The North Wing now features a fitness center with cardiovascular and resistance weight machines. The latest multi-million dollar renovation, completed in the spring of 2013 by Northview Hotel Group, included two new pools, revitalized restaurants, refreshed guestrooms and the addition of eight new guestrooms to the South Wing, six of which open to the new adults-only Tranquility Pool. The Sanderling grew exponentially, with the addition of north and south wings, five vacation homes, another restaurant, a conference center and swimming and tennis facilities. The bar had been raised, setting in motion the course of finer development throughout the Outer Banks. There was nothing comparable on these islands. The style of the Inn complemented the neighboring Lifesaving Station, which he restored and transformed into a fine restaurant, resplendent with historic memorabilia throughout the building. The Sanderling Inn that Earl Slick opened in1985 is reminiscent of the famous hunting lodges enjoyed by wealthy gentlemen sportsmen. His respect and love of nature and history is evident throughout the concept, design and attitude of the buildings.

Next on his list was to build a world-class resort on the Outer Banks, and The Sanderling Inn, as it was originally named, was brought to life. In 1979, he donated the nearly 3,000 acres of Hunt Club land to the Audubon Society. Slick also bought the old Caffey’s Inlet Lifesaving Station, located just south of the Club, and in 1977 applied for its acceptance into the National Register of Historic Places. He bought land here, lots of it, including the private Pine Island Hunt Club, which became his Outer Banks residence. For sport, he was drawn to the Outer Banks for its fishing and hunting renown. Eventually, Slick settled (but didn’t slow down) with his family in Winston-Salem, North Carolina. Sanderling is the brainchild of Earl Slick, who was born into a family of oil wildcatters and whose wildly successful aviation cargo service was the first in history to deliver fresh market goods by air transport to Texas and beyond. Supremely positioned on a narrow, sandy stretch, no more than a tenth of a mile from ocean to sound, the Sanderling Resort lies at the northernmost end of the quaint but sophisticated Town of Duck and just south of the Pine Island Audubon Sanctuary. And, the Sanderling Resort has a front row seat. Mirrored upon the waters of the Currituck Sound, our sunsets provide a dramatic backdrop to the thousands of migrating swan, geese and duck making their annual pilgrimage south along the Atlantic Flyway. This place seems promising but needs to fix a few of the service issues to be more highly rated.Sunsets in winter bathe the sky with the most vivid colors of the year, courtesy of the cooler air. The pancakes and waffles were pretty standard, although the servers did not automatically bring out syrup for them (we had to ask a couple of times). The housemade granola was delicious and I got that with fruit and a bagel as a main and then ordered two eggs as a side. One thing I found quite odd about the breakfast menu was that most of the entrees did not come with fruit and it was not available as a separate side. For breakfast, the stand out item was the sausages- big and juicy (not the usual small ones). For supper, the fried chicken platter was quite tasty and very large (could easily be split between 2 people). The servers were inexperienced and seemed overwhelmed and so were quite slow (there needs to be more training and better communication between the kitchen and the front of the house). Overall, although the food is decent to good, iit is pricey for what you get and the service needs work. We were staying at the resort and so went here for dinner one night and breakfast three mornings.

The sanderling livestation restaurant