In May, we travelled to Nags Head for our annual trip with friends (and family this year, too) to run the Nags Head Preserve Yuengling 5k race. This year the race weekend coincided with the grand opening of Dowdy Park, located at the intersection of S Croatan Hwy & E Bonnett St. Near MP 12, the park sits on land that was once the home of Dowdy Amusement Park. Over the years, I remember driving by the abandoned theme park wishing someone would do something to clean up that area. It’s wonderful to see how land once used for fun and recreation has come full circle.
As a Raleigh resident, we are spoiled with parks and playgrounds around every corner. Though Nags Head has beautiful natural recreational areas (the beach, the dunes, the nature preserve), to say it needs more playgrounds is an understatement. Dowdy Park’s grand opening celebration and Artrageous Kids Festival was bustling with families, echoing the excitement for more outdoor parks.
Dowdy Park features several play areas where kids can jump, run, swing, climb and slide until their hearts are content! The older kid playground has wide wheelchair-accessible ramps to musical and periscope play items. The ramp connects to stairs for climbing higher along a net bridge or to the ground via a rock wall. The other side of the net bridge features challenging ladders, a climbing tree stump and a fast, twisty slide. A colorful climbing hill with curved bars, musical instruments, balance beams, surfboards, bench swing, and merry-go-round are also located nearby. With the large festival and park attendance, it was overwhelming to keep track of multiple kids bouncing between so many activities.
The smaller kid playground features short steps up to ramps connected to a double slide. All the kids thoroughly enjoyed the nearby rolling slide. They loved making rattling noises as they slid down the bumpy slide. Across from the small kid playground is a wheelchair-accessible ride. It allows folks in wheelchairs to reverse their chair onto a ramp and swing. And, a playground near the beach wouldn’t be complete without a little sand – just follow the sea turtle flipper prints! Short pier pilings line the sandbox area, which has a large climbing sea turtle in the middle.
Also near this area are hopscotch and twister games, checkers tables, another climbing hill, picnic tables and benches. On this particular day vendors lined the perimeter of the open green space area. Park-goers filled the open green space area watching the performances under the covered pavilion. Throughout the park you’ll find pieces of art, such as the nautilus stamps shells, temporary art pole exhibit, and wooden paintings. Even though Dare County is mostly known for its beaches, I’ve always been impressed with the local art scene. We’ve enjoyed local art galleries, shopping and art walks when they’ve overlapped with our vacation times.
Currently, small dunes, a split-rail fence and 20 yards of undeveloped park land separate busy the US-158 and sandbox area. According to the Town of Nags Head, phase 2 of development starts this fall for a garden, multi-use courts, restrooms and bocce ball court. It’ll be interesting to see how this area evolves over the years. And, I look forward to returning on a day that isn’t quite so busy.
Thumbs up: unique play areas, incorporating beach details into the park, accommodations for all ages and abilities, fun climbing hills and slides
Thumbs down: lack of shade
Believe it or not, Nags Head has hills and I’m not talking about the sand dunes near the beach or at 
So, we set off on the trail and before you knew it we were in a dense forest just minutes from the beach. The unpaved trail is covered in pine needles, but well marked; Ashley was even able to follow the trail markings to stay on the path. After heading straight for awhile, we climbed steps up a steep hill to what felt like the ridge of a mountain – the trees were shorter and all of a sudden we were walking down a sandy hill. I quickly learned that kids love sand unless they have to hike through it. After several moments of juggling kids on shoulders and in carriers and distractions of the colorful flowers, berries, and butterflies, the sandy trail base was replaced with the preferred compact pine needle trail. We took a right to stay onto the looped portion of the trail. Along the way we passed by several swamps (complete with croaking frogs), more steep hills with steps, spooky Charleston-like trees, and several different plant communities. Halfway around the trail loop is access to Trail #3 (Blueberry Ridge), but we decided to save that trail for another time.
Unfortunately, our visit to Jockey’s Ridge did not go as swimmingly as I would have liked. Â As with most things I plan with two small children, my expectations exceed reality and this was one of those examples. Â Knowing the sand is at least 10 degrees hotter than the outside temperature we got an early start to our trip and were in the parking lot area by 9:30am. Â After a short stop inside the visitor’s center, Bill and I set off with both girls to find the top of the dunes. Â We made our way to the end of the wooden walkway near the large group of visitors that were catching their breath from just coming off the dunes. Â We followed some of the other visitors along the loosely marked 
After walking back we headed over to the lighthouse to talk to the NPS rangers. Â We had a great conversation with the young rangers who shared some of their favorite facts about the lighthouse: 1) how the Confederate troops blew up the lighthouse to prevent Union troops from occupying it, 2) that the lighthouse still uses its original Fresnel lens from Paris and 3) how the lighthouse still aids in navigation today given its checkered history. Â Despite the high heat index they still allowed visitors to climb a few steps to the first landing. Â We explored the old oil storage rooms in the front and then took pictures of the amazing view up the heavy duty spiral staircase before heading out.
All of the play areas at this park are situated on the rubberized surface, but unfortunately there isn’t any natural shade, so on warm days like this one the heat was beating down on us and we couldn’t even put Claire down to play. Â Ashley seemed pretty worn out from the weekend so she spent most of her time swinging.
Another part of our Nags Head vacation involved a rainy day trip to the 
After the saltwater exhibits, we visited the 285,000 gallon, 81 degree Deep Ocean tank! Â This fish tank is home to several different species of fish and sharks, including sand tiger sharks, sandbar sharks, nurse sharks and more! Â We happened to arrive at the perfect time when a diver was swimming with the sharks and answering questions from the audience. Â In addition to this program, there are several other 
So, last September (yes, I’m super slack) we headed on our annual trip to Nags Head with family and friends. Â This trip was super special because my aunt, who used to live in Charlottesville and now lives in CA, made a trip back east to spend the week with us. Â Being that she used to be the one taking us on adventures to the beach when we were young it was nice to experience it with her again.
The lighthouse is operated by the National Park Service and open to the public for walking tours during the summer months so for only $7 I climbed the 240+ spiral staircase steps while Bill and Ashley scoped out the grounds and toured the light keeper’s quarters. Â As you can imagine, the stairway in the lighthouse is very narrow and rather steep, making two-way traffic crowded. Â At each “floor” there is a landing pad to rest with windows providing great views. Â But, the real views are when you get to the top of the lighthouse and skirt along the balcony. Â The railing is about 4ft high, allowing for great picture taking and breath-taking views for miles, which reminded me of views from the top of 
A few weeks ago we headed to Nags Head for our annual trip with friends for the Yuengling 5k Race. It’s my favorite trip we take every year and I love how we recounted old trips that weekend and were able to trace our first visit back to 2005. We’ve gone every year since except for a hiatus in 2009. Over the years the group has grown making it a lot of fun, but a few things remain the same: 8am race on Saturday followed by Yuengling beer truck, a trip through Brew Thru for CLs, orange crushes at Mulligans, time on the beach with the dogs, great local seafood, and hot tub time machine!
