Virginia Beach / Outer Banks? Motorcycle trip advice

On an extended motorcycle trip this September, thanks all who helped with route advice and such in the other thread I posted about the PA area. Got that handled.

After leaving the NYC/CT area we're heading South through Delaware. Kill Devil Hills / Outer Banks area looked like a good spot to stay for a night or two distance-wise. However, after looking on trip advisor and such, it seems like it's very young kid / family focused. Now, that's not to say we're hell raising-close the bar and pass out in the front lawn types, those days are behind us. But I don't think we wanna find ourselves smack in the middle of 5 year olds and super family fun times either. Am I making too much of this? Is there a better option in the general vicinity? I'm probably over analyzing this.

 

As I recall, the Kill Devils area had quite a few of what I would consider island type dive bars.

 

Perfect. Thats more the waters I'm comfortable swimming in.

 

OBX has a bunch of beach bum bars. The beaches are full of families just because its only beach house rentals so thats a popular family vacation spot. With that said, its still a very nice area and I would recommend yall rent a boat for the day and go out on the bay and put em back. Great fishing too!

I go to Duck, NC every year and the Sunset Grill is a great spot. It's on the bay, jet ski and boat rentals, decent food, and 3 bars! They also have a 4wd beach which allows you to find a private spot and drink away. You may even see some wild horses!

 

+ wind.

 

Years ago we rode to Outer Banks over thanksgiving. Ate at the weiner king in Rockingham. Memories....

 

Last time I was there, I rode my 750 Interceptor. Couldn't take off my helmet for the sand blowing in my face. Had a great time anyway.

 

If you take 113 down off of route 1 in Delaware, my house is 3 miles west on route 24.
Keep me in mind if you guys need to stop and rest for a bit or need access to tools of some sort.

 

Awesome man, thanks!

 

There's a ginormous liquor store right there as well if you need to stock up.

 

I live in Virginia Beach area and also been to the Outer Banks in NC a few times, although at OBX I've only been there during the day, never stayed the night so not to sure on the nightclub/bar scene there. However in Virginia Beach at Oceanfront you'll definitely find anything you want. There's a good mixture of everything. Some places are family/kids friendly, others not at all. Just depends on what you want to do, when you'll be here, but if you do some searching you'll find some fun stuff for sure. Outer Banks has nicer beaches though IMO.

 

There's a naval aviation base nearby. How often do the military jets fly and is there a good vantage point to watch them from if one cannot get onto the base?

 

There are several bases in this area, but the one you're probably referring to is Oceana. That's the bigger one and where a lot of jets fly around. Unfortunately I work like a mile away so I have to hear them all the freakin time! It's cool for like the first week, then it's annoying as shit cuz you literally can't even take a phone call outside because you won't hear anything. They don't fly every day but idk what their schedules are like. They don't seem to be too predictable to me. Some weeks I don't hear any. Other weeks they fly for like 3 days at various intervals.

 

Yes, Oceana is the one. I just remember passing through VA Beach and walking on the boardwalk when a jet cracked the sky. It was incredible. Such a different sound than the commercial jets. I bet it does get old though.

 

I remember weeklong summer camping near Patuxent Naval Air Station many years ago when the FB-111s were based there. They used to run up their engines at the crack of dawn. The only thing I could pray for was that the wind would be blowing towards the runway (from where I slept) so that the jets would taxi to the far end of the runway -- for a headwind -- and run up their engines there.

Same thing as you mentioned @sbk1198: It was so cool to see and hear the sound of fighter jets until it got annoying. A side benefit: My friend's younger brother played drums -- "all damn day", as my friend used to say then -- but that never seemed as loud to me.

 

Yeah when my parents first visited me after I moved here my dad pretty much carried a camera with him every time we were outside cuz he wanted to take a picture of every single fuckin plane he could see (probably the same 2-3 planes though over and over again lol). Meanwhile I'm sitting there thinking "fuckin planes again!" lol Yeah it gets old after 1000 times.

 

Saw a post on Facebook this morning. April 22 thru 24 is outer banks bike rally.

 

Be sure to check out Brew Thru and Tortuga's Lie in KDH.
Last time I was there I checked out the Wright Brothers Memorial and it was pretty cool too.