Book Direct, Why Should That Matter To You?

This person is booking a vacation on Book Direct day which is February 3rd 2021

Advantages of Booking Direct With Joe Lamb Jr. & Associates:

You might be wondering why you should book direct when there are so many online travel agencies with fancy online ads and tons of suggested listings. Here are a few huge benefits to booking directly with Joe Lamb Jr. & Associates: 

You will receive better rates and “from time to time” there are special offers by booking directly with us. It will be much easier to add different packages, add travel insurance, and filter your search. For instance, if you are looking for a home within a certain town, location, property type, or a home with specific amenities you can refine your search with the advanced search filter.

We offer more flexibility and an overall better booking experience when you book directly with us on our website. You will have direct access to our local staff that lives in the area and can offer knowledgeable tips and ideas about exploring the Outer Banks.

The best benefit of booking directly with Joe Lamb Jr. & Associates is that you communicate with a live human so you will also get amazing one on one customer service while on your OBX Vacation, these are things that computerized OTA’s just can not match!

This is a frustrated woman trying to book a vacation using an online travel agency.

Things To Think About When You Do Not Book Direct:

When not booking directly with Joe Lamb Jr. & Associates not only do you not save money but you actually end up spending more! 

Online travel agencies are full of upcharges and fees, sometimes they are in plain sight and clearly explained but sometimes they are hidden and leave you feeling like a bait and switch just happened. That is no way to start your Outer Banks vacation!

Orange and pink color sky as the sunrises on the Outer Banks North Carolina with Jeanette's Fishing Pier in sight. Water a soft orange and pink glow along with the sand on the beach from the sunrise.

When you do not book directly you also miss out on the chance to learn about all the properties Joe Lamb Jr. & Associates has to offer in our inventory because OTA’s only highlight and feature a certain amount of beach homes or oceanfront condos for you to search.

We Have Made Booking Direct Easy!

Booking an Outer Banks Vacation Rental direct with Joe Lamb Jr. & Associates is a simple process that we have worked very hard on making as streamlined as possible so you have the best user experience possible!

You can book direct with us using our desktop website or our mobile browser for those on the go or spur of the moment trips. Here you will find our powerful search feature that delivers your vacation rental search results quickly and efficiently. Our user-friendly layout means you can navigate through all of the different amenities you need in your vacation home as simple as clicking a drop-down from the menu and pressing search now.

Do you want to bring the family dog on your trip? No problem our website has plenty of choices. Need an oceanfront view to wake up to that beautiful ocean every morning? We have a search feature that covers that too! We encourage you to book your next family vacation directly on our website.

Whether you need to know about our check out procedures or want to know about what to bring you can find all the answers to your questions on our extremely detailed FAQ page, it gives you all info you will need so that you can feel confident in booking your Outer Banks vacation rental directly with us! We look forward to seeing you and your family on your next Outer Banks vacation!

 

Joe Lamb Jr. & Associates is one of the most trusted vacation rental managers in the local area by growing into a market leader in the Vacation Rental and Sales Industry. Joe Lamb Jr. and his family have played a vital and intricate role in the Outer Banks Community for decades. 

Over the past 50+ years, Joe Lamb Jr. & Associates have worked diligently to help promote the Outer Banks for the amazing beach and family vacation destination that it is, helping to increase tourism in the area and grow our beautiful community.

Eco-Tourism on the Outer Banks: How to Help Keep the Outer Banks Clean

sand, wooden stairs, railings, atlantic ocean, waves, blue skies, sand dunes, boat in distance, soft clouds in sky

A Joe Lamb Jr. Blog Series –

Eco-Tourism is in full swing on the Outer Banks and every visitor plays a part in keeping our beaches & waterways pristine for all. We here at Joe Lamb Jr wanted to share a new blog series with some simple tips, ideas, & educational offerings that you and your family can implement & enjoy on your next visit. Staying in one of our oceanfront vacation rentals will allow you and your family to enjoy some of the best uninterrupted coastal views that the Atlantic Ocean can offer. If clean wide open beaches are for you then let’s get started! 

Keeping our Beaches Clean

You’ll notice one of the beautiful things about the Outer Banks is how clean the ocean is, the sound, and our beaches. We take pride in not only keeping the wildlife safe but also our guests as well. We have come up with a few ways that you and your family can help fight to keep the OBX clean for all.

reusable coral bag, white water bottle, white brick wall in background, silver and black tumbler, white countertop
  • Switch to Reusable Straws – You’ll notice that many local restaurants have done away with plastic straws & switched over to recyclable paper straws here on the Outer Banks. If you don’t care for the paper straws, be sure to pack some reusable straws that you can wash and reuse for your whole trip.
  • Bring Reusable Cups – Another big thing that we have done is discontinue using disposable cups so be sure to pack your favorite reusable tumblers with you. Not only can many of the metal tumblers keep your drinks warm, but they can also help keep your drinks cool too in the hot summer sun.
  • Use Recyclable or Reusable Bags – Bringing with you either a recyclable or reusable bag for your shopping needs is excellent. Many of the grocery stores here on the OBX will give you a discount if you shop using your bags. Let’s help keep our environment and sea life safe by not using plastic bags.
  • Carry In / Carry Out Rules – You’ll notice that when you step onto the sand from your oceanfront vacation rental that there should be no trash. Unlike other beaches around the world, the OBX takes pride in our clean beaches. After your day on the beach, be sure to clean up your things and throw the trash away. It only takes a few minutes to pick up a little trash and leave the beach the way you .

 Reduce, Reuse & Recycle

As many of our children go to school, they may have learned this helpful reminder phrase – Reduce, Reuse, Recycle. As mentioned above, reducing the number of plastics you use while on vacation and reusing those items is a great first step to keeping the Outer Banks clean. 

Let’s talk about recycling for a bit. We at Joe Lamb Jr are a part of the Women’s Club here on the OBX as Mrs. Lamb is a founding member. Through this community connection we have partnered with NexTrex to help with plastic bag recycling.  

Our goal is to collect 480+lbs (about 40,500) of plastic bags to have those bags recycled into a high-performance composite community bench!  If you would like to help us reach this goal and be part of the plastic bag recycling effort along our coastline bags be dropped off at three different locations in our area.

map showing three drop off locations for recycling, Dare County Baum Center, Outer Banks Family YMCA & Joe Lamb Jr & Associates on map of the Outer Banks, NC
  • Joe Lamb Jr. & Associates 
  • YMCA
  • Baum Center – Day Programs for Adults

While there are many other ways that you and your family can help protect our beaches, ocean waters, sea life, and wildlife safe from trash, we wanted to share these with you. If you don’t have your next vacation planned to stay with us later this year, look at our OBX vacation rentals today. We hope that you will follow along with us over the next few months on more of the Eco-Tourism on the Outer Banks and how you can help too!

Joe Lamb Jr. & Associates is one of the most trusted vacation rental managers in the local area by growing into a market leader in the Vacation Rental and Sales Industry. Joe Lamb Jr. and his family have played a vital and intricate role in the Outer Banks Community for decades. 

Over the past 50+ years, Joe Lamb Jr. & Associates have worked diligently to help promote the Outer Banks for the amazing beach and family vacation destination that it is, helping to increase tourism in the area and grow our beautiful community.

Beach Reading on Your next Outer Banks Vacation.

A stack of books to read on your next OBX Vacation.

Take the time now to prepare for your upcoming OBX vacation.

Finally, a place with no urgent deadlines, endless meetings, or obligatory workplace lunches to distract us, vacation is one of the only occasions we can just totally lose ourselves. However, decision fatigue may have set in after picking a vacation destination (Nags Head? Kill Devil Hills? Kitty Hawk?), a beach house, figuring out what to pack and what to place on the itinerary. 

Remembering to pack a book or two can be an oversight while trying to navigate your pre-trip planning. Take the time in the “off-season” to load up your book list or e-reader now to prepare for your next Outer Banks Vacation.

If you are a bit of a traditionalist and still find comfort in a physical book here are some pros and cons of a hardback and paperback to hopefully help you decide what to bring. 

Let us start with hardbacks, a few pros are they are very durable which makes them capable of withstanding a bit more handling and placing/removing from that beach tote full of sunscreen and sand toys. They are also a little more sturdy and can probably handle a splash or two. The cons of a hardback are obviously their heft and weight, this might make lugging more than one a bit of a chore. The hardbacks are also a bit more expensive to replace so bringing them around the beach or pool might not be the best idea.

Now let us move on to the paperback book. The pros of paperback books are they’re great for travel due to their lightweight design, they are usually much cheaper than hardbacks and can generally be held open with one hand making beach reading very easy. As with their hardback counterparts, there are a few cons. Their design although great for travel actually makes them a bit more vulnerable when it comes to wear and tear and no one likes to borrow a book only to find out the last three pages have been ripped out or water damaged!

These are just a few examples of things to think about when it comes to physical books, now let us move on to a completely different option to increase your leisurely vacation reading. The e-Reader! Did you receive a gift card for a birthday or other holiday that you might want to use to fill up your e-reader? Now’s the time to decide on those book titles.

Reading from an e-Reader on the Outer Banks.

Download your favorite beach reads onto your e-reader.

There are a few die-hard physical book readers vs. e-reader vacationers left out there, so packing a few books on a beach vacation is nothing new. But as with many things, the advancement of technology has made the art of reading much simpler and accessible.

e-Readers have the benefit of downloading a lot of books all in one easy to use and convenient location. Giving you a variety of options to choose from without having to dig in the bottom of your seemingly endless beach tote for that big cumbersome murder mystery hardback you could have sworn you packed only to remember it is sitting on the dining room table of the amazingly spacious 5 bedroom beach house you rented. When you use an e-Reader you are keeping your beach bag light and your time focused on the beach. Not worrying about what you might have forgotten or having to get up and walk back.

They make saving your spot in the story you are reading a breeze while you take a quick break to enjoy a refreshing dip in the Atlantic Ocean just a few feet away. Quick tip, make sure your e-Reader is waterproof and or has a waterproof case if you are taking it to the beach or the pool! Just like no one likes reading a water-logged book from wet fingers and hands making the pages all wavy, no one likes buying new tech toys due to not planning ahead and making sure their technology was properly safeguarded!

Father and Daughter reading on the beach in the Outer Banks.

We just want you to be happy and relaxed while reading!

At the end of the day, all that matters is the experience you have while on vacation here in the Outer Banks. 

You can choose to bring one or two hardback books to escape reality or bring a stack of paperbacks to catch up with your book club. You can even download everything to your e-Reader so you can lounge on the beach or poolside of your OBX vacation rental. Whatever you decide, we just want you to be happy.

In fact, you really do not have to bring a book at all because we have about 15 little free libraries all around the Outer Banks to give you a chance to grab a book and unwind. The Outer Banks also has a great selection of local bookstores to shop when visiting: Island Bookstore in both Kitty Hawk and Duck, Duck’s Cottage in Duck, and Downtown Books in Manteo.

Just book your vacation and then vacation with your book (anyway that works for you)!

Before that decision fatigue sets in permanently, if you have not booked your next Outer Banks vacation yet click here to get started and use this off-season as a time to plan for your upcoming OBX vacation! 

Joe Lamb Jr. & Associates is one of the most trusted vacation rental managers in the local area by growing into a market leader in the Vacation Rental and Sales Industry. Joe Lamb Jr. and his family have played a vital and intricate role in the Outer Banks Community for decades. 

Over the past 50+ years, Joe Lamb Jr. & Associates have worked diligently to help promote the Outer Banks for the amazing beach and family vacation destination that it is, helping to increase tourism in the area and grow our beautiful community.

Our OBX version of the Northern Lights

Photo Taken by Jim Trotaman of J. Aaron Trotman Photography (link to page below)
Photo Taken by Jim Trotman of J. Aaron Trotman Photography

 

IF YOU WERE ONE OF THE LUCKY ONES TO BE ON THE BEACH THIS PAST WEEKEND YOU WERE WITNESS TO A BEAUTIFUL DISPLAY OF BIO-LUMINESCENT PLANKTON

 

Alaska may have the Northern Lights and the popular book “Life of Pie” may have referenced a neon green, glowing carnivorous island. However, this weekends amazing light show on the OBX puts it in the running for one of Mother Nature’s best performances yet! A shout out to our friend Jim Trotman for capturing some of this weekends fascinating show while out strolling the beach himself.

A stunning parade of neon blue lights dancing across the ocean’s surface, flowing smoothly like an orchestra playing a grand aqua-blue symphony. The waves lighting up each time they rippled across the surface or crashed on the beach. This unique natural occurrence is referred to as bio-luminescence. A change in the oxygen level in the ocean took place this weekend causing a unique algae bloom. This bloom was extremely interesting as the algae were from the marine –dwelling species of dinoflagellate Noctiluca scintillans commonly known as Sea Sparkle. When this specific species of plankton is stressed by too much motion a chemical reaction occurs creating a bright neon light referred to as bio-luminescence. Some believe this is could be a defense mechanism to ward off predators others think it is mother natures way of showing us that magic still exist.

 

The glowing blue neon waves weren’t the only thing that made this weekend a fascinating spectacle.

The start of the New Moon occurred on Saturday .  Like a scene from Avatar, the moon rose over the sparkling neon water and enchanted the beach goers with its orange and reddish hue cascading light through-out the night sky. I have truly never witnessed anything more mesmerizing. It isn’t every day you have the chance to be transported to another world. A place where the sky’s glow red, the water glitters a neon blue and the moon takes over half the night sky.

The Outer Banks of NC has many spectacular things to offer but in my opinion one of its best qualities is something that can only be provided by Miss Mother Nature herself. If you missed it, don’t worry. The Sea Sparkles will one day return. You too will be able to witness the enchantment that mother nature has to offer.  Be sure to book your Outer Banks vacation early as Oceanfront properties are the first to book!