Gazing out at the tranquil waters of the sound, your vehicle bumps gently along the Virginia Dare Bridge as you return from the Triangle, or the Wright Memorial Bridge on your way back from Virginia, and the same powerful feeling washes over you once again:

“We LIVE here now.”

Once upon a time, those bridge crossings filled many of us with anticipation and dread. We were the tourists thrilled at the (painfully slow) approach and all the fun that beckoned in the week ahead. Then before we knew it, we piled back into our vehicles, loaded down with OBX Lifeguard hoodies from Wings, empty coolers, sand, and shells everywhere. We sat gingerly on our seats because of the sunburn that hadn’t faded yet, agonizing as our week on the Outer Banks disappeared into the rearview mirror, and our everyday lives beckoned.

Now seemingly more than ever, though, folks are upgrading their Outer Banks experience from vacation weeks to full-time residential gigs. But whether they’ve pulled up anchor for new jobs or simply taken advantage of remote working to settle at the beach, some adjustments await many newcomers.

And, of course, you get your new OBX license plate in Manteo at the pharmacy. That’s one quirk that always catches newcomers by surprise.

“Island Pharmacy – went back to the corner,” Ray Schwartz says with a laugh. “It was so old-school. It made you feel like you were in a very small town. It was fun getting the OBX license plate: ‘If I’m doing this, I’m doing it right.’ ”

Schwartz’s story mirrors that of many others. He visited for the first time in 1994 and eventually spent about four weeks a year here on vacation. Then, working for a pharmaceutical company in another tourist haven – the Camelback Resort area in Pennsylvania’s Pocono Mountains – Schwartz got fed up with high taxes and vented to his boss one day:

“What if I just moved to the Outer Banks?”

Schwartz said it jokingly, but his boss’ reply was serious: “I’m in Normandy, France. I don’t care where you are as long as you can get to where I need you to be in 48 hours.”

Cold, gray, windy winters?

“The weather’s great,” he says. “Coming from the Poconos where we had minus-4 degree temperatures and minus-25 wind chills, 30-40 degrees isn’t so bad.”

Too many stores and restaurants closed for the season?

“I’d been down in winters before, and it used to be kind of depressing,” Schwartz recalls. “I anticipated a pretty boring winter, but it seems like more businesses are open, a totally different scenario.”

All those people and all that crazy traffic all summer? That’s annoying, sure – unless you’re used to being surrounded by vacationers from New York all the time.

“The Poconos are much worse, believe me!” he says.

Stacey Sulewski also knows a thing or two about traffic in the Northeast, so she also has to laugh about some of the things she hears locals talking about when it comes to driving habits. Like how they couldn’t possibly consider a job in Manteo … because they live in Kitty Hawk. Or that they’re “going out of town for the weekend … to Duck.”

“It would be nothing to hop in a car for almost an hour,” she says of her time in New York. “And around here, people don’t want to do that.”

Sulewski is another example of the kinds of folks becoming permanent residents. Like Schwartz, she had vacationed on the OBX. But instead of moving here for remote work, Sulewski has gotten a fresh start as a physical education teacher at First Flight High School.

After growing up in a military family and then spending 24 years married to a soldier, Sulewski didn’t have any real roots anywhere following a divorce. So she asked her adult children about the happy places they remembered from their childhood.

“When we lived in Virginia, they both had friends that had beach houses down here, and then we did two family trips,” Sulewski says. “Those were happy memories, so I was like, ‘Let me live there.’ ”

One of the biggest surprises Sulewski encountered amid her move? Southern hospitality.

So. Much. Southern Hospitality.

It started with a realtor who worked tirelessly (and didn’t charge a commission) to help Sulewski find a great place just before the market exploded. It continued with neighbors who would take turns mowing her yard and helped her find a veterinarian and checked on her when she had to make trips back to New York. Finally, the new coworkers at school embraced her immediately.

“That really hit me: That Southern hospitality is legit!” Sulewski said. “There was no separatism whatsoever. I felt very included.”

Transitioning from visitor to homeowner did come with a few surprises, of course.

“As a tourist, it was like, ‘Wow, where do we eat? There’s so many places!’ Now being here for five months, I tend to only eat in my bubble because I can walk or ride my bike,” Sulewski says.

She lived here two months without her car, dodging rainstorms (and crazy drivers, but more on them later) to get groceries, visit restaurants and explore the area. She hopes to spend more time on her bike in the coming months.

As for the summer traffic, Sulewski found it harrowing. However, she also teaches driver’s education classes. So she knows those won’t be happening on summer weekends with her in the car.

“Summer traffic sucks,” she says succinctly. “Awful, just awful.”

Sulewski is, however, proud of her new OBX license plate like so many others. But, unfortunately, it took months to get. First, she had to get her new North Carolina driver’s license but couldn’t schedule an appointment forever.

However, one of those helpful neighbors told her to sit outside the front door and wait. Sure enough, Sulewski got in … and then was told to take her registration to Island Pharmacy.

brought you back a rock’ because she collects rocks from other states, and that just struck me. I was like, ‘That’s so cool. The next time I go see my sister in Alaska, I’m gonna bring this woman a rock,’ you know?”

It seems as though the Southern hospitality is rubbing off on Sulewski already.

She’s been surprised in this first year that a fair number of restaurants do close for parts of the winter or at least alter their hours. So her first day at First Flight High School elicited a laugh as she met her new students: “All these cute little boys with their surfer dude hair,” she says with a smile. “It is so unique. It’s not like that other places.”

Sulewski also enjoys seeing all the “regulars” at the beach. She goes to look at the ocean every morning – it used to be every sunrise, but that thrill soon gave way to later alarms – and greets the same group coming in and out of the parking lot at the same time.

Getting to know the regulars has been something Schwartz has enjoyed since his move. While his job takes him around the world for business, one of the biggest surprises he’s discovered since settling in Nags Head is how many more locals he’s been able to get to know.

The social aspect of life at the beach has been mostly positive. However, Schwartz admits that he does miss a good sports bar, from a long-closed legend like Slammin’ Sammy’s to a chain like Buffalo Wild Wings that buzzes with excitement on game days. And he misses being close to pro sports teams, with the Nationals and Braves being in the “closest but not terribly close” category for Outer Banks baseball fans.

On the other hand, the Outer Banks arts scene has been a pleasant surprise, from the variety of local artisans at countless shops and galleries to the endless array of live music offered at so many fun spots.

Nearly a year into his new adventure, the pleasant surprises have outweighed any of the negatives Schwartz has faced.

“It was probably about 60 percent as cool as I thought it would be,” he offers. “The other 40, a good portion of that turned out to be really awesome, so I can’t complain.”

Neither can Sulewski as she turns the page on her new chapter.

Sulewski’s realtor gave her a gift basket at closing that included a famous sign that reads, “You never know how many friends you have until you own a beach house.” That adage has proven true with the flood of visitors who came to see Sulewski last year.

Now they’re the ones treating Sulewski like the local, asking her about favorite restaurants and places to visit and all the cool quirks about living on the Outer Banks. And before long, those visitors are hitting the road, crossing the bridge, and watching the Outer Banks fade into the distance. So long, tourists.

“Being a homeowner, it’s just nice not to have to leave,” Schwartz says with a chuckle. “That’s the biggest thing.”