This resort is located in Kitty Hawk, NC. I have been to the Outer Banks of North Carolina perhaps 100 times. I live only about 2 hours away and I love the area. I went first as a kid, then later as a young adult, a great deal. My last trip to the Outer Banks helped me choose to move from Virginia and move to a beach. (Myrtle Beach) which is just below the North Carolina border.
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Day One Travel & Arrival at Diamond Resorts Beachwoods Resort
The trip down to the Outer Banks is a fast one for me at only about a 2-hour drive. There are no major airports close by. Everything is a fair distance away. This seems odd given the number of annual visitors and the fact that this is literally where the flight started. Kitty Hawk is where Orville and Wilbur Wright flew their first test flights and is considered the birthplace of aviation. There is a small museum on the site here and it is something everyone with even the slightest interest in flight or aviation should visit and see for themselves.
It seems strange to me that in all the years I have come to visit the Outer Banks of North Carolina I did not notice this resort. It has a great location but does have a private feeling about it. Maybe that is why I had not driven by and stopped to check it out.
The resort itself is close to route 158, which is the road you come in on over the bridge to get onto the Outer Banks. Do not get me wrong, it does not sit on the road, it is just close to that key intersection on the map. This makes it easy to find.
When driving to the resort, the road that goes to it leads past the local Walmart so it is easy to find the turn. Often after you have driven for a while, you might be in that weird zone as a driver, so it helps to have the landmark to guide you. The road is called Cypress Knee Trail, and it goes straight to the resort. The location does help you supply up if you intend to cook some meals during your stay with a Walmart, Harris Teeter, and a Food Lion all a short drive. Knowing the area well, I stopped and grabbed some items on my way to the resort that I had forgotten at home. I also grabbed snack items, things for breakfast, and a few beers. Once checked in, I would have a well-stocked fridge for this stay.
I do love some restaurants on the Outer Banks, so I will probably eat out for most meals, but having some basics in your villa never hurts.
The 1 bedroom was roomy and well laid out. It has a full kitchen as well as a washer and dryer. That is a nice touch since it is so much nicer to get back into a clean bathing suit instead of a still-damp one from the last swim in the ocean or pool the day before. I can still remember hanging my swimsuits as a young man and getting into them when they felt like ice the next day to go back to the beach.
If you are not from the area, you may wonder why I keep using the term Outer Banks. The Outer Banks of North Carolina include several beachfront communities. There are many, but the first few you reach from the main bridge area are Kitty Hawk, Nags Head, and Kill Devil Hills.
There are many more little towns and sleepy fishing villages I could mention that are on the outer banks. But this section of the beach and town is one of my favorite areas. We had family that owned a cottage down here when I was young and the next-door area of Nags Head was where we would go when we graduated high school. We called it beach week, and it was a transformative week that recognized our step after high school towards adulthood. I did that week trip 3 times junior, senior, and the year after graduation. Those were fun weeks of foolishness. When combined with my early childhood memories, I feel truly connected to the Outer Banks. You will too, after your trip here.
The pace or speed of the Outer Banks is slower and calmer than many other beach towns. Several of the beach towns here have been on major lists of the best beaches in the United States on many occasions.
This area of the country is special. It combines that amazing slow pace with some of the best food in the nation. This is country food and seafood. You will not find overpriced plates with 3 ounces of gourmet food on a large white plate here. You find large plates from locally owned restaurants with huge local followings.
Villa Amenities
- Balcony/Porch
- Blender
- Cable TV
- Coffee Maker
- Dishwasher
- Ice Maker
- In-Room Safe
- Microwave
- Oven
- Refrigerator
- Stove/Range
Then the resort itself offers all of these options.
Resort Amenities
- Free WiFi
- Outdoor Pools
Day Two the Beach
Staying on the Outer Banks and in Kitty Hawk, one of the major draws here is the beach itself. The beach is amazing here and seems unspoiled. Since most of the area on the beaches is still not crowded with hotels and instead is just beach space in front of private homes, the beaches here are often less crowded than many.
When you are not staying on the beach, there are many beach access points with parking where you can park and walk onto the beach. Today on my visit, it was windy, and the waves were really coming in hard. They were at least 6 ft tall and coming in very fast. One right after another.
Going in for a swim was off the list today, but it was a great day to just watch the ocean and waves do their thing. It was not so windy that sand was blowing around, just enough to send the waves crashing in and keeping most out of the water. The safety flags were up, but there were still eager surfers out there to watch them enjoying themselves. The adult side of my brain worried about the undertow and the rough seas, but at least the surfers near me were going out and coming back in a group to be able to help each other if something happened. That was smart.
I went to dinner at a favorite spot, Captain George’s Seafood Restaurant which is a chain and they have a great seafood buffet with lots of fresh seafood choices, and many great sides. It is a little, but the price is money well spent for a great meal. I try to go once a year and take family and friends when I can.
Day Three First in Flight
The Wright brothers had the first manned flight here in 1903. It is hard to imagine that we went from those first flights to the moon in about 50 years. The museum here honors that history as well as some of the best pilots our country has ever seen.
I have been a fan of all aviation things since I first saw the movie The Right Stuff. If you have not seen that classic, you are missing out. You will learn about the Mercury Seven astronauts and the legend General Chuck Yeager, as well as a host of other amazing pilots our nation had.
After a few hours of seeing everything you can here, I went to Kitty Hawk Kites and purchased a kite to take to the beach. I then spent a few hours on the beach taking advantage of the good wind, then ending my time on the beach by giving the kite away to a nice family on my way off the beach. It was a lovely kite, but I never fly them anywhere else other than the outer banks. It is something I do to honor the memory of my vacations here, especially when I was a young man.
Next thing was to go visit the lighthouse in Hatteras. In part to enjoy the drive down there with my convertible and the top down, and also to see the lighthouse again for myself.
Two days of seafood might be too much for some, but I love seafood, so I could likely do a week with every night full of seafood. Today it was Awful Arthur’s Oyster Bar this is a local bar with a few. locations this one is near the fishing pier and easy to find in the Kill Devil Hills area near the resort. The menu here is simple but fresh and tasty and the beers and drinks go down very easily in this spot. So, plan ahead and take an Uber to this location. You will thank me later.
If you want to stay at one of the best beaches in the USA, consider this resort and staying in Kitty Hawk for a week.
