Outer Banks, A Taste of the Beach

The Outer Banks is a culinary destination with a variety of flavor choices. The Outer Banks Restaurant Association hosts Taste of the Beach, an annual food and wine festival. The OBRA hosts culinary experiences that showcase the cooking and hospitality skills of the local Outer Banks community. As part of Joe Lamb Jr & Associates, we want to ensure you have the best beach experience possible and a full belly to enjoy. Spend one fun-filled weekend discovering the treasures of the Outer Banks!

A group of young adults have a picnic on the beach during a sunny day

Taste of the Beach consists of nearly 15 quaint venues that host over 40 events over three days. More than 20 iconic restaurants are participating throughout the OBX in this event. A broad platter of prepared delicacies will be served during this food-lover festival, including wine tastings, a 5k, food education, special multi-course menus, brewery tours, culinary tours, tapas crawls, and chef cook-offs. If you would like to view the schedule, you can do so by clicking here.

A picnic dinner on the beach complete fresh watermelon, cheese, bread and wine

Indulge your palate in a sampling of local handcrafted food, choice wines, and beers that serve for tasting. Local restaurants will compete for the TOB awards. These awards include best booth presentation, best in the show, best outer banks catch, the Chef’s Award, and the People’s Choice Award. We cordially invite you to have a taste of the beach and stay to enjoy it!

Discover the seasoning experience while you stay on the Outer Banks. The Outer Banks Taste of the Beach will be held March 24-26, 2023.

Thanksgiving Gatherings on The Outer Banks

Exciting food and family gatherings are waiting for you. It is time to celebrate everything with friends and family by consuming more turkey, and pumpkin pie than anyone thought was humanly possible. It’s the time of the year to be thankful. 

An Outer Banks Thanksgiving may be the perfect beginning for a brand new family tradition if you’d like to find a great way to spend a holiday this year. Read below for further information about the OBX area and what the holiday season in the Outer Banks brings to the table. 

Before you plan your trip, don’t forget to check out our “Area Guide” section of our website.  The Things To Do page is filled with ideas and suggestions from a few different OBX areas, making it the ideal tool to plan your Thanksgiving family getaway!

OBX Vacation Rental Thanksgivings

A family gathering and admiring a perfectly cooked turkey around the dinner table during Thanksgiving

The Outer Banks have been a holiday destination year after year for families and large groups of friends to gather at the beach. It’s a great way to reserve a vacation rental for a celebration surrounded by those you love for a long weekend away from work.

Thanksgiving with the family on the Outer Banks is an excellent way to start the holiday season. The weather in November is usually in the mid-60s is generally mild, and the night falls to a little cooler mid-50s. You may have a warm enough sunny Thanksgiving Day to relax on the beach most of the day. In this case, we advise planning your Thanksgiving meal ahead of time. 

Grocery Store Shopping or Restaurant Take Out

Complete Thanksgiving meals are sometimes available for ordering and pick up.

Take the guessing game out of your feast by ordering a full Thanksgiving dinner from a local OBX restaurant or grocery store. You can simply pick it up. Some foods have to be cooked and others are fresh. Full meals should be pre-ordered and advanced time limits are generally available before ordering. 

This is an excellent option if you do not have a lot of experience making a huge feast or want to make things simple for the family but still want to eat in private. Make sure to see the November 2022 hours of every restaurant or grocery store for additional information and ordering policy.

What To Expect At The Rental

Visiting our quiet and peaceful beaches to enjoy a holiday home in Outer Banks this turkey day? Our rentals are ideal for families, friends, and some even welcome the family dog!

Many of our rentals have kitchens that are large enough to make the whole family’s food; several turkey accommodating ovens and stoves, larger fridges for drinks and pies, and even an extra burner or two to create your own signature sides for all the family chefs and foodie travelers. 

With most homes having multiple levels, there’s also plenty of room for children to stay clear of the kitchen until the meal is ready.

Where To Find Thanksgiving Dinner In The Outer Banks

A thanksgiving buffet with a cooked turkey being sliced and people waiting in line to get a piece

For Thanksgiving on the OBX, we have suggested our dining recommendations below. We have covered you whether you are looking for a buffet dinner close to your vacation rental or a full-blown feast at a local restaurant this November.

Buffets

Thanksgiving annual buffets are sure to ease every pallet. Some seafood buffets in addition to favorites like crab legs, steamed shrimp, and more, offer traditional Thanksgiving food like turkey and ham! You’ve also often got homemade desserts, greens, sides, soups, and salads at some buffets!

We recommend calling your favorite seafood buffet to see if they have a Thanksgiving buffet this year!

Thanksgiving Menus

Would you like to visit a Thanksgiving 2022 OBX restaurant? Several restaurants of Outer Banks are open at Thanksgiving for lunch or dinner. Some of them will offer special Thanksgiving menus, of which many are well known for their foods and treats among visitors and locals on the Outer Banks. 

For details on menus, reservations, and availability, visit each restaurant’s website. You may be able to have Thanksgiving dinner during another day if your favorite OBX restaurant is not open on Thanksgiving Day. 

Call or check this list compiled by the Outer Banks Visitors Bureau for more turkey day restaurant openings.

Book Your Thanksgiving Rental Today!

Year after year, the Outer Banks have been a holiday destination for families and big groups of friends on the shore. It’s the ideal chance to book a holiday rental for a celebration that you love for that long weekend away from work!

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.

5 Reasons to Love Beach Nourishment

Beach Nourishment, the long-standing question and constant struggle of pros and cons.

 The one thing we all agree on is that we don’t want to lose our beautiful beaches and want to preserve and protect our community. The coastline on the Outer Banks has been vulnerable for many years. Our tiny sand bar takes an enormous beating from the mighty Atlantic Ocean. Unfortunately, we cannot control mother nature however, we can take precautions to help make the outcome of her wrath a little less devastating and a little more manageable.

jlseafoamOur entire coast is extremely exposed

When you see the Outer Banks of North Carolina from an aerial view, it is very apparent that the threat of devastating erosion is inevitable. Our barrier island sits out a little bit further into the ocean; some may even speculate that we could classify it as a sandbar.  In some ways, our island benefits from this extreme exposure. Activities such as fishing and surfing reap the rewards from this extreme exposure however, it is dangerous for development and Oceanfront properties.

In 2011, the Town of Nags Head began a nourishment project of their own paving the way for the rest of the exposed Outer Banks towns to follow in their footsteps. The towns of Kill Devil Hills, Kitty Hawk and Duck decided to join forces and implement a beach nourishment project with a start date of late April 2017 and a projected completion of October 2017.

So, what is beach nourishment?

dsc_9451-002Beach nourishment is the process of pumping sand from the ocean floor and distributing it on to the beach’s surface to elongate & widen the existing beach area. This process will protect our land mass from storm surge and help to diminish future erosion. Beach nourishment does not however stop erosion but it does help manage it. Mother Nature is a powerful force and we cannot stop her from creating storm surge, hurricanes or bringing nor’easter’s our way. The only defense we have against her is to add additional protection (sand) to the shoreline and that is exactly what beach nourishment does, it is designed to delay the inevitable receding of our coastline.

The benefits of beach nourishment far outweigh the inconveniences.

lillian-oct-18This project will help protect the longevity of our beaches by pumping in additional sand to create a much-needed dune barrier between the rogue ocean waves that arise during a storm and the foundation of our ocean front homes, businesses and NC State Highway 12 better known as beach road. The local officials are diligently working with Great Lakes Dredge and Dock Company to make this project move forward as seamlessly as possible; but Rome was not built in a day and good things take time to accomplish.

Some inconveniences will occur such as: large cylinders laying on the beach pumping sand while bull dozers and other types of large equipment move the sand along the designated beach area, the possibility of not being able to conveniently walk to the beach access closest to your rental property or even use the beach access at your oceanfront rental property may occur. However, the current projection is that they will only be working on 1 to 1 and a half mile stretches of the beach at a time.

This plan is designed to cooperate with visitors and their ease of beach access, each section could take anywhere between 4 to 6 days to complete. Although these things may seem inconvenient during the moment, something even more inconvenient would be the loss of our homes, businesses and NC State Highway 12 due to extreme storm surge and erosion. We want to preserve and prolong our beautiful coastline so that you and your families can enjoy our beaches and vacation here for many more years to come.

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Here are 5 reasons WE LOVE BEACH NOURISHMENT and you should too!

  1. Without it there will be no beach to love or visit!
  2. Additional sand helps make our beaches wider, giving everyone more space to layout and enjoy themselves.
  3. Protection from storm surge, keeps the properties you frequently vacation in safe from erosion.
  4. Beaches stay intact for future generations to enjoy.
  5. Beach nourishment is more environmentally friendly and does not leave extreme hazards on the beach or in the water like other alternatives.

 

 

 

 

 

The – AfterMatthew –

A State in disarray but a community united.

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Hurricane Matthew was a force to be reckoned with beginning with devastating results in Haiti and working its way through Florida, Georgia, South Carolina and North Carolina. The effects from this storm will be felt for months. Harsh winds, heavy rains, flash flooding, storm surges and complete destruction were all apart of Mother Nature’s plan. What she didn’t plan for was the strength of our community. 

MP 4.5 infront of Black Pelican, Kitty Hawk NC
MP 4.5 infront of Black Pelican, Kitty Hawk NC

My heart is filled with warmth from the compassion and empathy that has been expressed throughout our entire community. As I look around and see places still without power, homes flooded, trees down and business devastated. I also see helpful hands being extended and friendships being forged. It is during these tough times that we realize we are only as strong as our neighbor. Throughout our entire community I have witnessed an extraordinary amount of compassion & empathy.

From neighbors helping one another clear out debris, to strangers helping push cars out of flood waters. While friends are donating their clothing and furniture to others that have lost theirs, small business owners are offering a free meal to our devoted line-man and first responders.

14516456_10154137236828655_6511698631734710394_n I would like to use this blog post to extended a Thank You out to our OBX community. The compassion, strength, patience and grace that I have witnessed over the last week has truly warmed my heart and restored my faith.

Thank you to the line-men & tree-services that have been working diligently to restore power to our homes and clean up debris in our streets.  Thank you to our County & to all the individual towns for providing such quick information & updates. Thank you to our first responders and to ALL emergency personal that have been out helping and protecting our friends and family.

Thank you to our visitors & our owners for showing great patience and understanding. A HUGE Thank YOU to our staff, fellow peers and outstanding community. We may still be cleaning up after Matthew but the task seems a little less daunting with all of your help and support..


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To every member of our community and to our surrounding communities; You are in our thoughts & we value your strength during this trying time.

 

Hurricane Matthew – OBX

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We continue to monitor the progress of Hurricane Matthew as it moves through the Bahamas on its northward track. Through last night and this morning, Hurricane forecast models have changed significantly and now project Matthew to take a turn to the east and away from the East Coast through Saturday and Sunday. If this track holds we expect impacts to our area to be less than previously anticipated. Likely issues at this point appear to include larger than normal surf conditions, wind and rain. Please continue to monitor the Weather Channel, TV news broadcasts, radio and our website: www.joelambjr.com and our Facebook page for future updates.

Please Follow the progress & updates here: Dare County Emergency Managment  , ReadyNC  &  Current Advisories