06/05/2026
13 years ago, today, we found our home.
Even though it was 13 years ago, several days ago, that we arrived in the Outer Banks to live.
Some of you know the story, some may have never heard it….
It is long, the pastry list is at the bottom if you would like to skip the drama!
😉
We visited the OBX for the first time in 2011. The week of July 4th.
I was, the moment I stepped on Hatteras, at home.
When we arrived back to the suburbs I immediately began searching for housing and jobs.
Then, Irene happened, causing so much damage, our search was halted.
We visited again the following September.
I didn’t think it was possible to be more in love with this place than I already was.
The OBX in the fall?
Perfection.
When we returned to Ohio after this trip I could think of nothing else.
I obsessed over moving here.
After dealing with some VERY sketchy “companies” and individuals I came across a property listed for rent.
Craig’s list….
Having dealt with scammers previously, I did a “deep dive” on the property and found out the person who had it listed for rent was NOT the owner (him asking how many months of rent I could pay up front was a red flag) and that the owner (who was unaware of this) actually had it listed for sale.
I contacted the realtor it was listed through, and told him we were interested in renting, not purchasing. He forwarded my info to the owner.
She contacted me and we came to terms on renting the property.
Then I did what I do, I started second guessing myself.
Rodanthe was a beautiful place to vacation but did we want to live on Hatteras full time, when every “convenience” was further up the beach?
I found another property in KDH. It was less expensive and right in the middle of everything.
I contacted the owner of the Rodanthe property and thanked her but told her we had decided on something closer to civilization.
This was January/February of 2013.
We sold our home.
We sold our business.
We donated and sold more than half of our belongings.
June 3rd we arrived in the OBX.
A moving truck, mini van, U-Haul trailer.
Kids, dogs.
When we went to the rental company to pick up our keys we were told they weren’t expecting us for several more days.
Except, our lease stated the first of June. We actually took longer to arrive than intended.
That should have been the first clue.
They hesitantly gave us the keys (second clue?) and we went to our new “home”, which we now refer to as Hell House.
Upon arriving and entering I had to send the kids out so I could breakdown in private.
When I say I was devastated…
I bawled.
It smelled like a public toilet.
The carpet was torn and stained.
The screens falling out.
The kitchen cabinets were quite literally crumbling.
The walls were stained.
The bath spout was broken.
It was, what I imagine, a “trap house” would look like.
We went back and forth with the rental company for two days about things being fixed, our belongings sitting in a U-Haul/truck because I didn’t want our things in that house.
To this day I feel bad that our children slept there for two nights on air mattresses, but finding a hotel room, in June, as a walk in? It wasn’t happening!
When the company came back and said that the property owner was unwilling to fix anything I had a meltdown of epic proportions.
I dragged my family from the suburbs, our five bedroom home, a place I grew up in, where my children went to school with my classmate’s children, where we knew EVERYONE, for this?
After hysterics subsided, and clarity returned, I called the woman whose property I initially wanted.
I had no delusions that her home would still be available.
It had been six months.
I only hoped that she, as a local would know about something available.
ANYTHING would be better than what we were welcomed with!
I called her in the morning.
By that night, we were home, the home we still reside in today.
The one she had not rented to anyone else.
The one that was directly across the street from the Pamlico Station, the coffee shop I visited daily and the store space that I had thought would make a beautiful boutique upon our first trip, two years prior.
We unloaded the truck and U-Haul (with the help of some very wonderful local boys) in the middle of a tropical storm (the Beard with a broken foot, in a boot).
Our new land lady calling to make sure we were all right, several times, throughout the storm.
That summer we opened a gift boutique, in the exact location that I had romanticize two years earlier.
Less than two years later, we had the opportunity to purchase the inventory from a closing coffee shop and bead store. Also located in the Pamlico Station, eventually moving everything across the street under our home.
Now, hopefully, within the next few weeks, we will be adding the opening of our poke restaurant, next to our coffee shop/boutique, to our Hatteras Island adventures!!
It has not always been easy.
There have definitely been some adverse events, and struggles, but I would live no where else, even if given the opportunity for anywhere else!!
If I didn’t believe in fate before (I did), nothing could have made me a believer more than this lived experience.
❤️
Thanks for reminiscing with me.
I am always grateful for our lives, but June 5th always hits a little different.
Harder.
So, if you were looking for a sign to just do something you’ve been wanting to do, this is our story of how we gave everything up that was familiar, and moved to a place 1000 miles away, where we knew no one, had no jobs, and just hoped for the best!
COOKIE BUTTER TARTS
LEMON TARTS
BEARCLAWS
BREAKFAST PIZZA
PACKZI SAMMIES
NUTELLA CROISSANTS
CHOCOLATE CROISSANTS
CROISSANTS
APPLE FRITTERS
BLUEBERRY BASIL, GOAT CHEESE, DANISH
SAUSAGE, APPLE CHEDDAR TURNOVERSI
BREAKFAST PIZZA
GERMAN BUTTER CRUMB CAKE
Here til….?
Picture of the Tiny Dictator upon moving to Rodanthe!
❤️
