Is there any place you recommend stopping on the way? WE have two little kids and I am dreading the 6 hour drive down from DC. We usually travel at night while they sleep and I am kicking myself for not booking an extra night at our rental.

We were in EI a few weeks ago. IMHO Duck is much nicer. The advantage of EI was it was much cheaper to be right by the beach and the beach was not crowded at all. But the area is not that nice and the houses look like they need better upkeep.

Anonymous wrote:Anyone been to emerald isle recently? We are heading there next week for 4 days; should we pack all of our food and avoid the grocery store?

We did Publix delivery through Instacart.

So...EI is probably considered more boring and downmarket than Duck, Corolla etc. Like there are trailer parks in EI. And much less to do in terms of attractions and the restaurants I agree aren't that great. However, I freaking LOVE it and want to retire there. I love the quiet (im from a small town in the South so trailer parks don't phase me) and it's a turtle sanctuary so I want to become a volunteer and walk the beaches finding the nests.

Was in EI two weeks ago. We had groceries delivered from Publix through Instacart. However, as we arrived on the island we needed a bathroom stop and ended up stopping at Publix. Mask usage seemed good and there was someone wiping down carts. It did seem pretty busy - it was a Sunday around 2pm. We got everything we ordered but didn’t order paper or cleaning products - we brought those with us to be safe.

Anonymous wrote:Anyone been to emerald isle recently? We are heading there next week for 4 days; should we pack all of our food and avoid the grocery store?

I don't know about EI specifically, but everyone I know who went to a NC beach packed all of their food to avoid the grocery store.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Anyone been to emerald isle recently? We are heading there next week for 4 days; should we pack all of our food and avoid the grocery store?

We did Lowes curbside they were great I think Publix does curbside too

I thought that mask usage was spotty in July

Anonymous wrote:Anyone been to emerald isle recently? We are heading there next week for 4 days; should we pack all of our food and avoid the grocery store?

We did Lowes curbside they were great I think Publix does curbside too

My family goes to emerald isle almost every year. You can rent a smaller house right on the ocean (it seems like most of the houses you would rent in other parts of obx are huge familiy compounds)

The restaurants aren't that great that I don't think most people are eating at restaurants these days. They just opened a publix last year

Anyone been to emerald isle recently? We are heading there next week for 4 days; should we pack all of our food and avoid the grocery store?

Thanks so much!

In summer it's actually easier to get to EI than Duck. It's 5 1/2-6 hrs from Arlington. OBX can easily stretch to 7+ with traffic. We stopped going to OBX because of traffic. We now go to Atlantic Beach (north of Emerald Isle on the same island). It shouldn't make a difference in September.

PP is right in that there are less shops and restaurants on EI. It's still beautiful and a great beach area.

^^ Just adding that if you’re just going to be spending most of your time on the beach or at the house, I would pick Duck just because it’s closer.

I’ve done many summers in Duck/Corolla and just went EI for the first time this past summer. I think both would be lovely in late September and I doubt traffic would be much of an issue getting to OBX that time of year. We really liked Emerald Isle. It’s very low-key, family-oriented, beautiful beach, nice long bike trail. Felt almost neighborhood-y in parts, like perhaps there are more year-round residents. Not much of the cheesiness that plagues certain parts of the OBX (although not necessarily Duck itself)—no Brew-thrus, very few cheap souvenir shops, etc. Didn’t eat out, so I can’t vouch for the food, but I’m not a fan of any of the food options in Duck, either.

I am going to get a beach house for a week and just work remotely from there. I haven't ever been to Emerald Isle -- I see it is a farther drive, but I know the two lane road to Duck was often backed up. We're not going until the last week of September.

Has anyone been to both? Can you share the positives and negatives? I don't expect a ton of things to be open in either, but it would be nice to know what are the advantages of each town.

Thank you in advance!