PT.3- The House, Nice...

Over the past several trips we've made to the Outer Banks, I've learned so much from Mary Gaylord about how to find a great house for our vacation. She's shown me the features to look for, the companies and what they offer, and how to get the most for your money. It's actually a fun process to find just the right house. When I say I spent literally hours and hours looking through catalogs and websites...

There are so many places to choose from it's unbelievable! Having been to the Outer Banks before really helps visualise where the house will be. Fortunately many of the companies offer maps and aerial views of the properties to assist you. I remember spending an afternoon on our first trip, just driving around enjoying all the beautiful homes. Every time we thought we saw the perfect house, along came another one looking even more interesting and beautiful. Oh, to win the lottery right now... I'd have to get some property in OBX...

We would take walks, just enjoying the features we could see from the street as we walked by. It was even more fun to try to guess what the inside of some of these homes was like. I guess it's just one of those fun things to imagine and take a head vacation to...

This montage will show you the house we stayed in. It was a three story, 8 bedroom, 10 bath home. The top floor had a Master King bedroom, Master bath, cooking kitchen complete with 2 dishwashers, a microwave, frig, oven, 3 sinks and marble counter tops. The kitchen was set up perfectly for our needs. There was also a beautiful living room with a fireplace, a huge dining room complete with two tables, able to seat 14. In the main hall that ran the entire height of the house was an elevator, accessible to all floors. It was perfect for Mom and Tricia, and sure helped when we had to unload groceries, etc. There was another wing which had a master king bedroom and master bath, as well as a"media room" which held a TV, daybed and desk for computer use. That room also had it's own bathroom. There was a full bath for use by everyone, right around the corner from the elevator.

The second floor was where the most bedrooms were. There were 5 king master suites, each with their own bathrooms. The end of one of the halls also took us to a bedroom perfect for kids, with 2 sets of bunk beds and its own bathroom. Smartly, the laundry area was also on this floor.

On the ground floor there was the main entry, a huge family room area which held the pool table, another frig, microwave and wet bar, as well as an ice machine, TV and bistro table area. This floor also had a full bath right inside the pool door, so you didn't have to go far if you needed to use it. Just outside the pool table room was a covered patio area and a grilling center with a gas grill. Just beyond that was the pool and hot tub area.

All of the bedrooms had their own deck access and faced east towards the ocean (except the kids bedroom). The volleyball area was on the west side of the house, and the basketball goal was off the east side of the driveway. Unfortunately, I found the basketball goal with my car one morning and took out a taillight. With a TV in each room, no one was without their favorite shows. Every bedroom allowed you to sleep with your sliding door blinds opened so you could watch the sunrise in the morning. As relaxed as everyone seemed to get, there were very few sunrise risers each day.

The rules for this vacation were simple: There are no rules! Relax, have fun, and try to enjoy dinner together as a group if you can make it. Everyone was together each night for dinner, yet by day we all did our own thing. It was fantastic! There were some poor weather days, so everyone just hit the shops and tourist traps. There was plenty to do, yet nothing you had to do.

So here's where we stayed: OPUS I, Corolla, N. C.

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