The Sanderling Resort in the Outer Banks gets an elegant, intentional update
There comes a time, perhaps middle age, when reminiscing becomes a pursuable delight. Call it nostalgia, call it a longing for simpler times, but when my sister and I reunite, we hunt for reminders of our childhood like they were treasure. It’s what siblings do.
However, we didn’t expect to find such riches at The Sanderling Resort in the Outer Banks (despite the wealth of treasure lore from the area’s shipwrecked vessels). Nestled just above the town of Duck, the Sanderling has been a beloved vacation destination for forty years. It’s one of those peaceful gems where adults who stayed as children return again with their own families. What can I say? Nostalgia has a powerful tug.
It’s our first time, however, and while the exterior is unassuming, we’re immediately enchanted by the double views from inside the lobby—the Currituck Sound to the west and the Atlantic Ocean to the east. Redesigned this past year by New York’s Ward + Gray, the resort embodies approachable coastal luxury. Our room looks out to sea, and everything from the cut-crystal glasses to the bathroom wallpaper is elegant and intentional, not ostentatious. Even the miniature wooden birds perched atop the bedposts nod to area wildlife.
We take a stroll outside past the adult pool (there’s one for families, too) to check out the amenities. Just before the beach access, a booth offers adventure activity bookings like kayaking, kiteboarding, and off-road tours of the Wild Horse Conservation Easement in nearby Corolla. Lawn games are scattered about, and we indulge in a cornhole match. Inside, we discover the Beach House Bar—coffee and croissants in the morning, cocktails in the evening—and pass the lounge area as we head out to dinner, where a movie is being set up, snacks included.
Flavors of the Southern Coast
Theodosia, our destination, sits across the street, backdropped by sweeping views of the sound. A partnership between The Sanderling and Chef Vivian Howard, Theodosia opened this summer as the famed chef’s latest culinary concept. Host of the PBS series A Chef’s Life, Howard is synonymous with Southern coastal cuisine, exalting its beauty and simplicity at her multiple restaurants throughout the Eastern Carolinas.
We come curious. My sister and I know this food, fed to us by our maternal grandmother, and it’s hard to imagine crab cakes and fried cornbread plated in a restaurant this elegant. The interior, redesigned with the resort, exudes the same simple luxury, and we’re led to a table with sunset views across the sound. A menu is placed in front of us, and the reminiscing begins.
Indulging in Outer Banks
To say we indulge would be trite. We let the chef take us on a journey the way only good food can. From cold course to dessert, we hunt for hidden delights, letting the flavors, like a kind hand, lead us back to our grandmother’s kitchen. Marinated clams, shrimp sliders, baked oysters, succotash, even the hint of muscadine in a cocktail—“Remember Grandma’s grape vines?” and “Do you have the recipe for her oyster stew?” Howard’s creativity highlights the simple genius of recipes handed down through generations, and overseen by chef de cuisine Charlotte Coman, the dishes surprise in the best ways.
That night, we sleep the happy sleep of well-fed folk in our spacious accommodations. We awake with plans for a day on the beach, but not before breakfast at The Lifesaving Station, which was an actual US Lifesaving Station (pre-Coast Guard) in the late 1800s. The resort restaurant, open daily for breakfast, lunch, and dinner, is chock-full of historic memorabilia and tales of heroic shipwreck rescues. We enjoy a scrumptious breakfast while discussing which Vivian Howard cookbook to purchase.
What else can be said? One could spend a week at The Sanderling and not touch all the opportunities. A full-service spa, gorgeous event venues, bike rentals, and vineyard cruises—it’s a place waiting to create memories. We certainly did. All the more to reminisce.
The Sanderling Resort, 1461 Duck Rd., Duck, NC, thesanderling.com
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