Ocean Isle Inn, Ocean Isle, North Carolina

As you know, I was away this past weekend at the Ocean Isle Inn. If you visited my blog these past few days, you saw my crazy Vlogs. Boy I like vlogging because it is so much easier to do one than to write a blog post. Plus, they show a lot more than I can with pictures but I swear I look like a demented troll on camera so I might do more here but not include myself in them!

Anyway, I was invited to Ocean Isle Inn on what I call a blogger junket. We were invited to check out the Inn and see what it has to offer. Now this was a Mommy Blogger event but I was also invited although many of you know I am not a mommy. I always appreciate being invited and accepted although I have no children. And I find that I am always welcomed and that is important. I am so glad I went because I really enjoyed my stay at the Ocean Isle Inn and the surrounding areas. The Inn is really nice and it is right on the beach so it makes for a wonderful place to stay.

Before the event, I got an email from the Social Media director of Ocean Isle Inn, Tracy Spencer, asking if I could pick up another blogger on my way down to Ocean Isle and I agreed. I had never met Maricris from Zen Mama Adventures but I thought it would be nice to have a travel companion because the rise was a long way from the mountains.

The ride to Ocean Isle was great but long. It was made longer because the GPS that Maricris had took us a roundabout way on the highways instead of the back roads. But we made finally made it around 5pm. And it was beautiful. After settling in, we went downstairs to have a little wine and cheese and then we headed out to the mainland to grab some Mexican food because we had missed lunch. We went to Las Palmeras restaurant located on the mainland and it was delish.

We went back to our rooms after dinner to get some rest for the next day. On Saturday morning we got to meet the rest of the bloggers who were there. Malise from Carolina Mama, Jen from One Moms World and later on Molly from Go Mom Inc. joined us. We had a breakfast meeting with the General Manager or "Coach" Lee Shapiro and the fabulous, Tracy. They explained to us what was going on at the Inn. They gave us a little history. They spoke to us about the wonderful amenities and the improvements being done to the Inn. The Inn is about 18 years old but they have done a nice job keeping it up. Lee told us that they have painted the rooms, added crown molding and do deep cleanings. And you can tell. So many times, I am in hotel room and you know they do not deep clean. My room at the Ocean Isle Inn was super clean and very nice. The room isn't fancy but nice. Plus, I had an ocean view room and let me tell you, that's the room you want. It was so nice to be able to wake up every morning and look out. Lee also told us the they are updating the rooms. The next thing will be the bedding and the doors around the site. I liked that they are taking the time to keep the place up.

I also liked that they recently changed over to "green" paper products at the Inn and I believe that some of the proceeds from these go to saving the turtles in the area. That's another cool thing I learned. There is turtle watching during May-October. And Malise said they had seen dolphins out in the surf. I wish I would have caught that from my room!

In our breakfast meeting, they also pointed out that there are many cool attractions not only on Ocean Isle but the surrounding areas. Only 35-40 minutes south is Myrtle Beach and just about 40 minutes north is Historic Wilmington. It was quite informative.

After our meeting, we met up with Malise and Jen's families who were so nice and we all walked over to the Museum of Coastal Carolina which is about 2 blocks from the Inn. The museum is tiny but it was really cool. If you have kids, it is a fantastic place because they have interactive exhibits. My favorite part was the cool touch tank where they had fish, crabs and starfish. I touched a Starfish that looked nothing like Patrick from Spongebob but it was cool nonetheless. My favorite fish was a little puffer looking fish that when I took a picture gave me the stink eye! He looks mad.

After the museum, we walked over to Cinellis Restaurant. Peter, the owner, had opened the restaurant just for us which I thought was so great. He also gave us a complimentary meal and drinks. The food was fantastic. I tried to be good and ordered Chicken and veggies. Unfortunately, the rest of the weekend was not as healthy but that is a whole other post. The portions were HUGE and the food was delish. The service was great and the company was excellent. I thought is was so nice of him to host us. They also have a take out and delivery service to the Inn.

After lunch, we all headed back to the Inn and got in the cars because we were also invited over to the Ingram Planetarium. The Planetarium is located on the mainland in Sunset Beach. It also was small but interesting. We saw a cool cartoon on the myth behind Orion. Then they showed us a picture of the area and time lapsed it with all the stars and moon and planets and basically it was pretty neat. I think I can now find Orion in the sky!! Again, if you have kids they would love this place. There are other places to visit on the mainland. If you have kids, you will want to check out Planet Fun because they have tons of indoor games.

After the Planetarium, we went back to the Ocean Isle Inn to rest up for the Tweet Up at 7 p.m. The Twitter Party was great fun. Some of you might have been there!! We gave out prizes and had a party online. The big prize of the night was a stay at Ocean Isle Inn and it was won by @misslori. It was a rocking Twitter party and the Inn supplied the pizza and salad.

By the end of the night, I was dead beat tired. And let me tell you that although it was chilly, there was nothing like going back up to the room and listening to the surf and the rain outside.

The next morning, I got up and went out to the beach because the sun was out. It was cold and windy but I wanted to walk on the beach. It was fantastic. I wish Tom had been able to come because I know he would have totally loved it. Then I went back to the Inn where I had breakfast with the rest of the bloggers and their families. Malise and Molly left after breakfast. Maricris and I had decided to drive over to Wilmington and check out the U.S.S. Battleship North Carolina.

We spent the day there (if you want to see pictures and videos head over to Carolyn in Carolina, my other blog) and then it was back to the Ocean Isle where we relaxed until we went downstairs for another mini-tweet up and they were so nice to provide some cold cuts and chips for us. That was great because we were so tired there was no way we wanted to get back in the car and drive out to dinner. After the tweet up, I retreated back to my room to pack up my stuff and watch the Golden Globes!

I got up early Monday morning and had breakfast and then it was back in the car to drive to Charlotte to drop off Maricris and then drive back to good ol' Sylva.

Overall, I had a wonderful time at the Ocean Isle Inn. It is a great place for a vacation. I know I will go back with Tom because I know he will love it. And I have to say that the ladies who were here this weekend were so nice and I am so glad I got to meet them. Lee and Tracy and the whole staff at Ocean Isle Inn were friendly and so wonderful. It was a terrific little break!! Thanks to everyone at Ocean Isle Inn and to the wonderful ladies who attended!!

And if you want to visit Ocean Isle Inn, you can enter the contest on their Facebook page by becoming a fan and then clicking on the Sweepstakes tab. This is a great prize that not only includes a stay at the Inn but also spa treatments from Cinzia Spa!! WOO. I know I entered and you should too. And as a special treat for my readers, if you want to visit Ocean Isle Inn, make sure to tell them you saw it on either of my blogs Carolyn in Carolina or this one The Art of Random Willynillyness and receive a 15% discount!!! That is pretty darn good if you ask me.

I have included some other pictures below so you can see how wonderful my trip was to Ocean Isle Inn.

Here are some other pictures I couldn't work into the post:

Disclosure: As part of my review, I received a stay at the Ocean Isle Inn. No other compensation was given and the opinions in this post are solely mine and are based on my experience with the product. My opinions have not been influenced by the product given.