On the drive down NC-12 toward Cape Hatteras, we passed through Rodanthe, and I made Wes slow down. Somewhere on that stretch of road was the cottage we'd booked last September and never got to sleep in, because a tropical storm sent every visitor off the island the day before we were supposed to leave home. I didn't see which house it was. I just wanted to wave at it.
We finally made it to the Outer Banks this August, Thursday the 6th through Sunday the 9th. This is the one big trip of our 2026 budget. I took the Thursday off and Wes traded shifts with a coworker so we could have four days instead of three.
Where we stayed, and the policy we bought again
After last year, I knew exactly what to read before booking a beach rental in hurricane season. I found a small cottage in Kill Devil Hills, two blocks back from the ocean, three nights for $660 with the cleaning fee and taxes. It wasn't fancy. It had a screened porch, a kitchen, an outdoor shower and a window unit in the bedroom that kept up with August.
We bought a trip policy again, $49, after I read the storm rules in both the rental agreement and the policy. Last year's $57 policy paid back the whole $780 when the storm cancelled us, so this decision didn't take long. I keep the policy money separate from the trip total, the same way I did last year.
June stayed with Tonya. A beach cottage in August is no place for a beagle who hates thunder.
Jockey's Ridge and two lighthouses
Jockey's Ridge State Park in Nags Head has the tallest natural sand dunes on the East Coast, and it's free. We climbed the main dune Thursday evening as the sand cooled off, and watched people flying kites and hang gliding students running off the top. From up there you can see the ocean on one side and the sound on the other. Wes went down the steep face in about four big strides and I went down sitting.
Friday we drove south. The Bodie Island Lighthouse, with its black and white bands, stands in a marsh just south of Nags Head, and the grounds and boardwalk are free to walk. Then we kept going an hour farther, across the long bridge over Oregon Inlet and through Rodanthe, to the Cape Hatteras Lighthouse with its black and white spiral. We didn't pay to climb either one. We walked around them, read the signs and stood in the wind. That's all I wanted.
Saturday was a beach day near the cottage, umbrella, cooler and two library books. In the afternoon a storm came through for an hour, and we sat on the screened porch and listened to it.
Our full receipt
We cooked most meals in the cottage kitchen. I bought $72 of groceries on the way in. Friday night we went out for one real seafood supper, flounder and a shrimp basket, $58 with tip. Ice cream, coffee and a box of saltwater taffy came to $14 over the four days. Mr. Earl's souvenir was a jar of fig preserves from a farm stand, $9, and ice for the cooler three times was $7.
The round trip from Maxton is about 290 miles each way, plus the drive down to Hatteras and back. All in, about 620 miles. At about 30 miles per gallon with a full car and the AC running, that's close to 21 gallons, at about $3.09. Gas came to $64.
- Cottage, three nights with fees and taxes: $660
- Gas: $64
- Groceries: $72
- Seafood supper: $58
- Ice cream, coffee and taffy: $14
- Fig preserves for Mr. Earl: $9
- Ice: $7
- Total: $884
- Trip policy, counted separately: $49
That's almost three times a normal weekend, and I knew that going in. We'd planned for one bigger trip this year, and the trip account had the money from the cheaper months.
Driving home Sunday, Wes said he was glad we'd waited a year. I wasn't, at the time. But a year of reading fine print and saving gave us a cottage we didn't worry about, and four days at the beach that were paid for before we got there.
