We may have been at the beach, but it was still November in North Carolina so Wednesday was our coldest day. It was overcast most of the day and the high didn’t get out of the 40s. We decided to stick closer to home and enjoy a thrift store crawl.

From Nags Head to Kitty Hawk there were over 10 thrift stores and antique stores so we had plenty to explore. Cecil and I have always enjoyed wandering through these stores for a few different reasons: 1) Budget – neither of us can pass up a good bargain, 2) We both have “vintage” tastes – I love mid-century modern decor and he collects vinyl records, 3) Buying second-hand is one way we can do our part for the environment, 4) Many thrift stores are run by non-profits to raise funds, so it’s a fun way to support them.

My morning coffee came from the Outer Bean Cafe. This mocha latte was my least favorite of the trip for two reasons. The coffee itself tasted burnt and the cafe’s COVID-19 set-up was super awkward. I completely understood wanting to keep their employees safe but they were only allowing one customer in the building at a time, even though with social distancing you could have had 2 or 3. The signage on the door wasn’t fully clear about what to do so employees had to keep stopping what they were doing and explain to customers what the process was. Once I was finally able to order I had wait in the car for an employee to bring me my coffee. I felt like it wasn’t a very efficient system for employees or customers.

I completed my shopping research the night before and made a list of the stores we wanted to visit in order. We started in Kitty Hawk and went south. We didn’t buy something in every store but we had fun searching for treasures. I’ll list the stores below. After visiting 8 of the 12 on our list, we went back to the hotel to freshen up and enjoy our finds. We spent $63.75 total for everything shown in the picture below: 1 basket, 2 vintage postcards, 1 tote bag made from upcycled material, 1 bird figurine made from recycled metal in India, 1 book, and 11 vinyl records.

• Hotline PINK Thrift Shop – 4140 N Croatan Hwy, Kitty Hawk
  • Supports the Outer Banks Hotline: Crisis Intervention and Prevention Center
• CHKD Thrift Store – 3838 N Croatan Hwy, Kitty Hawk
  • Supports the Children’s Hospital of the King’s Daughters
• Outer Banks Dare Challenge Thrift Store – 500 S Croatan Hwy, Kill Devil Hills
  • Supports the non-profit of the same name
• Class & Trash – 906 S Croatan Hwy, Kill Devil Hills
• Hotline Too Thrift Shop – 2114 S Croatan Hwy, Nags Head
  • Supports the Outer Banks Hotline: Crisis Intervention and Prevention Center
• Mission Thrift – 2236 S Croatan Hwy, Nags Head
• Encore Décor – 2910 S Croatan Hwy, Nags Head
• ReStyle Market – 2910 S Croatan Hwy, Nags Head

After a long morning of shopping we revived ourselves with lunch at Food Dudes Kitchen, located about a block from our hotel. I had the mahi mahi tacos and Cecil tried the fried, pickle-brined chicken sandwich with avocado and chimichurri. Lunch hit the spot!

After lunch the sun came out for a little while but it was still absolutely frigid. We spent the rest of the day napping, reading, and relaxing. After such a big lunch we opted for a sub sandwich from Publix for dinner.