Weekend Adventures – Hang Gliding in the Outer Banks

January feels like the Monday of months. The festivities and excitement of the holidays have died down as we settle back into our day-to-day routine. Gray skies and cold temperatures make spending my weekend binge watching Netflix awfully tempting but deep down I was craving an adventure and I wanted it to be bucket-list worthy. The Outer Banks of North Carolina are just a 90 minute drive away and are a wildly popular vacation destination in the summer, but the crowds die down in the winter meaning I would practically have the place to myself. I love visiting in the off-season to explore the iconic lighthouses and go in search of wild horses, but this time I wanted something with a bit more adrenaline. I was finally going to try hang gliding in the Outer Banks.

This post was sponsored by Enterprise but as always all opinions remain my own. The Casual Travelist contains affiliate links, when you make a purchase or book a hotel through these links the Casual Travelist receives a small commission that helps support this site at no additional cost to you.

Before we get to my adventure I want to talk about the importance of taking a weekend getaway. A recent survey conducted by Enterprise Rent-A-Car found that for a lot of us the weekday work grind is infringing on our precious and well earned time off. Let’s take a look at some of the results:

• More than two in three surveyed (69%) said they start thinking about the return to work on Monday at some point during the day on Sunday

43% of respondents either somewhat or strongly agreed: Sunday is nothing more than preMonday, I spend the whole day getting ready for the work week ahead.

• Respondents said their capacity to enjoy Sundays is impacted by feeling there are chores they should be doing around the house (45%), worrying about work (31%), and dealing with their family’s needs (28%).

• 29% said they feel anxiety on Sundays about returning to work and it impacts the people around them

So what is the antidote to these “Sunday Scaries” ? A weekend getaway! The survey found that a weekend road trip is a great way to reclaim your weekend and your sanity.

• More than two thirds of respondents (68%) agreed: “Getting out of town for the weekend can make it feel fuller and exciting, by breaking up my routine and allowing for new experiences.”

• When asked what would make the weekend more enjoyable for them, 45% said getting away on the weekend makes it more enjoyable! 39% said “if there were two Saturdays,” 38% said it would be not having to do household chores or errands, 36% said not thinking about work and 32% said visiting family and friends.

Armed with this info I was inspired to plan my own weekend getaway, and really it’s not like I needed a whole lot of convincing. As a travel blogger who works full time as a physical therapist I am the queen of weekend trips, I find that even a quick trip makes the weekend seem longer and recharges me mentally far more than a weekend of binge-watching Netflix ever could. Looking for your own weekend trip inspiration? Check out some amazing weekend getaway ideas from Enterprise.

I’m also lucky that North Carolina’s stunning Outer Banks are just a 90 minute drive away. People flock to the Outer Banks each summer for a laid back beach vacation filled with sun, sand and surf but I prefer to visit in the fall and winter when it feels like I have the entire Carolina coast to myself. While many people opt to rent vacation homes in the Outer Banks, our home for the weekend (and really every time we visit the Outer Banks) was the Sanderling Resort. The Sanderling has long been the premier resort on the Outer Banks but don’t for a minute think it’s stuffy or fussy. Taking cues from the beach that is just steps from the resort, the vibe here is one of relaxed luxury; a place where jeans and wind-blown hair are the uniform of the day and every need is met with gracious southern hospitality. The best part about visiting in the winter is having the entire resort practically to yourself at a fraction of the price in the summer.

While I could have done nothing but walk the beach and listen to the sound of the waves from the Sanderling’s back deck and have a fantastic weekend I came to the Outer Banks in search of adventure, and a bucket list adventure at that. For years I’ve been wanting to try hang gliding and there is no better place that the Outer Banks for my first flight.

The soft sands and Atlantic winds the drew the Wright Brothers coastal North Carolina also make the Outer Banks the perfects place for hang gliding and the good folks at Kitty Hawk Kites have been teaching people to hang glide since 1974 and is actually the largest hang gliding school in the world. We opted for the dune hang gliding lesson, which is also the first step into becoming a licensed hang gliding pilot. Our afternoon started with a brief history of hang gliding (the sport was invented by Francis Rogallo, an aeronautical engineer with NASA who retired to the Outer Banks and frequented the dunes I would soon be launching from), as well as basic steering and safety information from Billy, a long time hang gliding instructor. We were fit for helmets and harnesses and made our way out to the launch site.

Kitty Hawk Kite’s Hang Gliding school is located on the grounds of Jockey’s Ridge State Park, which is also home to the largest sand dunes on the East Coast.  The dunes here are both timeless and ever-changing and thanks to the effect of the Atlantic winds the landscape is never the same. The soft sand can reach heights of over 100 feet and the landscape is beautifully ethereal.

At the top of the first dune we met up with Drake who gave us a launch demonstration and then it was time to harness up. I clipped my harness to the glider, did a safety check and then it was go time. I took a deep breath and started running and then all of a sudden, my feet weren’t on the ground.

I was in the air!

While I wasn’t too high off the ground (dune flights are only about 20′ off the ground max and an instructor holds onto a tether to prevent anything from going awry) the feeling of weightlessness is surreal and euphoric. I was hooked.

Flight #2 went just as smoothly as the first, with 8 seconds of airtime and a perfect landing but run #3 was a different story. Takeoff was smooth but I started overthinking and made a hard bank right. Drake kept hold of me but I still biffed. With the design of the glider and just how soft the sand at Jockey’s Ridge was I walked away without a scratch. In fact my calves were the only thing that ended sore after running up and down the dunes all afternoon.I regained my composure and runs #4 and #5 went just as well as the first two.

Now it was Steve’s turn.

Let me tell you this guy is a natural. Each one of his flights looked effortless and aside from a random belly flop, stuck each one of his landings like an Olympic gymnast. With wind-blown hair and shoes full of sand, we were already discussing coming back to the Outer Banks for our next hang gliding adventure.