Birthday Beach Weekend

Happy Thanksgiving! I have so much to be thankful for this year and one of the things that I am most thankful for is all of the adventures that we have experienced this year. You may have noticed that we really don't sit still. I love my home but I equally love being on the go and discovering new places! Thankfully, I am married to someone who loves adventure just as much as I do. We are already excited about next year's adventures with a trip to Puerto Rico in our plans! 

This past weekend, my husband and I got to take a weekend trip, just the two of us. These kinds of trips are pretty rare because we do enjoy bringing our kids wherever we come so that they can experience things right along with us. This is very important to us but it's also super important to "date your spouse" and spend time together on your own as well. So, we took full advantage of our kid-free weekend and headed out of town. During the fall, I typically just want to go to the mountains but since we had already made a recent day trip to the North Carolina mountains, I wanted to go somewhere different. So, I picked Ocean Isle Beach. The beach is my happy place but I've never actually been during November. After a super busy week, it was just the place to go for some rest, relaxation, and lots of great food with my husband! 

W H E R E  W E  S T A Y  E D | When we visit Ocean Isle, we always stay at the Islander Inn. Ocean Isle is mostly houses so there really isn't a lot to choose from in terms of hotels. I found our accommodations via Expedia. I use Expedia to book all of my husband's business travel and most of our personal travel. I earn points by booking that can be cashed in to save on your trips. Both of our nights were free thanks to our points! We stayed at The Islander Inn and we were very pleased there last time that we decided to book there again (this was actually our third time there). We had an spacious room with a king size bed and an oceanfront view. The hotel has an outdoor pool (with a poolside tiki bar and a great view of the ocean, which is perfect during the warmer months), indoor pool, and jacuzzi (that's great for this time of year when it's cool outside). They also offered a free breakfast and lots of coffee! Overall, I would recommend this hotel to anyone looking for reasonable, clean accommodations that is located right on the beach. 

W H A T  W E  D I D | We relaxed! Haha but really, we took our time getting up each morning, drank hot coffee, walked on the beach, and went hunting for seashells. We went swimming in the indoor pool and enjoyed the jacuzzi. Other than that, we ate! Lots of great food!

W H A T  W E  A T E | Basically, we spent our entire weekend relaxing and eating! We went to a few brand new to us places and we loved everything. 

R O B E R T O S | We had planned to go to one of our favorite restaurants when we arrived on Friday night but it was closed for the season. My husband and I were both pretty hungry so we made a quick decision to try Roberto's and it was a good decision. The food was so good! I had the lasagna and it was delicious. The costumer service was also fantastic!

C A U S E W A Y  G O U R M E T | We ate here several times last summer and we had to get it for lunch while we were there this time. I got the shrimp and grits and the key lime pie is delicious (the graham cracked crust has chocolate chips in it) but really all of their desserts are super delicious!

J I N K S  C R E E K | The food here was wonderful but their location is the star of the show. It's located right on the water and the decor is gorgeous! The natural light and beachy, industrial decor were so pretty. The staff was also so courteous and polite! I had the fried chicken with mac and cheese. It was incredible! 

D R I F T  C O F F E E  A N D  K I T C H E N | This was a new to us place as well and it didn't disappoint! I had already heard great thing about it so I was excited to give it a try. I had a caramel latte and my first ever acai bowl. Both were amazing! We will definitely be going back!

M A K A I  B R E W I N G  C O M P A N Y | When we travel, we always love to try out new breweries. This is a relatively new brewery (they have been open for about a year). We got to chat with the owner while we were there and he was super nice plus very knowledgeable about his beers. We loved everything we tried here! So many unique beers.

It was an incredible trip! If you are looking for a fun and affordable fall or winter weekend getaway. I would highly recommend going to the beach! It isn't crowded, the rates are super low, and the beach is always a beautiful place, no matter the season!

Thanks so much for visiting! I hope you have a Happy Thanksgiving!

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