A brewery before breweries were cool, self-sustained on wind power before it was even in the minds of a few, Peace Corp volunteers Aubrey Davis and Eric Reece alongside friend Theresa Mackenzie had a vision and thanks to Aubrey that vision led them to the Outer Banks. Sitting on the site of the original JKs, the building itself, is a modern interpretation of a turn-of-the-century Lifesaving Station. The bar represents the lifesaving boat, that pointed toward the sea, is ready to be deployed down the tracks to save the crew of a floundering ship.
The Outer Banks Brewing Station is the first wind powered brewery in the United States! They were also the first business to produce wind power on the Outer Banks and rightfully pride themselves in being innovative and conscious about the environment, while helping others learn as much as they can about renewable energy and sustainability. Read more about their wind-power here
Not only is the OBBS a brewery with phenomenal beer and an earth conscious mission but they literally have something for everyone! Most breweries are like a garage with taps and picnic tables. Fun for some people, but not necessarily a must-visit for a multi generation family, the types of visitors we have here on the Outer Banks. The Brew Station has outfitted their generously sized backyard bar with a pirate ship playground, corn hole, live music stage outside as well as an inside stage enlisting some of the best local and regional acts on the beach, and an interior space with lavish over-sized bar including booth seating and comfortable dining room for families and friends to relax and enjoy a cold brew and a delicious meal.
On Tap Brews range from their most popular, Olsch and Lemongrass Wheat Ale to the hardier Wind Switch Stout and Elf Crusher and everything in- between they also offer a full bar (liquor and wine list).
The Brewing Station also has an in-house pastry chef and some of the most creative chefs on the beach, offering full lunch and dinner fare. Another vacay friendly offering from the OBBS is their pre-order family style to go menu, enjoy the fabulousness of the Brew Station without leaving the comfort of that beach house! Check out their menu and plan your next visit and how to spend those Brew Bucks from your Spring OBX Box!
Well if this isn’t the strangest Spring the OBX has ever seen… This box took on a special meaning with the closures and current situation and oddly it ended up being very fitting for the time! A locally made soap to keep your hands clean and moisturized, a zen doodle coloring book by a local OBX artist to keep you busy during quarantine, a print of a local painting of every visitor’s favorite signs, a shaker of the famous JK’s Seasoning to sprinkle on those home cooked quarantine meals, a pint glass from our local wind powered brewery to power down with, a sticker for your water bottle created from a local artist and reminding you that you belong somewhere you feel free and the final addition was a last minute add and a real family affair… On the day we decided to pack the boxes we decided that if our guests couldn’t make it to the OBX right now that we would at least send a little bit of the OBX to you, we gathered all 4 kids and a friend, teenagers don’t do anything without a friend, and we filled 300 little mermaid boxes with sand and shells from the beach! I truly hope you enjoyed this box as much as we enjoyed putting it together.
Milk Street Soap Co. is a well loved, fast growing, family
owned, handcrafted soap company on The Outer Banks of North Carolina. Inspired
by the extraordinary, waterfront town we belong to, we believe in the magic of
majestic natural beauty, strong local communities, honest premium products and
deeply satisfying relationships. We believe in the synergy of feeling, looking
and doing your best!
We craft our bars and green living products in small, fresh batches, using
only the most luxurious and meticulously sourced Earth Conscience ingredients;
organic, sustainable, fair trade, animal friendly & honoring, and
biodegradable. Everything counts in our bar, even the wrappers are post
consumer and the ink compost-able.
Kim began making soap because of skin issues in her family. Her little son
had eczema in his bends and folds. They had tried many things with little
return and the situation looked to be escalating to more medical intervention.
Then, what seemed like an unrelated gift happened; a humble, beautiful, old
library book with a soap recipe for just such a skin aliment in it. With the
help of their local Island hardware store and a pantry full of organics, she
made the first bar of soap (the now refined Mocha Milk soap bar). Toward the
end of this first little wonky bar, they saw skin healing progress. Two bars
later and they didn’t look back!
This addition to the box ended up being the timeliest with
all of the orders to wash your hands, we hope we could help keep your hands clean
and moisturized while you are keeping yourself and your family safe!
Your beautiful turtle sticker
was created using an original painting by OBX Local Artist, Mitzi Mager aka
GypsyByss. Mitzi’s love of art came at
an early age from her grandmother who would entertain her with sketches and
encourage her creativity. From watercolors & acrylics to creating
jewelry to resin creations she is best known for her love of ocean creatures,
especially mermaids, and capturing their beauty on a variety of surfaces
including surfboards. You can find Mitzi on the beach sharing her passion
by the way of art classes or on her school bus home on wheels creating art for
local shops.
As the sticker says, You
Belong Somewhere You Feel Free, we hope to see you all again real soon!
Carolina Coto was “born and
raised” in Costa Rica, she now resided on the beautiful Outer Banks of
North Carolina, where she moved to be with her (awesome) husband.
She is an
artist at heart and an artist by profession; she graduated with a BFA with
emphasis in painting from Universidad de Costa Rica in 2007. Carolina has always had a penchant for traveling
and it is evident in many of her works and sometimes her scenes are just the
result of an artist’s imagination.
Her work is filled with contrasting colors, circles, spirals, dots and many other elements that are important symbols in her art and represent hope, positivity and dreams, among other things. We included Carolina’s zen doodle book in our latest box and in our current times it seems even more fitting!
We hope you will enjoy some peace and quiet with this book, we all deserve some peace right now.
Keith Fisher is
a recent Outer Banks resident, originally from Virginia Beach Keith moved down
after retiring from the Marine Corps. To
Keith, art is therapy, in recovering from a stroke a little over a year ago a
passion for painting that he had almost forgotten reemerged. He’s been dabbling in several mediums, from
oil pastels to watercolor and acrylics to oil paints, Keith is finding his footing
in the art world and quite gracefully.
He titled the print you received in your OBX Box, “Welcome to Paradise”
and it’s hard to think of a better name than that!
Again this item ended up being as perfectly timed as the soap and the zen doodle book, as many folks are not able to get to their happy place right now we are so pleased to be able to send a little sign of happier times to come! See what we did there….
JK’s Cowboy Blend and Smoky Chipotle Seasoning are savory,
crowd-pleasing offerings that have made them a national favorite. Sling it on
ribs, poultry, steak, seafood for a tried and true great taste. Grill or bake
to perfection. It’s that easy!
Winston-Salem, North Carolina native, J.K. Norfleet left the investment banking business after several years to pursue restaurant investments. Having been born into a food and entertainment-oriented family, he capitalized on his love and talent of cooking and opened JK’s Restaurant on the Outer Banks off the coast of North Carolina in 1984. He put JK’s Dry Rub Seasoning to use in the restaurant and given its popularity, he decided to market it and the seasoning can now be found in small specialty shops, supermarkets and online.
Long before the Outer Banks grew into the year-round coastal community it is today, JK’s Restaurant opened quietly in 1984 and rocked the seasonal dining available from the spring to late fall by offering a fine raw product, introducing live wood-fired grills and laying claim to its local audience by staying open year-round. Time has made such excellence and year-round availability more of the norm along the Banks, but anyone with long-time roots along these shores will testify to the fact that when JK’s opened, the dining and food culture along these treasured waters was transformed and there was no turning back.
Since we are all cooking more at home right now than ever
before we hope you’ll enjoy some OBX flavor on your next meal!
The Outer Banks Brewing Station is the first wind powered
brewery in the United States! We were also the first business to produce wind
power on the Outer Banks. We pride ourselves in being innovative and conscious
about the environment, while helping others learn as much as they can
about renewable energy and sustainability. Want to know more about our Outer
Banks wind powered brewery?
The restaurant
and brewery began as a concept in 1992 while the founders, Eric Reece and
Aubrey Davis were Peace Corps volunteers alongside Tina Mackenzie in Thailand.
Aubrey had grown up spending summers at his grandparents’ place on the Outer
Banks, and felt it was the perfect place to start a brew pub. The Outer Banks
Brewing station is now a staple in the OBX restaurant landscape.
A must visit place on the OBX we hope you’ll be able to
swing by and drop a few Brew Bucks soon!
Feeling like you missed out!!?? You don’t have to! We have a few extra Spring OBX Boxes ready to ship, ORDER HERE and let us send you a little piece of your happy place!