<p>Watch out for the UnderToad (the surf is very brisk and the currents strong on the Outer Banks), tip o the hat to the world according to Garp.
Hope you fall under the spell of a beach with real dunes down south–not quite Cape Henlopen, DE quality though lderochi.</p>
<p>Prepare for some wind, the Wright Bros weren’t there for nothin.</p>
<p>It is best not to speed.<br>
Anywhere.
I had to hire a lawyer once for a ticket near the NC VA line on Thanksgiving Eve. And twenty plus years earlier, we were pulled over near High Point when my father the type A fighter pilot was cruising along, and the cop had a newfangled radar. My father had just spent the year on the Dew Line watching Russians on Radar as an AF Officer and got out of the car and told the officer, “boy, I know more about radar than you could ever understand.”<br>
“Follow me to the courthouse, then sir, and tell the Judge.”</p>
<p>Just pulled in from 48 hours in Durham for a 250th Mozart Concert which was lovely. Hello to all NC parents!<br>
The Arts are very loved and supported in North Carolina, and although I will take your tobacco jab in fine humor The Dad. I am always impressed by the Triad’s support of the arts…classical music, visual arts, bluegrass and festivals and there is a literary festival coming to Duke/Chapel Hill that is fabulous this spring with a pantheon of the gods kind of list of guest speakers.<br>
It isn’t all about Basketball and BBQ, although generally, I would have to say in NC it is much more likely that the people you meet are Tarheels. Much more likely. </p>
<p>Where you are going is very very relaxing and unique. Enjoy</p>
<p>Faline, thanks for the word about the radar. I wonder…maybe I should leave my checkbook clearly visible…it’s still got a John Edwards sticker on it and if I don’t open my mouth maybe they’ll think I’m a local if I’m stopped. Have John Cougar playing in the CD, too; “Small Town” is on one my iTunes compilations, can get it with the push of a button.</p>
<p>I’ve driven I-95 north from Virginia to D.C. at night and have some experience with all the trucks. I’m not partial to it and will do my best to avoid doing so at night or when I’m tired. Once when both was more than enough.</p>
<p>I love BBQ so this will be a great time to sample new variants. </p>
<p>Cangel, I’m right pleased that y’all is having such a good time with this and I reckon it’ll be mighty helpful when I’m fixin’ to leave for this here trip. We gonna be stayin’ somewhere in the parts right near Kittyhawk itself. I figure I best get up early in the morning to get to the museum before it’s overrun. I reckon if asked about Dook vs. North Carolina I’ll take the safe way out and say “Yale.” If asked about ACC basketball I’ll say “Vandy”…whups, that’s the Ess-Eee-Cee, ain’t it?</p>
<p>As for NASCAR, that leaves me just scratchin’ my head. I know the races run counterclockwise and that’s about it. And, shucks, this number thing is kinda new, they don’t put numbers on ballet dancers, leastways 'round here they don’t. “42,” however, is the meaning of life.</p>
<p>===</p>
<p>Told TheMom about this thread and she said, “Where else can you get such good advice like this?” Except about the NASCAR numbers. She said, “Frightening.”</p>
<p>Too bad you drove through my state on 195 and got the view of what we call the slaburbs only. The trucks on 181 are just as bad but you might be astounded by the Shenandoah Mountains when they do turn blue each afternoon as you go up 81 towards PA and MD</p>
<p>I’m not so sure about the Edwards sticker being a plus in NC. Problem: Did you know he ran for VP on a ticket with some guy from the northeast? Do you have any old Jesse Helms for Senate items to hang from your rearview? Might help if the radar guy finds you.</p>
<p>Get off the highways and enjoy the backroads a bit.<br>
And if you get to where you want to hear some NC voices who have put their mark on American Lit, come to the NC Festival of the Book. <a href=“http://www.ncbook.org/participants.html[/url]”>http://www.ncbook.org/participants.html</a>
Its Free. Reynolds Price is fixin to talk about cooking and Pat Conroy is speaking on why he calls his best friend up every day and what they talk about. Kaye Gibbons is planning on chatting with Mary Chapin Carpenter. Tom Wolfe is daring to return and hurry because JJ will graduate this year.</p>
<p>Faline, you don’t understand…I’ve got the other guy’s bumper sticker still on my own car. In NC I’ll have a rental. The Edwards sticker is making a slight concession to local sensibilities.</p>
<p>I’d be interested in the Festival of Books. There’s a huge one every year at UCLA and I’d be interested in seeing how the concept plays elsewhere.</p>
<p>The Dad - ahem, aahhh, it is pronounced Yay-uhl - at least 2 syllables.
I visited Kittyhawk as a kid and all I remember about it was the height of the dunes, and thinking how did they stop the wind-blown sand from tearing up the plane? Enjoy.</p>
<p>We’ve been going to the Outer Banks for well over 25 years, so we’ve seen it change A LOT. While you are there just try to picture it undeveloped. It was amazing.</p>
<p>Anyway, if you’re into nature, bring a pair of binoculars. The birds are great. Bring a bird book too. South of Oregon Inlet, is a Federal Wildlife area called Pea Island. Amazing birding (check yourself for tics afterwards - but really, go!). There also is a neat refuge to hike in Nagshead called Nagshead Woods. It is owned by The Nature Conservancy, so go to their web site for directions. It is a rare maritime forest (well, really rare now on the Outer Banks! They cut them all down for Wal-Marts etc.).</p>
<p>At Oregon Inlet are many charter fishing services (and pelagic bird trips) that go out to the gulf stream. The fishing is great – but be warned, they will not go back if (more like “when”) you are sea sick.</p>
<p>We typically rent a house in Duck (we prefer the Sanderling subdivision). Some of the subdivisions down there look really stripped to me - Sanderling is nicely vegetated. I personally do not like the north end at all. (Looks like Miami to me – maybe I just can’t get past what it used to look like. )</p>
<p>As for ocean view, I don’t know what we have. Our generation has rooms at a designated hotel. The next generation and their children will be bunking at the vacation house that my brother- and sister in-law rent out whent they’re not using it. </p>
<p>There’s at least one night when all of Generation II will be going out together, leaving the kids, if any, with Generation I to babysit. I was startled when I realized that D would be going off to carouse with Generation II, of which she’s the youngest. (TheMom and I married late compared to everyone else.) I’m trying to think if there will be any other singles of Generation II there.</p>
<p>Cangel: Yay-uhl…at least two syllables. Puts me in mind of Dorothy Parker, who said her mother in-law prounounced “egg” with all four syllables. I confess that I went to kindergarten and first grade in New Orleans and as a result, if I’m around broad vowels, my start to broaden out too. A year in D.C. and I came back to SoCal with a definite Northern Virginia tinge to my speech. Now TheMom’s family is from Missouri and they do things that are a mite peculiar to my ear, like “40” is pronounced “farty” and the animal at the racetrack is a “harse” and the guy between second base and third base is a “shartstop.” Plus they deliver themselves in the most astounding of anachronisms.</p>
<p>Btw, thanks for the restaurant suggestions. Bubbas and Blue Point Grille already noted. </p>
<p>As you can see, we’re not even going for five months and I’m in information acquisition mode. It’s kinda like college applications but completely different.</p>
<p>“It’s kinda like college applications but completely different.”</p>
<p>And a lot more fun I think. I love travel planning.</p>
<p>That reminds me of when (ages ago) I used to work in a store and customers would do dumb stuff like point to (for instance) a blue silk shirt and say, Do you have this shirt only in red and corduroy?</p>
<p>Be sure to go to Jockey’s Ridge State Park (free admittance) and climb the highest sand dune on the east coast. Go in the evening when the sand is cool to the toes and watch the sun set over the sound. The view from the top is great. Caution: It’s a pretty rigorous climb and not for the faint of heart or out of shape!</p>
<p>THEDAD - OOOOOO soooo jealous - but may get there this spring myself.</p>
<p>(South of the Border is on the NC/SC line - not the NC/VA line)</p>
<p>Don’t speed - they are nasty in NC !!!</p>
<p>Definitely go FLYYYYYYY with the hang gliders - unbelievable - or at the very least go fly a kite with them - around mile marker 12-13 or so - Jocky Ridge State Park is there also.</p>
<p>Catch “The Lost Colony” play on Manteo - wonderful production - take the bug spray tho</p>
<p>Like fishing?? - Oregon Inlet for sure.</p>
<p>Cruise down to Hattarus - take the free ferry to Okrakoke - neat place</p>
<p>Coralla - if you have 4WD - take a cruise up the beach - see the wild horses. Actually there are many places to drive on the beach there.</p>
<p>Duck - nice shopping also lol</p>
<p>Stay off I95 - if coming from DC - take the scenic route - out Rt 50 to Rt 13 - thru the bridge/tunnel - follow the signs to the OBX - much nicer</p>
<p>Buy stock in sun screen and hats</p>
<p>Beware of thunder storms in the OBX - amazing!!! but… crazy too</p>
<p>Thru Kill Devil Hills, Kitty Hawk and Nags Head - use the road closest to the ocean - Beach Rd - nicer than Rt 12</p>
<p>Yup - try Dirty Dicks - kewl place</p>
<p>Remember address thru there are by mile markers </p>
<p>Have an awesome time and enjoy the beauty and peace of the area.</p>
<p>Hat. Thank you for reminding me. I must take my Tilly hat.</p>
<p>We won’t have 4WD. I’ll get the AAA maps and look at the routing suggestions…it may be a matter of how much time we have. As we’re spending the night before in the D.C. area, it may be easier to be leisurely if we get on the road at a decent time in the morning.</p>
<p>Duck sounds like a must visit; funny, normally I just eat it, French or Thai style.</p>
<p>Hmmm. The “Lost Colony” fits in with my historical interests.</p>
)</p>