Since there is some talk about the Reales renting a house in the Outer Banks next summer I thought it would be a good idea to share my experience there a couple of weeks ago when we went with Tammy's entire family.

We stayed in Corolla which is the northern most town on the Outer Banks. This location meant less through traffic than some of the other towns which resulted in less traffic on the road while
biking, walking, driving, etc.

The house we stayed in slept 16 and we were at max capacity but it really didn't feel crowded because people were either outside at the pool, beach or on the top floor where there was a large living area and kitchen.

We were in a community called Buck Island that had two tennis courts, a basketball court and an Olympic size pool for the whole community (we had a smaller pool at our house). Buck Island proved to be a good location because it was close to a supermarket, seafood market, shops, mini-golf, go-carts etc. If you're going with a big crowd it's nice to have plenty of things to do nearby. Even though there was a lot going on just outside the community, once you were inside it was very peaceful. Our house was considered "partial oceanfront". This meant that we could walk to the beach without crossing any streets and had a pretty good view of the ocean. There was another house off-set in front of us that was oceanfront and had an unobstructed view.

I would recommend a direct oceanfront or partial oceanfront since the beach is one of the main attractions. It would also be a good idea to get a house with an elevator because the houses are three stories and it was a little tough for Tammy's parents to get from the pool (1st floor) to the kitchen (3rd floor) several times a day.

The key to finding the right place is to first get a very good idea on the total number of people going so you can look for specific houses. If enough people want to go it might even make sense to get two houses because most of them only sleep 14 to 20 people and when dealing with our family the numbers can easily go higher.

I didn't get a chance to look at the house that Cathy mentioned because it was about an hour away. I did notice that it's on the bay side and I think we would get more use out of a house on the beach side of the island. Maybe someone can take a poll and find out how many people
are interested so we can get an idea of what size house we will need.

Twiddy Realty was one of the larger rental companies in the area - here is a link to their website.
http://www.twiddy.com/?gclid=CI_hwpHs16ICFRY75Qod3iWQxQ