Day 5 - Durham - Kill Devil Hills, NC

A dream of Jason's came true this morning as he and Caroline test drove a Tesla in Raleigh.  While they did that, the kids and I went over to the Raleigh airport where they have an Observation Park.  It consists of an elevated deck from which you can watch planes take off and land; a playground; speakers which pipe in the air traffic control chatter; and restrooms.  After watching some commercial jets come and go, we ventured over to the General Aviation terminal which has a deck overlooking the private planes.  We got to see a really nice jet plane and 2 turbo props.

After an hour, Jason and Caroline were done and we headed to a shopping district in Raleigh.  After a quick bite, we got back on the road and made our way east.  By 4:30 we arrived at our hotel in the Outer Banks.  Earlier in our vacation, a bridge contractor cut into a major power line that feeds the southern parts of the Outer Banks.  We were fortunate that the hotel we booked was on the northern part, so all is good for us.  The accident will cause a huge economic hit to the region as this is the height of the tourist season.  Within an hour of arriving, we all donned our flip flops and were in the Atlantic Ocean, which was surprisingly chilly.

Dinnertime was approaching so we returned to the room, got some local restaurant recommendations from the front desk and ventured out to a place down in Nag's Head.  Outside one window, an osprey protected its nest full of babies and out the other window, the sun set over the Roanoke Sound.  All in all, another wonderful day in North Carolina.