After a little searching, I landed on Kill Devil Hills, NC - a great Groupon deal on a pet-friendly(!) hotel and only 5 hours in the car away from DC. We went in Mid-March, so it was off season as well, and it was refreshing to be at the beach without the crowds.
The trip got off to an interesting start when, after an amazing birthday surprise party that was a little more wild than I expected, neither CJ and I could make our selves get out of bed for the 5am departure time we originally intended. So we bummed the day away while I struggled to work from home and set off for North Carolina in the evening.
After a Serial podcast marathon and eating dinner in the Chic-fil-a parking lot because we felt guilty leaving Max in the car, we made it to our hotel at about midnight. And then woke up to boxer pup whines at 6am. He's lucky he's cute.
We made no plans ahead of time, and just spent our two days exploring everything Trip Advisor told us to. Here are some highlights:
Wright Brothers National Memorial: Not much here except a hill and a few statues, but I guess it was cool to stand where history was made. Luckily we didn't have to pay since it was off-season, but there's usually a per-car entry fee.
Jockey's Ridge State Park: Sand dunes, sand dunes and more sand dunes. Max went a little buck wild and the views were pretty cool.
Bodie Island Lighthouse: The inside was closed, but was still a nice scenic walk.
While the sites were fun, by far the best part of being at the beach is the beach. Max loved running around, and I spent a decent amount of time reading on a hotel porch overlooking the water. For dinner one night, we had a picnic of cheese, crackers, wine, and salami outside. We also woke up to watch the sunrise, but ended up being an hour early after a daylight saving mix-up. I will say that shivering in the pitch black for an hour does make you appreciate the sunrise more :)
If the best part was the beach, Duck Donuts was a close second. They make every donut fresh as you order, and I've never had a better donut.
It's great to make memories with our little squad of three, and I'll take any vacation I can get, no matter how small!
