kids, especially young kids.  When the tide goes back out, there are several large size pools of water for the kids to play.... they're always catching tiny fish and crabs in their sand buckets.

Besides the east end of the island, there's several rental houses also on the west end of the island, the canal inlets, and the center part of the island (where the shops are located).  The houses range from old to new, large to small, extravagant to simple.  Here's a few of my favorites....

We (and the friends we vacation with) love to cook, so most nights we grill using fresh fish from Captain Jacks and eat on the porch.  The seafood at Captain Jacks is the best around (it's only about a 1/4 mile off the island).... the fish is fresh, clean and there's always several choices.

And when we're done grillin', our food usually looks something like this (that's a little bit of tuna and a little bit of salmon)...

After dinner or the occasional mid-day snack, we head out for some sweetness.  We have two favorites... the first is Sunset Slush.  There's a few Sunset Slushes, but we go to the one that's about a mile off the island (in between Sunset Beach and Ocean Isle Beach).... they serve Italian ice and it is yummm-meeee!

I usually mix the flavored ice with ice cream to make it similar to a gelati....

We also go to Andy's Burgers, Shakes and Fries... it's a little further out (in Shalotte, about ten minutes), but worth the trip.  The kids love it (they waited so patiently) and believe me, Andy's piles on the custard... it's sooo creamy, so delicious....

And our last food stop is always the Sugar Shack.... our vacation wouldn't be complete without a visit here.  You're probably thinking "more sweets?".  Nope, this one is Jamaican food... and the best!  We always save this restaurant for dinner on our last night... it's so good.... it's tiny and always packed, so make reservations (they're only open for dinner)!

We like to eat pretty healthy in our house (well, besides all my sweet cravings), but at the Sugar Shack... forget it..... their Jamaican food is too good to pass up.  This is a photo of the jerk chicken and the meat just falls off the bone.... delicious.  I also recommend the mango chicken pizza.... the kids LOVE it!

A few other restaurants we've loved during our trips to Ocean Isle are The Boundary House for dinner, Fibber McGees Pub for a drink and appetizers, and Robertos for pizza.

At the end of the day, after all the beach-lounging, wave-jumping, pool-splashing and mega-eating, we love to drive to the end of the island (east end), walk the pier and watch the sunset off the inter-coastal waterway.... absolutely beautiful!

By the end of the week, the husband and I feel refreshed (while the kids are zonked and sleeping soundly!)... by the look of this picture you'd think we were vacationing in the forest.... it's really just the pathway out to the inter-coastal waterway....

Such a great vacation at Ocean Isle Beach, North Carolina.... I highly recommend vacationing here... beautiful days, amazing friends and most of all creating great memories as a family.  Happy Summer!!!

What's your favorite travel destination?

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