Apologies for the delay in posting our latest blog…but we are in the final push of our current planned renovations, and I haven’t had much time to write. I had hoped to introduce you to our latest completed rooms, but at the last minute, we decided to replace the carpet in those rooms, and are waiting on delivery and installation. Although these rooms are smaller than the suites, I’m super excited to see them finished, we're having such fun decorating them. I promise you'll see them in the next blog!
A few picks of the sights I've gotten used to seeing around the Inn....fortunately we are nearing the end of this phase, and will be ready to open at the end of April 😁
And as you can see, we are still getting deliveries most days!!!
I did want to give you a sneak peek at the bathroom vanity in Lighthouse - JB chose a concrete sink in keeping with the more traditional look and feel of the Lighthouse suite. I was a little hesitant at first when I saw it, not sure how it was going to turn out. But as usual, I should have trusted JB's natural flair for interior design.... I love this sink and vanity; it works so well in this bathroom.
JB and I have spent a large amount of time thinking about the décor and furnishing for each room/suite (I can be prone to overthinking 😁). Each name chosen for the rooms has personal significance for JB and me or is associated with the Inn or the Ocean.
For those that are interested, here is a quick explanation for each room name.
The Arran Suite
Named after the beautiful Scottish island, where I spent many happy vacations with my family, when growing up in Scotland. The Isle of Arran was only 26 miles across the Firth of Clyde (the name of the water between Arran and Ayr), from Ayr, but as a small island, it seemed like a world away from my hometown. A rugged place, with awesome looking mountains that had great names like “The Sleeping Warrior” and “Goat Fell”. And, from the beach at Ayr, you can see the most spectacular sunsets, as the sun sinks into the Atlantic Ocean, behind Arran.
The Ayr Suite
Ayr was named after both JB and my hometowns – I say “hometowns’ in plural, as although they are 4,500 miles apart (as the crow flies), there are 2 Ayrs – one a small beach-town in Scotland dating back to the 1700’s, the other a small rural farming community in Nebraska. Both completely different but connected by their name….and now connected by JB and me!
The Bodie Suite
Bodie was named after the first lighthouse I ever saw on the Outer Banks, on my first trip here, many years ago. It is also the name of one of our yellow labs (although in all honesty, he was not named after the lighthouse, he was named after Patrick Swayze’s character in “Point Break” …what can I say, I liked the name, their hair color was the same shade of blonde, and both are/were extremely handsome!) It’s our “dog friendly” suite and has a distinctly traditional feel to it.
The Seaside Suite
Seaside was so named, in recognition of the inn’s more recent past. It was called "The Seaside Inn" from 2006-2020, (we honored the Inn's century old heritage from 1928-2006 renaming the inn when we bought it, to "The Atlantic Inn", as the original name was "The Atlantic View Hotel". We decided not to include the word "View", as due to the construction of many large vacation rental homes next to the beach, and the now overgrown maritime vegetation, you no longer have a “view” of the ocean, and we didn’t want guests to be disappointed when they arrived and had no “view” of the Atlantic). This room has a bright coastal/beachy theme.
The Lighthouse Suite
Lighthouse is named in honor of the incredible structures, and the devoted and brave men, that have provided beacons of light throughout the years, to guide ships whilst they are at sea and keep them safe. The lighthouse theme can be seen throughout this suite, with paintings and prints of lighthouses, both local to The Outer Banks and International, books on lighthouses etc.
We decided that the Inn should have a couple of nautical themed rooms: -
Port is a bright room with the original wood paneled walls, whose décor is a distinct nod to fun on the water, with prints, photos, and furnishings, reflecting boating life, surfing, kiteboarding and the incredible oceans that surround us.
Starboard is our other nautical themed room, which is much more traditional, with the original dark wood paneling on the walls and ceiling. Décor is more in keeping with maritime history, fishing boats and older boating crafts.
Mermaid is one of our two small rooms at the Inn, hence the name “cuddy”, which is generally a small room on a boat. Although a small room, Mermaid has plenty of character – with some of the walls and the ceiling paneled in the original wood, the décor is in ocean colors and of course, has mermaids. A dreamy room in which any mermaid would be happy to spend the night on land!
Seahorse Cuddy
Like Mermaid, Seahorse is also a small room and yes, like Mermaid, we’ve given this room plenty of character. Seahorse also has some original paneled walls and ceiling and ocean colors and, as you would expect…seahorses!! A beautiful little room that any Seahorse would look forward to being “stabled” for the night!
We have two other guest rooms that we will be renovating, but these won’t be available until later in the year.
I really cannot say enough about the incredible support that we have had so far, in our adventure: -
1. The local businesses that we have been involved with, and that have been part of the renovations, (big shout out to Nedos in Hatteras, Kempsville in Buxton, and Ace Hardware in Avon, where we make frequent trips, especially Nedos where often it is several times in one day!). I intend to list and post thanks to all the amazing businesses that have helped us, in one of my upcoming blogs. I just want to contact them all first for their permission, before I blast their names all over the internet 😉.
2. The wonderful residents of the island that have reached out, to say hello, welcome and encourage us. Many providing great stories and information on the history of the Inn.
3. We also made the papers when the “News and Observer” interviewed us, and put their article not only in their newspaper, but also in their digital print https://www.newsobserver.com/news/state/north-carolina/article248701170.html.
We have a couple of other articles being published in upcoming magazines, and another one in the works.
4. The many awesome Facebook comments and likes of the Inn, our photos, and stories of our crazy adventures, have been fantastic, and really help to keep us motivated to complete our work. Originally we were only posting on group pages, but now have an "Atlantic Inn" page set up that I love to post photos on.
5. The many people like You, that read our blogs and visit our website.
We are truly appreciative of all this wonderful support and just wanted to take time on this blog to acknowledge our thanks!!!!
Restoring the "Atlantic" and getting the business up and running is an absolute labor of love for us…one that we are 100% committed to. I thought it was important that people knew that we didn’t take this massive project on to renovate, turn it around to resell, and make a “fast buck” – we’ve invested everything into the Inn, gambled our careers, finances and 401ks into this adventure. This is our life now, for better or for worse….and I’m really hoping that it’s for the better 😊. We want to be active contributing members of this incredible community. Many people have contacted us to let us know that they are so happy that we have “saved” the existing building – not just from falling down in disrepair, but also from some large corporations or hotel chains buying it up, that would most likely bulldoze the structure to the ground, and build a large, flashy, modern hotel or condos….literally to make a “fast buck”, without a care or acknowledgement to the incredible history that goes along with the Inn or the island heritage that lies within these century old walls.
Last week, an exceedingly kind member of one of the Facebook groups that we belong to, sent me some old photos of the exterior of the Inn. In one of my previous blogs, I posted a rather blurry photo of the Inn with a plane next to it, a couple of the photos that were sent to me last week are much clearer pictures, and show the plane parked next to the "Atlantic View Hotel", as it was known then. Seeing these photos remind us of the incredible history we have here at the inn and just makes us even more keen to live and work here, in this wonderful structure… and in the beautiful village of Hatteras.
I'd best go now, still too much to do...but I wanted to let you know that we are still taking time out to enjoy our lives here in Hatteras. Most mornings, I walk the 5mins to the beach, and then along the shoreline, before finding my spot to sit, sip my coffee and watch the sunrise (and often see my beloved dolphins)
On Sunday, JB and I took Bailey and Bodie to play on the beach. We have often seen the Flambeau wreck on our many walks, but never as much of the old structure of the boat than we saw that day. You could see underneath the parts of the boat that are normally visible when the tide is out...it was absolutely incredible. I thought you might like to see the pics I managed to get before the sea fog rolled in.
There is so much to enjoy in this beautiful place, and we feel truly blessed to be able to call the Atlantic Inn our home 😊.
Until next time...
Stay safe and Take Care!
Pam