Birthday Week At Oak Island
Yes, I’m one of those people who celebrates all week (or month) leading up to their birthday. I LOVE birthdays. Thankfully, my sweet husband is all about the extended celebrations, which this year took place on Oak Island - a precious little beach town in North Carolina. This was my first time visiting the island, but it definitely will not be my last.
Last Tuesday, we were too excited to do anything other than hit the road early. So, by 8 AM we were in route. Just under three hours later, we arrived at The Lazy Turtle, which just so happened to be basically across the street from where we were staying. This restaurant is literally ON the beach - like toes-in-the-sand on the beach.
We had a delicious lunch, and then were fortunate enough to be able to check-in early. This brings me to where we stayed. The Beach House @ Oak Island is the cutest and cleanest, plus it’s just one street back from the ocean. We could see the ocean from our balcony, and the walk to get out on the beach was approximately 30 seconds. We would definitely recommend staying here, and would love to stay again in the future. I especially loved that there was no official check-in or check-out process, at least not in the traditional sense. Similarly to checking into an Airbnb, we had a keypad on our door and were texted the code prior to check-in. Once we got the text that our room was ready, we went straight there and let ourselves in.
I was so excited about the coordinating, free koozies on our bed. I love a free koozie.
By 2 PM we were out on the beach enjoying our first afternoon on the island. The weather was perfect for our entire trip. So grateful!
For dinner we headed to nearby Southport. Per a friend’s recommendation we ate at Dry Street Pub & Pizza, and it did not disappoint. Highly recommend eating here if you are staying in OKI or Southport. The service was outstanding and the food was impeccable. Vinnie had the most delicious meatball sub (I may have had a little bit), and I had the margherita pizza. I also may or may not have left with a new t-shirt - Comfort Colors no less.
After dinner we drove by the Safe Haven house, which was so neat to see in person. All of Southport feels like it’s straight out of a movie. It is such a sweet, quaint little town. We ended up going back to our room and watching Safe Haven. It was the perfect ending to our first day of vacation.
The next morning we grabbed breakfast at Bagel Dock Express and…
doughnuts from Seaside Mermaid.
Then we hit the beach, and when I say we stayed all day, I’m talking like 9 AM to 4 PM. It was heavenly. For lunch, we didn’t even have to leave the beach. The Koko Cabana is another restaurant right on the beach, with a beautiful view of the water. It’s also delicious!! The coconut shrimp tacos were next level!
For dinner, night two, we had reservations at Island Way. I would definitely recommended making a reservation. We were there on a Wednesday night and it was packed. I understand why though. It was SO good.
For our last full day on the island, we walked the short distance from our motel to Ruby’s Coffeehouse.
Let me just say…SO CUTE! So cute that I left with another t-shirt, in fact (also Comfort Colors). Ruby’s is connected to the pier so after a yummy breakfast, we took our coffee straight down to the beach, where we once again spent the whole day. Koko Cabana was so good the first time that we ended up going back for lunch. I can also confirm that the fried green tomato tacos are so yummy!
Before we headed in to shower for dinner, we hopped in the car and drove to OKI Scoop Shop and Donuts. Y’all…let’s take a moment…look at these doughnuts.
Beautiful? Yes. But, more importantly, so so yummy! They also have the cutest (Comfort Colors) t-shirts. Yes, I obviously got one. For anyone keeping track…this was my third t-shirt of the trip. I love a good t-shirt, okay?
For dinner our last night, we headed back to Southport. I was excited to find the American Fish Company (called Ivan’s on Safe Haven). We had dinner next door at the Frying Pan. Definitely recommend!
And, that’s the recap! We had the absolute best time, and can’t wait to go back. Comment with any questions!
-D
