Cold & Snow Bring OBX Magic to Corolla

Whalehead Club boathouse with the Currituck Beach Lighthouse in the snow.
Whalehead Club boathouse with the Currituck Beach Lighthouse in the snow.

It snowed yesterday on the Outer Banks an it’s cold today. By any standards, it’s cold. The daytime temperatures struggled to make to 25 degrees and there was a brisk northwest wind all day to make it seem more like 12 or 15.

Even though we didn’t get much snow there wasn’t much melting. From the Village of Duck and south it was really just a coating, and it’s still laying in the ground.

North of Duck, though, it did snow.

Everything started as a cold rain on Friday night, but by early afternoon, the Village of Corolla looked like a scene from a Currier and Ives New England lithograph from the 19th century.

North of the village the maritime forest of the Currituck Banks Estuarine Reserve lost the vibrant green of summer beneath a blanket of white. There were reports that some of the Corolla Wild Horse herd was wandering through the woods, scraping the snow from grasses and plants; taking shelter, no doubt, from the wind.

The wind was a howling merciless foe along the sound. Looking into the wind, the snow—with a little bit of sleet mixed in—was painful to face. And no amount of layers or winter clothing could stop the cold from seeping through.

Yet it was undeniably beautiful.

It was snowing so hard in the afternoon that it looks as though a haze had fallen over Corolla. From the Whalehead Club, the Currituck Beach Lighthouse which usually looms over the grounds, became a towering shadow, its brick red walls an indistinct gray in the snow.

There was almost no one out during the afternoon; the wind, the cold and the snow were an effective deterrent to spending much time outside. With so few people about, there were no footprints in the snow, and no sound except for the wind and the music of falling snow.

The snow and cold weather is a temporary thing—jutting out into the ocean as the Outer Banks does temperatures rarely stay below freezing for long. But for one day at least, there was winter magic in the Village of Corolla.

Outer Banks Evening Entertainment

Rob Robinson (front) and Matt Payne demonstrating the cuisine of Mexico.
Rob Robinson (front) and Matt Payne demonstrating the cuisine of Mexico.

After Dark at All Saints is a reminder of how wonderful winter can be on the Outer Banks. There is nothing earth shattering or headline making about what happens throughout the month of February at the Episcopal Church in Southern Shores—it’s just community at its best.

Started seven years ago as a way to bring the church to the community and the community to the church, After Dark has grown into a marvelous month-long offering of classes in cooking, wine and beer tasting, art, healthy living and more.

Stu Baldwin offers two courses in surf-fishing—beginning and advanced; the staff of Trio in Kitty Hawk is on hand for wine tasting, beer tasting and an evening of “Discovering North Carolina Cheeses”; this is the time to learn about reflexology or the history of the Currituck Beach Lighthouse.

The most popular classes by far are the cooking classes, and those fill up almost right away. Wes Stepp from Red Sky Cafe teaches an evening class based on his Healthy Gourmet menu; Rob Robinson and Matt Payne of Bad Bean and Baja Grill are on hand to demonstrate the cuisine of Mexico. There are dessert preparations and seafood demos—all classes, unfortunately filled . . . although there is always next year.

Classes are just $20, and there are still some openings. The net proceeds after expenses—mostly printing costs—are all donated back to the community. Through last year over $60,000 had been given to five local organizations: Interfaith Community Outreach, Food For Thought, Community Care Clinic, Beach Food Pantry, and Room in the Inn.

A great way to spend a winter evening, gaining a little bit of knowledge and all for a good cause.