capitva + nags head.

{Captiva Island, Florida}

Twenty years ago, I think I could easily have been one of those obnoxious people who turned  vacation photographs into slides, delivering endless presentations to surrounding friends and neighbors, detailing every last minute of latest travel adventures while serving warm cookies and lemonade to all who cared to listen. 

I kind of love slideshows -- done well -- and I think I could have been a darn good narrator of my travels. Unfortunately, nobody really pays attention to stuff like that anymore, which is probably why I have this blog. 

This is a slideshow, and you are my semi-captive audience. 

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Jordan and I had been planning this little fall getaway for weeks before I realized I had a business trip scheduled for the same weekend we were supposed to depart. Never one to be deterred from hard-earned vacation time, I decided we could just combine the two. Seriously, who complains about a business trip to Captiva Island? 

No one, that's who. 

So I did my thing in Captiva for a couple of days while Jordan slept at our awesome hotel room. Then we got up at 5:00 in the morning (which I've learned some people call "o'dark thirty." To which I say: Really? Are we too lazy to say the actual time?) and made the 16-hour trip to Nags Head, a small town on the Outer Banks of North Carolina. 

I've been dying to visit the Outer Banks ever since my internship at Coastal Living, and the off-season was the perfect (read: most inexpensive) time for us to go. 

We found accommodations through VRBO, which I'm going to warn you, was no easy task. Here's the thing about the Outer Banks: People must travel there in large quantities. Every accommodation was for 8 to 10 people, unless you want to shell out a bit more cash for a bed and breakfast or a hotel room. Jordan and I weren't interested in either, so we finally Googled our way to Sea Spray Cottages. If you're planning a trip to the Outer Banks, I'd highly recommend them. You have to bring your own sheets and towels, but it was really inexpensive, and it gave us a nice home to come back to at the end of our travels each day.

We really didn't have much of an agenda this trip. (Those of you who know me are scoffing right now, but I assure you: It's true.) We had one primary goal: Relax.

So we did. 

We rented movies and slept late and went to bed relatively early. I read three books and sat curled up on the couch for long periods of time. 

As it turns out, these are excellent plans to have in Nags Head during November. A lot of businesses are closed. Even finding a restaurant open after 6:00 proved to be a challenge.

But the weather was gorgeous. 

And there happens to be an abundance of national parks in the Outer Banks area, providing plenty of entertainment for two nerds like us (more on this to come).

Jordan and I try to make a couple of trips a year. One trip is always a little more strenuous, a little more planned. It often involves itineraries and air travel and a bit more funding. The other trip, though, requires mostly just time off. A little money, sure, and gas enough to get us where we need to be, but otherwise, the trip is a relaxing endeavor. 

I love both kinds of trips. I need both kinds of trips. 

I need to grow and stretch and watch people in airports and get stamps in a passport and see what life is like on the other side. 

But I also need to drive a little. I need to rest and relax and breathe deep in the salt air.

This trip was just what I needed, at just the right time. 

I'm already planning a return visit.

For my fellow travelers:

To stay :: South Seas Island Resort, Captiva and Sea Spray Cottages, Nags Head

To eat :: Cabbage Key (Captiva), Ducks Donuts, Mulligan's Bar & Grill, Poor Richard's Sandwich Shop

To visit :: Jockey's Ridge State Park, Wright Brothers National Memorial, Cape Hatteras Seashore, Fort Raleigh National Historic Site, Island Bookstore