Ze Outer Banks - Part 3

Lets see …. Where was I?

Oh yeah, we were headed south on the Outer Banks Islands on Saturday October the 7th.

I did not think of it until we were there driving down that long lonesome highway, this must be what the Florida Keys are like. You could see the Atlantic Ocean on the left and on the right was a huge sound. That section we went through a huge amount of acreage was a wildlife refuge place, wild flowers, sand dunes, and those long tall plants that keeps the sand pretty much from blowing all over the place. I don’t claim to be a biologist.

At one section we crossed over a two and half mile bridge…. Which was a little scary because it was getting dark by then which made the water pitch black.

Once over the long bridge we were on Hatteras Island. Anna called on the cell phone ahead to a Comfort Inn to try and get reservations. The manager or desk clerk told her the hot water tank wasn’t working and he didn’t know how to fix it but he would give us a fifteen dollar discount. We told him we would let him know.

We drove into the little community the Comfort Inn was in. There were a couple of other motels so we decided to take a chance on a independently owned motel. We picked “Lighthouse View” Motel. As we checked in I asked about computer availability and got a “no”. This was an old motel. Our unit had a back porch with chairs – which I thought was nice.

After we looked at the room we walked across the street to a restaurant that looked like a bum’s paradise restaurant – the kind you would think Jimmy Buffet would hang out at. We were magnetized by the sign that said “Live Music.”

There was a screened in deck and an inside. The waiter, a slim guy with blond hair met us and asked us did we want to sit on the deck or inside where the live music was. We said inside where the music was. He led us inside - which was very small. I doubt if they had over five small tables. The only available table was one with the singing entertainer on one end, and we could sit on the other side of the table. Sharing the table with a person singing? That didn’t look very comfortable. We changed our minds, we wanted outside.

Outside on the deck was nice, you could still hear the music but you didn’t have to interrupt him singing to pass you the salt and pepper or anything.

Anna ordered crab cakes, which she loves good crab cakes, but finding them just right has always been a challenge – not many places know how to make good crab cakes. But this one did. I ordered Mahi Mahi (?) which was also very good.

The only other occupied table four young men were sitting. They were neat and preppy. Our waiter, the blond guy, seemed very interested in their conversation. By what I overheard I gathered they were school teachers and came there that weekend to surf. The blond waiter was older than they were, but I could tell he was intimidated – yet he was a them-wannabe. He asked them questions about their hobby and he told them good places to go to surf or whatever they do.

Back at our table he briefly told us he lived there all his life and loved the living next to the sea life and all. He said his family settled there in the 1600s.

Wait! I don’t think the 1600s would be correct; maybe the early 1700s would fit better. But who am I to throw a wet blanket on him? Besides, he might know something I don’t…. and I certainly don’t want him throwing a wet blanket on me neither.

Off in the distance it was lightening. At times a bolt of lightening would go sideways – which I didn’t know lightening would do that, high up, go sideways, but it did. We asked the waiter about it and he said it was called something, which I didn’t retain.

I forgot to mention we noticed on the island that a lot of vehicles such as SUVs and pickup trucks had a contraption on the front bumper that carried their long fishing rods. Some, got creative and had flags, such as college flags, American flags, and yes, even the Confederate Stars and Cross flag flying on the end of their rods. This was a fishing community.

Back at the motel, sitting on the back porch, we overlooked a man working under a light at a high table. He was cleaning fish. Then, I noticed in the dark grass all around him were cats. We counted five or six. All but one were yellow and white… and the exception one was black and white. At times the guy would throw a fish head or a tail out on the yard and cats would run and grab at it.

From up someplace elevated we could see the rotating beacon of a lighthouse. It was the Cape Hatteras Light House. We decided to get into the car and follow the beacon. We turned down a lonely road and could hear the water pounding up against the ground someplace in the dark. We got to a big parking lot. It was very dark, we could see the light beacon high up in the air, which seemed by itself up there going around and around.
Being that nothing but darkness kept our visibility to a few feet remind us of the Blair Witch Project.

Then, for a spit second the sky lit up by a charge of lightening. The giant black and white spiral circled Lighthouse stood in front us like a giant. Scary!

We went back to our motel. By the time we got there, another man was cleaning fish for the cat audience.

More later.