Taste of OBX Summer 2020!

Old Gray House Gifts Jam

A Hatteras Island Tradition

A century-old island home turned coastal gift shop in the heart of Buxton on Hatteras Island. Offering shells, driftwood, yard art, plants, canned goods, coffee, handmade goods, and more.  The old gray house is now a bright seafoam green but still houses the same island charm it always has with a youthful flare of course. 

Owner, Mariah James, is a Hatteras native, may have set out for a bit to explore the world but soon longed for her seaside home… the island always draws you back. With the desire to create something on HI that would be uniquely hers she set out to find the perfect business model and stumbled upon an opportunity to restore an iconic  spot in Buxton, Old Gray House Gifts and Shells!  Fun fact, after the property was purchased Mr Dewey Parr and his wife Mary who had run the quaint little shop for decades, Mariah learned that Mr. Dewey actually bought the Gray House and gave it to Mary on the exact date of her birth in 1991… talk about kismet!  Island Free Press wrote an in depth article about Mariah’s journey, the article is so eloquently written I’ve decided to simply share it here rather than paraphrase further.

The kitchen of the historic home turned gift shop today is called “The Pantry” where Mariah displays her tatsty goodies for sale, this is where I stumbled upon the delicious jam included in your Summer OBX Box!  A large variety of items from sauces and marinades to local coffee and sweets and jams and jellies and anything in between!  Some items are made in small batches on the island, in fact Mariah’s mom makes small batch jams for the shop but they sell too quickly to snatch up the number of jars we needed, other items she sources and designs with small companies across NC and are made exclusively for Old Gray House Gifts.

An absolute must stop shop, the perfect spot to find a local treasure to take home!  Be sure to check them out online and give them a follow on Facebook and Instagram and don’t forget to tell them the OBX Box sent ya!

Outer Banks Coasters

As I think many of you would agree, 2020 presented a myriad of challenges and here at the OBX Box we are not immune!  We set out to create a Summer OBX Box with a culinary theme and thought a sweet coaster set as a reminder of your happy place would be a fun addition.  We met that goal but maybe in a round about way… Half of our Summer box recipients received town specific engraved wooden coasters and due to a shipping snafu the other half received a set of vibrantly colored coasters designed and printed by OBX local artist Stephanie Kiker!  Both equally Outer Banksy, yes I made that word up, and gorgeous, we hope you’ll enjoy your little table savers and will for years to come.

Stephanie Kiker’s designs are always uniquely distinguishable and are available in a myriad of mediums form the stickers and coasters in the Summer box to large wall pieces printed on metal and wood!  Stephanie is a truly fascinating person to me, I always describe her as having ambidexterity of the mind because she seemingly has the ability to use both her right and left brain equally efficiently!  She not only creates the art you see on her work but she also manufactures the products out of her home right here in Buxton!

Stephanie Kiker Stickers

A lot of folks unfortunately had to reschedule their annual Outer Banks vacation this year and from being a former visitor myself I know that picking up a local sticker on your trip is always on the agenda!  That’s why we decided to include one of Stephanie’s vivid decals in our Summer box.  Stick ‘um on your car windows, mirrors, glass doors, boats, mailboxes, mugs and glasses, laptops or anywhere your heart desires!  Made our of thick, durable vinyl to protect the sticker from scratching, rain & sunlight.

Be sure to peruse Ms Kikers website next time you find yourself longing for the OBX and you will not be disappointed! 

Cookbook: 25 Secrets – A Culinary Tour

Created by husband and wife team and Hatteras Locals, Kevin McCabe and Kim Mosher this cookbook fuses OBX style culinary flare with gorgeous Hatteras themed artwork.  Kim’s beautiful cover art is just the beginning of this exciting new cookbook entitled ”25 Secrets Revealed-A Culinary Tour”. It was written by her husband Kevin and tells the interesting stories behind 25 of his most sought-after recipes. There is a favorite recipe just waiting to be found within it’s 38 pages. 

The constantly changing colors and abundant wildlife of Hatteras Island and the entire Outer Banks are an inspiration for the artistic mind. Kim Mosher discovered this back in 1985 while visiting with her photography class from Virginia Commonwealth University. Shortly after graduating with a degree in Communication Arts and Design, and working as a photographer at Old Dominion University, she made Hatteras Island her home.


The history and heritage of this Island have always been centered on fishing, which inspired Kim to sketch many of the inshore fish in their natural habitat. Eventually, color pencil became her tool of choice. The fine point allows her to achieve superior detail which has become this artist’s trademark. However, fine lines also mean lots of time. Many of her originals have taken over five hundred hours to complete! Over the last several years, Kim has made her art available through limited edition prints, tiles, and fabrics. Her well-loved children’s book, “Pelican and Pelicant”, published in 2003 with Sarah Froeber, is also inspired by this magical land so far out in the ocean.

Kim and her husband, Kevin, have collaborated on both this cookbook and a children’s book, “My Rainy Day Cat”. Kevin writes and Kim designs the exquisitely detailed illustrations.

Kevin is an ardent supporter of Kim’s work.  When he isn’t busy surf-casting for the area’s plentiful Red Drum and Speckled Trout, he is using his craftsmanship as a woodworker to custom frame her popular prints.

Be sure to check them out at www.kimmosherdesigns.com

Hatteras Salt Works- Sea Salt

We couldn’t create a “taste of the OBX” box without a bag of ACTUAL Hatteras Sea Salt!  

Brian, Shaena and Declan have been experimenting with different methods of producing solar evaporated sea salt for years. From the Caribbean, to the Pacific, and back to the Atlantic Ocean they have studied the crystals, evaporation methods, and practices possible to produce the most pure sea salt available. The quest lead them back to Hatteras Island, where they now strive to give you a clean, mineral rich ocean salt from their Solar oven farm.  With a mission to strive for excellence, they’ve found that slow solar evaporation in solar ovens is the best method of reducing salt water for mineral retention, texture and flavor to capture the pure essence of the source. “Pure nutrient rich ocean water, yields pure nutrient rich ocean salt.”

Delicious and good for you! Unlike table salt, good quality unrefined, pure, sea salt can contain up to 87 trace minerals. These minerals are a crucial contribution to our immune, digestive and circulatory systems as well as many other benefits to our health.  We believe that the ocean provides us with many of the Natural Minerals we need and it is important to us to share these health benefits with you.

OBX Tea Towel

We all spend A LOT of time in the kitchen, and if you are anything like me during this quarantine it has felt like I’ve spent ALL of my time in the kitchen!  With that in mind we created these tea towels to hang in your kitchen as a simple reminder of all things Outer Banks.  If you can’t be where your heart is hopefully we can keep the feeling of that happy place in your heart all year long…

THANK YOU!

We do hope you enjoyed the Summer OBX Box. The box is a labor of love for my family of 6, it is a pleasure to source the items for each box and though we know it isn’t possible to please every single subscriber every single time we do continue to strive to do just that!  Our assembly line each quarter is evolving into a pretty impressive little system, a well oiled machine even… lol ok maybe I wouldn’t go that far but we’ll get there.  Up next FALL 2020, CLICK HERE TO ORDER YOURS NOW!