Logistics

General Information

Basically the House Rules are pretty simple – treat the house as you would treat your own; remember that others will be coming into the house after you leave; and enjoy your stay!

There are two large storage closets under the house. The front one works on the same key as the house key and contains bikes, beach chairs, a cart for walking stuff to the beach, torches for the picnic deck etc. The closet farther back works off a second key – that is the owner’s closet (or would have been when I was officially renting). There are spare supplies including sheets, towels, and paper goods as well as tools and equipment stored in this closet. Again – use whatever you need – far be it from me to prevent anyone from making a minor repair for lack of a screw driver! There is also a spare house key hanging on a tack on the top shelf just to the left as you look into the closet. I leave this closet unlocked while I’m in residence – that way a family member can get the key to enter the house if I’m not there (I leave the house locked because of the dogs.) Finally, there is an assortment of liquor in the closet – much of it I’m not even sure where it came from. Use what you like for cooking or specialty drinks, just don’t leave me short of Scotch, Gin, or Vodka – all of which I will need when my family gets down at the end of the summer!

Floor Plan:

The house is a reverse floor plan: ground floor contains only the washer and dryer with one closet containing some storage space and the water heater. First floor contains 4 bedrooms and 2 baths. The circuit breakers are in the back bedroom with access to the small lower deck. Two bedrooms have queen beds; one has a pyramid bunk (double on bottom and twin on top) with a twin pull out trundle bed; the last bedroom has a daybed with pull out trundle. Both bathrooms have full tub/showers. Watch for too much sand in the shower – there is an outside shower under the house for a basic rinse off if you need it. The top floor is the great room and kitchen with a half bath. There are two thermostats in the house with two separate air conditioning units – one for the bedroom floor and one for the top floor. Since I like to cook when I am down there, the kitchen is reasonably well equipped. However, some of the pots and pans are showing signs of hard rental usage – I use tin foil where necessary – and I have started to replace those showing the most wear.

Kitchen:

As noted above I like to cook while at the beach – besides, the restaurants tend to be crowded during the main season. The house can accommodate a large number for dinner (I think the 27 from 2011 is my current record). The refrigerator was new in 2010 so there should be no need to watch for ice build up in the freezer yet, just be careful not to turn the temperature down too low – it will cool and make ice given a chance at a medium setting, but will freeze up at the lowest setting with a full load of new food to cool. I did replace the stove at the end of 2010 as well so that is now in good working order. It is a glass top stove – the appropriate cleaning materials should be under the sink. I would like to try not to scratch it too badly in the first couple of years. There is no garbage disposal and we are dealing with beach plumbing and a septic tank - so be aware. There is some heavy duty drain de-clogger in the owner’s closet if you need it for the kitchen or the bathrooms. There is a reasonably supply of spices and basic cooking requirements such as oil, vinegar, sugar etc. There should also be an assortment of cleaning supplies under the sink - including special requirements for pet clean-up. Use what you need and buy replacements for the things that are getting low.

PLEASE NOTE: Do not feel obliged to buy all your own basic supplies instead of using what is there, unless you intend to take the remainder home with you. The first year I had the house, I ended up with 6 bottles of dish detergent. There really is NOT enough storage space to put all that away neatly! If you have a strong brand preference, please feel free to bring/or buy what you like – and take it home with you.

Gas Grill:

There is a gas grill, generally stored on the screen porch off the kitchen. For safety sake please pull it out onto the open upper deck to use. Replace the cover and store on the screen porch to help prevent rusting in the salt air. The grill is new this spring - 2013. There is also a picnic grill and deck at ground level on the side of the house – I think the flavor is better when grilling with charcoal so I prefer that, however, even I can’t see going up and down 2 flights of stairs for just a couple of people. Like most picnic grills, there will be rust – I try to remember to oil the grill on a regular basis with cheap vegetable oil (seasons like an iron skillet). Charcoal and lighter fluid should be in the owner’s closet; a spare tank for the gas grill should be in the front closet. The gas tank can be exchanged through Rhino Exchange at Wal-Mart, Food Lion etc if you run out – or someone has left an empty.

Sheets & Towels:

There are plenty of sheets and towels in the house which you are welcome to use; however, in consideration of the next visitors, they must be washed before you leave. Washer and Dryer are on the ground floor. Normally sheets and towels are in the bottom dresser drawers in each bedroom (at least that’s where they were at the beginning of the summer). Beach towels are in the bench in the hallway on the bedroom floor. There are spares in the owner’s closet – sheets in the green plastic garbage can and towels in the blue bins. Watch out for the pure white towels – I use those for the dogs! You can of course bring your own linens if you do not want to spend time washing. Some guests have managed a compromise – they bring a small supply for the final night, using a single sheet or sleeping bag liner that last night. Washing is really not that bad if you can spread it out over a day and a half! Once again a supply of detergent and dryer sheets should be there.

WiFi:

The wireless ID is: NETGEAR47 and the password is: modernquail406.
The internet is through the cable company and the modem is beside the TV in the living room. There is a cord you can plug into the back of your laptop.

Electronics:

There are 4 small TVs in the house; the one in the living room, the one in the Master Bedroom, and the one in the bunkroom are hooked up to cable; the TV in the back bedroom is just for viewing movies – maybe I’ll get it hooked up to cable next year. On the bookcase in the living room, there is a radio/CD player on the left and a separate unit for plugging your ipod into on the right. The TV in the living room has a DVD player attached. It is all pretty basic stuff – electronics have a way of getting stolen in the off season. I used to try to keep a channel listing, but the cable company changed their line up more frequently than I changed my list, so I gave up on that.

Bikes:

There are two bikes in the front closet under the house. (Replaced 2009.) Check tires – if they have not been used recently, they will need air. There is a small hand pump in the closet. The gas station at the corner as you come in from Nags Head has a good air pump you can use, but you have to be able to get the bikes there. There is no requirement for helmets at the beach so I do not stock any – bring your own if you desire. There are bike paths along (but off!) the main road all the way to Duck which is a good ride and Duck has restaurants and shopping so it makes a good trip in reasonable weather. There are also cut thru trails in Chicahauk which are sort of fun to explore and can take you up to the road along the top of the dunes from which you can see both the sound and the ocean.

Beach Parking:

I am leaving parking passes in the kitchen again this year. Depending on what you are doing, they can be useful; however, please be careful! I have had guests ticketed. If the lot says "town sticker only" it is basically only for residents. There are 2 lots at the bases of Chicahauk Trail directly across from the beach. The smaller, on the left hand side as you face the beach is back in the trees and not obvious unless you are looking for it. The Chicahauk guest pass will allow you to park there.

News:

Iv 2013 I did finally install internet service to the house. The resort service just is over used in prime time and has gotten very slow. The internet is through the cable company and the modem is beside the TV in the living room. There is a cord you can plug into the back of your laptop; there is also a wireless router. The wireless ID is: NETGEAR47 and the password is: modernquail406 (That’s the factory setting and should be on a sticker attached to the paperwork by the TV.) Hopefully this will help everyone else as much as it helps me!

There are a number of games and puzzles in the house – useful if you happen to be there for a northeaster or the edge of a hurricane. If you find too many pieces missing from either a game or puzzle, please throw it out. Who knows how long it will be before I have a chance to check it! Speaking of which, since you are not renting through an agency, no one can make you leave when they call for a hurricane evacuation. Not that I suggest staying through the storm, but I do suggest waiting. If it is summer, they need to call an evacuation early due to the dense temporary population and limited number of exit routes. It is a parking lot for the first 8 or 9 hours. Experience has shown that you can wait for about 12 hours and drive off easily, still ahead of the storm – however, I would monitor the speed and progress of the storm. I have never had any significant hurricane damage, but it can get pretty lonely when the grocery stores start shutting down and boarding up!

The roof was replaced in January 2010 – small signs of water damage are merely indications that re-painting has not been completed. Air conditioning units were replaced in 2007 – vendor is Hoy (hopefully you won’t need to know that!)

Any problems or questions that come up while you are there, please call my cell (which you should have and I don’t want to post on the internet :-). If you have trouble reaching me, the couple who keep an eye on the place for me are Bill and Sharen Appleton - their phone numbers are on the chalk board next to the phone. There is a new person, Karen Spruill, who is available to clean house if you would rather not spend your vacation time cleaning. It is $75 for a house cleaning in the prime season – no special deals with the kind of volume encountered that time of year. If you decide the house needs more cleaning than you want to do yourself, please decide early and let me know so I can give appropriate advanced notice. There are a lot of houses that need to be cleaned in a short period of time during the summer months!