Category Archives: OBX

OBX Sandbars and Board Shorts Day Five: Bikes and Beach

obx_foj13_d5_02We’re on day five of our week on the Outer Banks. On Wednesday, July 3 the weather finally cooperated with us to get to the beach for an extended amount of time. First, the family enjoyed a bike ride in Kill Devil Hills.

Merri Beth recently added a child seat on her bike and we brought our bikes with us from Raleigh. I added the “Alley Cat” bike extender to my bike for Zander. MB had Coco, while I had Zander and we were off on the bikes. Continue reading

OBX Sandbars and Board Shorts Day Four: Taco Tuesday

obx_foj13_d4_12Not only was it Taco Tuesday on day four of our OBX beach week, but it was “Work From OBX” day. On Tuesday, July 2, Merri Beth and I were working remote and getting stuff done. Red Hat is great that way. I have the ability to work remote and still operate pretty smoothly with my team. My mom had today off and needed to run some errands. Zander tagged along with her. Continue reading

OBX Sandbars and Board Shorts Day One: Stormy Shrimp

Surf check at First Street

Surf check at First Street

We arrived on the Outer Banks on Friday, June 28, after a three hour drive from Raleigh. We unpacked the Jeep, settled in, and watched a nasty round of evening storms pass through.

On Saturday morning, we were eager to hit the beach, but the weather was not cooperating. When I woke up at 6:30am, it was raining, so I rolled over and went back to sleep. As the rest of the family got their day started, Zander and I went up to NY Bagel to grab some breakfast for everyone. After that, we started making plans for the day, trying to anticipate what the weather would do and plan around it. Continue reading

Another great Outer Banks Half Marathon

OBX November sunset

OBX November sunset

Happy belated Veteran’s Day. We spent Veteran’s Day weekend on the Outer Banks of North Carolina. I was ready to run my second Outer Banks half marathon. Race season kicked off last weekend with the City of Oaks marathon. I ran the half in 1 hour and 43 minutes. This weekend, I was looking for a better time, but was concerned because of a leg and foot injury that’s been nagging me.

We arrived on the OBX Friday evening, November 9, 2012 to a freak blackout. As we drove through Mann’s Harbor, we noticed it was really dark. The radio was talking about widespread power outages from the Virginia border all the way to Hatteras Island. We noticed Roanoke Island was pitch black except for the airport, as we traveled over the Virginia Dare Memorial Bridge. Continue reading

And the Fall 2012 race season has begun

The Fall race season kicked off this weekend with the City of Oaks Marathon. I ran my 15th half marathon, The Rex Healthcare half marathon.

This race is always interesting because of daylight savings—usually plenty of rest! But daylight savings seems pretty pointless in the 21st century, but regardless, we still have to deal with the false sense of time change. (That’s for you Damon!)

Caitlyn's first half marathon

Caitlyn’s first half marathon

At about 5:00am in the morning, the sound of thunder woke us up. Who ordered the race day thunderstorm in the early morning? The rain kept the temperatures up. The predicted 38º ended up being 42º – which was fine by me.

Mom, MB, and Caitlyn were on-hand to watch the race. They saw me start under the NC State Belltower, then were at the 10k finish line (6.2 miles) to send me off for the remainder of the half marathon. Continue reading

September Surf Sessions on the Outer Banks

A week of surf on the Outer Banks will do wonders for your soul. I headed out to Kill Devil Hills, NC on Tuesday, September 4, leaving Raleigh, NC after dinner and arriving at the beach just before midnight. The swell forecast from Hurricane Leslie was looking very promising. And the wind (direction) looked like it was going to cooperate over the next few days.

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