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Follow a couple wooded roads to the heart of Kill Devil Hills to take in one of the most spectacular holiday light displays in coastal North Carolina. The annual “Poulos Family Christmas” lights display has become one of the most beloved Christmas traditions for many Outer Banks locals, and everyone is welcome to discover this expansive holiday display in person to see what all the fuss is about.

The Poulos Family Christmas display first rose to fame when it was featured as the winner of The Today Show’s annual Christmas Lights competition roughly a decade ago, and since then, it has been featured in a number of shows and media outlets, such as the HGTV network. The impressive display takes 12 weeks to set up and costs roughly $3,500 in energy bills every year, but the resulting “show” is well worth the effort for many visitors. Folks who pay a visit to the festive and privately owned home are treated to multiple landscapes of twinkling lights, which includes a toy and model train display, and plenty of incredible photo ops. Easily the Outer Banks’ most popular home for holiday light hunters, the Poulos Family Christmas display is a sight that can’t be missed.

Awful Arthur's Oyster Bar

Awful Arthur's Oyster Bar

Welcome to the home of the happy oyster where for over 40 years the oyster has been our world. The Outer Banks only authentic oyster bar is the place to enjoy sensational fare from the sea washed down with your favorite brew or cocktail. We serve by the peck, pound, and dozen, raw or steamed to perfection. Kicked back casual, down to earth friendly staff, and reasonable prices make Awful Arthur’s Oyster Bar the all-time favorite of locals and travelers alike.

The idea wasn’t to set out and establish a new concept restaurant on the Outer Banks, but that’s exactly what Awful Arthur’s owner Jo Whitehead and her late husband, Jay, accomplished more than 35 years ago when they opened the area’s first authentic oyster bar.

 

Awful Arthur’s opened in May 1984 on the Outer Banks. “We embraced the concept of an authentic copper top bar with the idea of it being a major drawing card and it still is,” explains Whitehead. “I get oysters wherever they are local. We follow the warm waters.” 

 

Just across from the ocean, in Kill Devil Hills, oyster season is year-round at Awful Arthur’s. Diners can take a seat at the copper-topped bar to observe the staff shucking oysters, served raw or steamed, along with shrimp, crab legs and clams all steamed to perfection. 

 

It’s not just the raw bar that’s earned Awful Arthur’s both local and national recognition, including being named one of America’s greatest oyster bars by Coastal Living magazine. The restaurant is a seafood-lover’s paradise, offering the freshest catches available.