Sea Moor Lake - WP29

Enjoyed everything especially relaxing in this absolutely beautiful home. Hats off to the decorator whom i believe Tim told us that it was his wife. She sure didn't miss a detail. Beds were all really comfy and we all had plenty of privacy. We did end up leaving a day early due to the weather but still had a really good vacation. Thank you so much!!!!

Favorite Places to Visit or Eat: We ate in every night because why go out when you have this amazing kitchen to use.

Eddie and Bonnie Cathell (May, 2009)

I was concerned when booking this house that Ocracoke Island would be a little too remote. To my pleasure is was the most relaxing and enjoyable vacation I've ever had. The house was absolutely beautiful, and you can tell alot of time and expense was given to details. The glass etchings on the main floor are gorgeous, but unfortunately I did not realize until the last night we were there that they lite up. We spent many wonderful hours relaxing around the pool and enjoying the harbor views. In the past I would sleep half my day away, but here I up early not wanting to waste my time at Sea Moor Lake house. The view from the rooftop is breathtaking. It is though you can almost touch Ocracoke Lighthouse. The beaches are second to none. We spent several days enjoying the beautiful beaches and ocean. The house is equipment with everything necessary for your cooking needs. It was great being able buy fresh seafood and preparing it yourself at the house. Moving around on the island can be done by car it you want, but you can also spend your week traveling by bikes and leaving the car parked. If you want to relax and unwind this is the place to be. I hope to enjoy more vacations at Sea Moor Lake house!!

Jean C (September, 2008)

So, first off, I want to say thanks to everyone who helped me a few months ago when I came here to figure out if Ocracoke would be a good spot for my honeymoon. We're on our last day here, and we've had a tremendous time this week - the weather has been terrific (a little less so today, but still nice) and we couldn't have picked a better spot to spend our first week as a married couple.

We wanted to put up a post here to give future honeymooners (or just people looking for romantic getaway information) our perspective on the island and offer some helpful advice from our perspective.

First off, go. It's awesome. The island is just a great mixture of small town goodness and secluded privacy, allowing you to both feel like you have options for activities but are also able to escape the real world and not see anyone else if you don't want to. We really loved the island itself. It's so beautiful and preserved.

Our house was breathtaking. If you're looking to stay in the nicest home on the island (literally), try the "Sea Moore Lake" house from Ocracoke Island Realty. It is indescribably awesome. It was just finished in May, and from top to bottom, it is first class all the way. Granite counter tops, tile and hardwoods throughout the house, GE profile appliances, an amazing home theatre system (seriously, you won't believe the TVs), a rooftop deck with a 360 degree view better than anything else on the island (it even looks down on the lighthouse), intricate finishings, and a remarkable attention to detail. The house is almost perfect (hilariously, it lacks a garbage disposal, but everything else is so great that you realize that you expect it to have absolutely everything), right down to the little things (cork screw, colander, anything you might think you need, already here), and the big things are great too - the garden tub is awesome, the outside pool is heated and has a great view, and two king beds (plus a queen) and five bathrooms make it feel like a true luxury home. If your goal is be spoiled for a week, this house will do it for you.

However, we have to mention the mosquitoes - holy moley. They weren't bad one day, but the others, well, you'd think this particular type of mosquito thought repellent was just flavoring. We sprayed and sprayed and they ate us alive anyway. They were outside the house, in the car, on the island... these things are vicious. It didn't even come close to ruining the week, as we still loved our time, but you need to be prepared to get bit by mosquitoes. It's going to happen, spray or no spray. Just buy some cortizone and come ready to be feasted upon, and you'll be fine.

If you have any kind of cooking skills, you'll probably want to consider bringing food for most of your meals. Maybe our house spoiled us, but we loved not having to go anywhere to eat, and we saved a good chunk of change by getting the necessities (eggs, milk, bread, meat, etc...) ahead of time and bringing them in a cooler. The grocery stores on the island have a lot of stuff, but it's a little pricey (the Community Store is cheaper than the Variety Store, by the way), and they're better for supplemental foods than the big stuff.

We took the Cedar Island ferry on the way there, and just as a warning to anyone going that way, you're going to go through the middle of nowhere. Okay, not totally, as there are towns on the way, but we quickly realized we weren't in a metropolis when one of our tires blew out and there was no way to get it fixed - no one anywhere close carried the size tire we needed and it would have been a day or two before they could get one, so we had to make do with an odd size tire that doesn't really fit our car and limp to Ocracoke. It was worth it, but pack a spare (or two) and make sure you have Triple-A, because if you have car problems on the way to the Cedar Island Ferry, there's not a lot of options for you. We did spend a nice night at the Holiday Inn Express in Morehead City, though, and their presidential suite (it's our honeymoon, after all) was nicer than you'd expect.

Okay, so my wife thinks I've written too many words as it is, so I'll wrap this up now - we loved Ocracoke, we LOVED our house, and we would recommend it as a great spot for anyone looking for a romantic getaway. You'll love it too, especially if you can cook for yourself and don't mind a few hundred mosquito bites.

Favorite Family Activites: Parasailing - we loved it. It's not the cheapest thing ever ($140 for a couple going all the way up, $110 if you only want to go half way), but for us, it was totally worth it. The view is amazing, as you could see all the way across the island and out across the ocean. Plus, it's just a lot of fun. The guys were nice and even dropped us off back at our house after we were done, since it had a dock out back (did I mention our house was amazing?). And there's a few other things to do around the island as well - horseback rides on the beach ($60 per adult), wave runner rentals ($90 an hour), boat rentals ($250 per day), kayak and bike rentals ($10 or so a day, lots of places to rent from), and of course, the beach, which is beautiful. Of course, if you want to walk on the beach late at night, bring a flashlight, otherwise your beautiful new wife may not be a big fan of walking in the dark and want to turn around pretty quickly. I'm just saying...

Favorite Places to Visit or Eat: We enjoyed a really good breakfast at the Flying Melon (cool atmosphere and good service too!), but were mostly unimpressed by the rest of the island's restaurants. The Cafe Atlantic tries hard to be a nice spot out, but the food just isn't quite good enough to support the prices, and there's no real view to speak of. We loved the coffee shop (of course), so we're not saying don't leave the house, but if you can make a decent meal, you'll probably do better just making it yourself than planning on eating out a lot.

That's not to say that we didn't enjoy the little shops around the island, though. Maui Jims, the little sunglass shop, is run by an adorable couple who were great to us - helped us find two good bargains on sunglasses, gave us all kinds of helpful advice and were just very friendly. Right next door, Zillies is a cool little gourmet food/drink place that has all the upscale food you might want, plus a good wine selection for a romantic night at home. The Slushy Stand had good ice cream for cheap, too - $2.50 for huge cones. The Very Merry Berry smoothie from the Ocracoke Coffee Shop was fantastic. Be prepared, though - this isn't regular life where stores are always open. A little boutique that we wanted to look at was closed because the owner had given birth to a child and had no one to fill in for her, Zillie's randomly closed for an afternoon, and the candy shops on the island were never open when we went by. So don't count on every store always being open whenever you swing by, and be flexible enough to know that if you really need it for the trip, bring it with you, just in case.

David C (October, 2008)