Bag's Big Bash 2026

Four nights for up to eight guests in an oceanfront home in the heart of Wrightsville Beach, steps from the sand and from Johnnie Mercer’s Pier. Ocean views from the living area and from a wide deck built for long afternoons, with the primary bedroom facing the water. Two kings and four twins across three bedrooms, three full baths, all linens and towels provided, an outdoor shower, and beach chairs and towels waiting. Shark Bar and the pier are a minute’s walk. Three parking spots. A guest favorite at 4.91 stars.

Three nights in a freshly updated five-bedroom oceanside home in Corolla’s Ocean Sands community, sleeping fourteen. Nearly 3,000 square feet, with a private saltwater pool, a tiki-style bar and grill beside it, and a rooftop deck with 360-degree views for sunrise coffee and late-night stars. A screened porch for evening cocktails and a ground-floor game room with air hockey for the rainy afternoon. Ten minutes on foot to the beach, the bike path at the end of the driveway, and Duck Donuts two minutes away.

A full week, Friday to Friday, at North Star — a six-bedroom home in the gated Four Seasons community in Duck, ranked in the top one percent of homes on Airbnb. Every bedroom has its own bath. There is a private pool and a hot tub, and the ground floor is a game room with a pool table, a bunk room and a kitchenette, so there is space for the whole crew. Eight minutes to the beach along a private path, five minutes into the heart of Duck, and the community adds a heated indoor pool, a gym, tennis and basketball courts, a playground, a beach trolley and a soundside pier.

Two nights on a weekend or three midweek at Treetops Lodge, a private mountain retreat on twelve wooded acres in Lovingston, half an hour south of Charlottesville. A wall of windows frames the Blue Ridge from the great room, and outside there is a wraparound deck, a fire pit with firewood laid on, and trails across the property to creeks and seasonal waterfalls. Sleeps ten across four bedrooms, with a wood-burning stove and a bunk-and-arcade room for the kids. The Route 151 wine and brewery trail is fifteen minutes away and Wintergreen skiing is thirty. A guest favorite at 4.96 stars.

Skip the airport lines and fly to the Bahamas by seaplane. This package for two includes a round-trip Tropic Ocean Airways seaplane flight from Fort Lauderdale/Hollywood to North Bimini, two nights at Resorts World Bimini, and an afternoon on the water — swimming with dolphins, rays, or sharks, or a fishing trip. Tropic Ocean's concierge coordinates the whole trip.

A flight in the Forgotten Heroes Foundation’s SNJ-7 Texan, known as “Jesse.” The Texan was the advanced trainer that carried a generation of Navy and Army fighter pilots through their last step before the fleet — a radial-engined tailwheel warbird whose growl still turns heads at any airfield. The Foundation flies it as a teaching aircraft, putting students in front of real vintage aviation as part of its STEM programs.

Want to try flying? Come on a discovery flight with an FAA Certified Flight Instructor and former TOPGUN Instructor. After a short pre-flight safety check, your instructor will guide you through taxi and takeoff — and then you will fly a Cessna 172 yourself. Plan on just over an hour, with around forty-five minutes in the air learning basic piloting skills or simply sightseeing around the Norfolk and Virginia Beach area.

Elevate your home with a stunning beach inspired, ceramic pedestal art piece by renowned local artist Todd Starr. The piece features intricate cut-out latticework and a vibrant glaze, making it a statement piece for a dining table, an elegant fruit bowl, or a holder for floating candles.

A brand-new mid-length surfboard from Wave Hunter, finished in blue with bold custom artwork. Mid-lengths are the most forgiving board in the water — enough float and paddle power to catch waves early, enough rail to stay lively once you're on one. It's the right board for a surfer stepping down from a longboard, stepping up from foam, or anyone who just wants more days worth paddling out.

An original work by Outer Banks shaper Mike Rowe, made from the surfboards he builds. Rowe has been shaping since 1986 — he started sanding and polishing at New Sun Surfboards, spent fifteen years behind the mask learning the trade, and in 2001 the factory’s legend Murray Ross put a planer in his hands and shaped five boards alongside him. Hooked Surfboards started that afternoon. Twenty-five years later he still shapes every board by hand, about a hundred a year out of Kill Devil Hills. Every board leaves color behind. Resin runs off the rails and cures in layers on the floor of the shaping bay, a little of every board that came before it. Rowe saves that, builds it up, and cuts it back into finished work — so the marbling running through a piece is a record of boards that are out in the water somewhere right now. Nothing about the color is decoration. It is where the boards went. His work has taken a show award.

Enjoy six months of fresh Fathom Coffee delivered to your door. You will receive one reusable American-made glass jar of Fathom’s roaster-selected coffee each month for six consecutive months, for six jars total. Fathom was founded by Bob and Jeff Werby, Navy veterans, and Lisa DeNoia after coffee helped fuel their work at a Virginia Beach defense contractor. Today, Fathom follows a deeper path from source to sip, pairing premium, small-batch, single-origin coffee with nano-roasting, knowledge, innovation, and the conversations that build community around the brew. Local customers can return jars to the Fathom shop for credit.

• One coffee jar delivered each month
• Six consecutive monthly shipments
• Premium small-batch single-origin coffee
• Nano-roasted by the ocean