The Click Retreat to The Outer Banks | North Carolina
For the last few days, I have been in North Carolina in the beautiful Outer Banks area. I attended the Click Blogger Retreat hosted by Today’s Mama. It was a few days I will remember forever, it was amazing. I’ve attended a bunch of blog conferences over the years, but this was the first smaller blog event, and I loved it. With a smaller group (there were about 50+ attendees), you can really get to know the group.
This trip was really a last minute for me, my friend Jen of Tatertots and Jello had a change in her schedule and was unable to attend, so I went in her spot.
This was my first time (other than New York City) visiting the beach on the Atlantic Ocean side of the country. It was cold and rainy during the few days we were there, but the sun did come out for an afternoon, and it was beautiful.
Here’s a bunch of pictures from the weekend:
What is it about the beach? It just helps to clear your head.
Jamielyn of I Heart Naptime, myself and Marie of Make and Takes
Mandi of Vintage Revivals, Jamielyn, Cara of Maskcara & Myself
The beautiful view from our beach houses. I mean “c’mon!” – It doesn’t get more beautiful than that.
One of the big highlights for me were the dinners each night, just a chance to connect with my online friends and make some more. I love all these gals. I got to room with Kim of Today’s Creative blog, we had such a fun time together.
This was taken in front of an antique store in Monteo, NC. I loved this group of gals on our excursion on Friday.
We had a crab fest on the last night. They had a table set up with crab and crackers, butter and all. Messy, but fun.
One of my favorite things was visiting the Elizabethan Gardens in Monteo, NC. It was beautiful! I loved this rusty old chain on an outside gate of the garden. The beach was on the opposite side of this gate. The views on this trip were so neat.
Some pics from the Elizabethan Gardens. So much beauty, and this was during the off season. I would love to visit during the Springtime with everything in full bloom.
All of us were on a photo scavenger hunt from SouthWest Airlines, and one of the entries was to make a human pyramid. So we did…a few times. 😉
…and again. Only this time I was on top. Yikes! Sorry girls. Next time I want to be a base.
On Thursday, we went hang gliding. !! Technically I was only up in the air for 5 seconds (3 different times), but it was such a blast. Mostly because I got to share it with these fun gals.
There was a lot of down time while we each took a turn, plenty of time to hang out. I loved it.
I have to giggle a bit when I see this pic of me up in the air. 5 seconds I tell you…but still so fun!
The closing party for the Click Retreat was so cute! All the party details were darling! My friend Alma Loveland of the Caravan Shoppe was hired to make all the fun signs at each station. It had a fun boardwalk feel. Lots of games and great food. Jillee of One Good Thing Jillee and her girls along with Avery Products and Alma did such a great job.
Fun photos from that night: Laurie of Tip Junkie and Holly Homer.
A few of the Today’s Mama team with me.
I loved learning from Me Ra Koh, she is so knowledgeable when it comes to capturing real life moments.
Jenny on the Spot with Carina – <3
with Rachael and Erika of Today’s Mama
The beautiful beach houses we stayed in. I stayed in the blue one.
If you are considering a smaller conference or retreat like this, I would highly recommend it, for a few reasons:
– a chance to see a different part of the country
– a chance to connect with online friends and like minded people
– a chance to learn from the experts in your interests: food styling, photography, documenting the everyday, capturing the best moments of your children
– a weekend for yourself, a gift to yourself
The Click Retreat will be happening again, and if you have the chance, I highly recommend attending, it was a blast!
A big thanks to SouthWest for making the Click Retreat possible.
