Spring Break breaks my heart.............because it has to come to a close. We'd packed and were ready to leave by 10 AM. Most of the packing was done before we'd fallen asleep, and we skipped the sunrise this morning, entirely. That must mean we were tired. Or resting. Or forgot that alarm clocks exist.
We drove out of the Outer Banks around 11 o'clock, stopped at the Weeping Radish Brewery on Rt 158 for a box of good beer to take home, lunch at Mel's Diner a few feet from the Radish, and then chose NOT to drive home the way the map told us to go.
Instead, we drove across northern North Carolina by way of Rt. 158, skipped the hideous traffic of Norfolk, Virginia and the frantic race past Williamsburg, and opted instead for the slow-go traffic of two lanes through small towns, snail-pace speed limits from 35 MPH to 55 MPH, traffic lights with ordinary people going ordinary places, doing ordinary things, in ordinary villages. In other words, it was ALL GOOD.
Several hours later, in cold rain, we arrived at I-95 North, crossed into Virginia, and decided to end the day in Petersburg, Virginia. We'd spent a day or two here two years ago, visiting Civil War landmarks. (My own great-grandfather marched through here with his Confederate comrades, we know.) Nice city. Huge history.
We are in a lovely newly-renovated Comfort Inn right off exit 45. Dinner was exactly what we wanted: greasy fried chicken at a fast-food chain. (Enough shrimp, already.)
It was hard to leave the ocean. Here's hoping for that lottery ticket....................
Friday, April 22, 2011
Thursday, April 21, 2011
Rainy Daze...........Day 7, Spring Break
You knew it was too good to be true: We'd dodged every possible "bullet" with the weather so far. Well, today we got rain. Not a tornado, mind you. Just rain, but it was a cold rain and the wind kept us from being on the beach.
We started out with a trip north to Oregon Inlet to our favorite breakfast restaurant, Sam 'n Omies, which has been there since 1937, and has catered to early-morning fishermen for years. We've been there once or twice each visit we've made to the OBX, and had to go out of tradition. We weren't disappointed: eggs, bacon, toast, coffee. (How could they go wrong, you say?) That's probably the key. They can't. Friendly service, clean atmosphere.
After that we did a bit of shopping. In truth, we had planned to drive to Manteo to visit our favorite privately-owned book store (Manteo Book Store), but we got hung up at our favorite souvenir shop, Souvenir City, and that took awhile. Once we came out of there the winds had started, the temperature was obviously going to be Ohio-ish, and we decided not to go to Manteo. Instead, we did some shopping in little stores in Kill Devils Hills and Nags Head, then retreated to our motel.
After finishing up my leftover shrimp from last night, we literally bundled up in jeans, sweatshirts, hats and blankets, and sat on the beach all by ourselves for awhile, with "beach books" in hand. A Bloody Mary accompanied this venture, and we fell asleep due to the heavy clothing and fresh air within a short time.
Afraid that we'd miss something, we decided to rally and go to Duck, which is in the northern part of the OBX. We've stayed there a couple of times, too, and always like a place called Scarborough Faire to do some tourist shopping.
Randy wanted to go to dinner, later, at Elizabeth's, a lovely upscale place run by Leonard Logan. We had a marvelous dinner there years ago which we fondly remember as being romantic and lush. Today we were there at about 2:00, and since dinner wasn't going to start being served until 6:00, we decided to forego that plan. (http://www.elizabethscafe.com/)
However, they did let us into their attached "gallery" where we could enjoy a glass of good wine while we talked with the artist-in-residence, one Brad Price, who also serves as the chef for Elizabeth's. Brad has done some lovely work, and one landscape of his was truly awesome. Brad is a self-proclaimed "self-taught" artist, who has found some good teachers along the way to help him find his artistic path. We bought a small print of his which portrays a fishing boat, done in bright colors.............you may see this one in our kitchen in a few weeks. (http://www.bradpriceart.com/) ( I cannot get his website up, but this is the one on his card. Keep trying.)
We finished up our Scarborough Faire shopping and drove on back to our motel. Along the way we went by "Sawyer" several times..........Sawyer is the old Nags Head house we rented back in 2002 when we spent a week there, introducing our children to each other, including Randy's mother and also his first grandchild, Abby. There's a little piece of my heart (Thanks, Janis) left behind there............we had a good time that summer.
We finally did eat dinner at The Jolly Roger, a small little place we'd been to years ago. The wait-staff dresses like pirates, and the ceiling is covered with Christmas balls in the room we chose to eat. (I know that I've mentioned those hanging globes in my other blog, as our back porch has the same decor, but I believe I gave credit to the wrong restaurant when I mentioned it.) Randy had a steak, and I had a flounder dish which left some taste bud still wanting, but the atmosphere was fun, the servers were helpful, and the colors of the ceiling were cheerful.
We are back in our motel, and now we have the heater on instead of the air conditioning. Our beach books are calling our names, and we still want to sit outside even though it's quite cold, because tomorrow we head back to Ohio...............where there is no ocean, hot OR cold...........so we'd better enjoy it while we can and take it in, no matter what the weather.
I told you I'd tell you about the Beach People today, but since they, apparently, are NOT from Ohio, they had better sense than to try to sit out there on that freezing cold beach today, and I have nearly forgotten all their foibles and eccentricities by now...........except for the lady with her entire back totally tattooed..........that image is imprinted in my memory, and I can tell you about that later. Today I was telling you about GOOD art. :)
It's been a relaxing day........................but the "sharks are swimming around my feet," as we head home in the morning.
We started out with a trip north to Oregon Inlet to our favorite breakfast restaurant, Sam 'n Omies, which has been there since 1937, and has catered to early-morning fishermen for years. We've been there once or twice each visit we've made to the OBX, and had to go out of tradition. We weren't disappointed: eggs, bacon, toast, coffee. (How could they go wrong, you say?) That's probably the key. They can't. Friendly service, clean atmosphere.
After that we did a bit of shopping. In truth, we had planned to drive to Manteo to visit our favorite privately-owned book store (Manteo Book Store), but we got hung up at our favorite souvenir shop, Souvenir City, and that took awhile. Once we came out of there the winds had started, the temperature was obviously going to be Ohio-ish, and we decided not to go to Manteo. Instead, we did some shopping in little stores in Kill Devils Hills and Nags Head, then retreated to our motel.
After finishing up my leftover shrimp from last night, we literally bundled up in jeans, sweatshirts, hats and blankets, and sat on the beach all by ourselves for awhile, with "beach books" in hand. A Bloody Mary accompanied this venture, and we fell asleep due to the heavy clothing and fresh air within a short time.
Afraid that we'd miss something, we decided to rally and go to Duck, which is in the northern part of the OBX. We've stayed there a couple of times, too, and always like a place called Scarborough Faire to do some tourist shopping.
Randy wanted to go to dinner, later, at Elizabeth's, a lovely upscale place run by Leonard Logan. We had a marvelous dinner there years ago which we fondly remember as being romantic and lush. Today we were there at about 2:00, and since dinner wasn't going to start being served until 6:00, we decided to forego that plan. (http://www.elizabethscafe.com/)
However, they did let us into their attached "gallery" where we could enjoy a glass of good wine while we talked with the artist-in-residence, one Brad Price, who also serves as the chef for Elizabeth's. Brad has done some lovely work, and one landscape of his was truly awesome. Brad is a self-proclaimed "self-taught" artist, who has found some good teachers along the way to help him find his artistic path. We bought a small print of his which portrays a fishing boat, done in bright colors.............you may see this one in our kitchen in a few weeks. (http://www.bradpriceart.com/) ( I cannot get his website up, but this is the one on his card. Keep trying.)
We finished up our Scarborough Faire shopping and drove on back to our motel. Along the way we went by "Sawyer" several times..........Sawyer is the old Nags Head house we rented back in 2002 when we spent a week there, introducing our children to each other, including Randy's mother and also his first grandchild, Abby. There's a little piece of my heart (Thanks, Janis) left behind there............we had a good time that summer.
We finally did eat dinner at The Jolly Roger, a small little place we'd been to years ago. The wait-staff dresses like pirates, and the ceiling is covered with Christmas balls in the room we chose to eat. (I know that I've mentioned those hanging globes in my other blog, as our back porch has the same decor, but I believe I gave credit to the wrong restaurant when I mentioned it.) Randy had a steak, and I had a flounder dish which left some taste bud still wanting, but the atmosphere was fun, the servers were helpful, and the colors of the ceiling were cheerful.
We are back in our motel, and now we have the heater on instead of the air conditioning. Our beach books are calling our names, and we still want to sit outside even though it's quite cold, because tomorrow we head back to Ohio...............where there is no ocean, hot OR cold...........so we'd better enjoy it while we can and take it in, no matter what the weather.
I told you I'd tell you about the Beach People today, but since they, apparently, are NOT from Ohio, they had better sense than to try to sit out there on that freezing cold beach today, and I have nearly forgotten all their foibles and eccentricities by now...........except for the lady with her entire back totally tattooed..........that image is imprinted in my memory, and I can tell you about that later. Today I was telling you about GOOD art. :)
It's been a relaxing day........................but the "sharks are swimming around my feet," as we head home in the morning.
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