Our Recent Trip to the Outer Banks of NC

[mrdutton]

While we all breathlessly await CCK's description of her trip to Germany, I thought this might keep someone entertained. It sure had me going for a while!!

My wife and I recently traveled to Nags Head, North Carolina (The Outer Banks of North Carolina) for a long weekend to celebrate both Valentine's Day and my 52nd Birthday.

This is an area I know and love. I've been going to Kitty Hawk, Nags Head, Southern Shores and Duck for summer vacations and weekend visits over the past 42 years.

What used to be a pristine wonder of nature with a few spots occupied by the intrusion of man has become an over-populated, over commercialized, over developed prime vacation spot.

I can remember days in the summer when I'd walk out onto the beach in July or August at high noon and find nothing but surf, sand, sanderlings and seaweed. No people nearby and hardly any apparent when the beach was scanned from one end to the other!

Can't do that these days. A visit to the beach must be pre-planned. Space is limited. One must arise early; walk down to the beach to set-up camp before anyone else does. Otherwise there wouldn't be any space left after everyone else arises and makes their daily trek to the sand and surf and tripping over the human mass with hardly a sanderling in sight.

So many folk vacation there now that one can hardly move over the limited highway space on Saturday and Sunday. This is when the masses arrive for their week or month stay and the other masses leave after having spent their welcome and their dollars.

Back when the area was a thing of beauty there were, however, few creature comforts for the visitor. Only one small market, one small post office, one gas station and the grill at the fishing pier for breakfast, lunch or dinner could be found and they were all miles apart. There were very few amenities. The visitor had to travel about 50 miles to Elizabeth City to find "the finer things".

There were only a few, sparsely appointed motels and a couple of "fine" hotels. The Carolinian and the First Colony Inn were the fine places. The Carolinian is being torn down to make room for horribly huge summer homes. Fortunately the First Colony Inn has been preserved, is on the National Historic Place Register and is smartly run now as a B&B. This is where we stayed for our long weekend. The land here is only 1/2 mile wide, so we had an ocean view and a sound view from our windows. This place is so nice that my wife proclaimed the place to be the best place at which we've ever stayed. (The web site is www.firstcolonyinn.com if anyone is interested in a virtual visit.)

The First Colony Inn provided me with some of the nostalgia I was seeking. All of the Burger Kings, McDonalds, Kentucky Fried, Brew-Thru and other chain establishments crowding the highway did nothing for my sense of nostalgia. My wife does not share this nostalgia with me, since she has only visited the area with me during recent trips. She has never seen the area the way it used to be.

However, all this growth has brought some shining lights along with all the commercialized gloom.

Witness the place across the highway from The First Colony Inn. It is where we dined on Friday night immediately after our arrival. We were seated at a table for two by the large plate glass windows overlooking the Currituck Sound and Roanoke Island. It was a very nice view broken only by the shimmering of the lights from the over-developed shoreline on the island. The menu offered some very interesting fare but we opted for the evening's special. We were presented with a large platter which held a 22 ounce Porterhouse cooked to pink centered perfection (I like medium rare, but my wife likes medium so I deferred to her since this was a shared platter), a large, grilled, warm water lobster tail, split so we each got a half, garlic mashers, a medley of winter vegetables and grilled asparagus.

The wine list was impressive. It was broken down by whites, reds and sparkling/Champagne with the wines by the glass listed first. It was further broken down by major regions - California, Australia/New Zealand, Germany, France and Italy. Chardonnay, Merlot and Cabernet Sauvignon, of course, but also Pinot Noir, Cab Franc, Gewurz, Riesling and so on were well represented. The wine list was about 15 pages long!

Since my wife did not want to share a bottle, I ordered the house Pinot Noir that was quite good. The place is known as Penguin Isle (mile marker 16 on US 158). They have received honorable mention from Wine Spectator for their wine list along with words of praise from such as Conde Nast, Food and Wine, and Southern Living. Very good food, very good service, a tremendous wine list, for what more could one ask? Our bill including tip was $68.00.

We went back to our beautiful suite of rooms at the First Colony Inn and celebrated the evening and the beginning of a great weekend with a bottle of 1993 Schramsberg Champagne.

The next night we had round trip limo service (something that could not have happened years ago when life on the Outer Banks was simpler) to an eclectic place in Duck, North Carolina. A diner with atmosphere and attitude is how I would describe the Blue Point Bar and Grill. We sat at a 50's retro table with the linoleum like top with the chrome metal band around the outer edge; our posteriors on chairs that matched the table with their chrome tubing construction and red, plastic seat covers.

The menu was pure gourmet, which contrasted sharply with the diner-like, casual atmosphere. The wine list here was also impressive. Although no where near as lengthy as Penguin Isle, there was plenty of variety between New World and Old World wines. My wife and our female guest chose Seared Tenderloins of Beef served with garlic mashers and in-season vegetables. I chose Rockfish (striped bass) served also with garlic mashers and seasonal veggies. Although it was not advertised as being "stuffed", there were sizeable pieces of lobster meat on top of the fish and scattered about the plate. My male guest ordered deep fried catfish, garlic mashers and collard greens.

The wine we chose was a 1995 Clare Valley Presidents Selection, Old Vine Grenache, Bilyara Cellars, Wolf Blass Wines. Maybe not the best choice for my rockfish but it went very nicely with the Steaks and the deep fried catfish with the collards, which were smothered in pork fat! (As a matter of fact, the greens were so good we asked for two additional sides, one for me and one for our friend.) Sorry, no detailed tasting notes, just hints of darn good wine with fruit and tannins - our alcohol consumption this evening was on the more than moderate side (that's what the limo was for, eh!). Our bill was $220.00 including tip and tax. Considering the quality of the meal, I thought it was reasonable.

So my dismay over the commercialization and development of a once pristine area has, thus far, been tempered by two very fine dining experiences. After we returned to the First Colony Inn we celebrated with a bottle of 1989 Krug. Again, no detailed tasting notes, but that was one of the best bottles of Champagne I've ever had!

Sunday was a sleep-in day but we all awoke refreshed rather than groggy and hung-over. Well, most of us did. My friend was a bit queasy. He made me promise that I would never again force him to drink beer all day, wine and Champagne all night. (Quite frankly, I think the beer was the problem! And, trust me, no one forced him to do anything!)

Our friends left and my wife and I watched the Daytona 500 which ended on a very sad note, indeed.

Sunday evening we drove up to the Sanderling Inn, which is north of Duck, and south of Corolla, North Carolina. The Sanderling Inn is a large; year round resort hotel that is quite nice. It also commands a quite nice price for services rendered. It is advertised as being "The Historic Sanderling Inn", which amazes me. There is nothing historic about it. It is relatively new and has only been in existence for about 15 years or so.

However, the dining room is located in a restored US Rescue Service Station, which is located on the Inn's property. I guess that is what makes it historic!?! Not sure why they named it Sanderling either, because most of the Sanderlings that used to frequent the ocean front have moved on to places unknown - too many people on the beaches now. I hear the bird is headed toward extinction, except for the large brass rendition of a small flock of birds that is a wall hanging in the main lobby of the Inn.

All that not withstanding, the dining room was cozy, nicely decorated and very interesting as it was located in the boat house portion of the old rescue station. A nautical decor, of course. Service was good, the menu was great and the wine list was not as good as the other two places, but it had a fair variety of wines. We started our meal by sharing a plate of smoked Gouda, Brie, Cheddar, various fruits and some greens with a very nice balsamic dressing. My wife had center cut pork chops, braised apples and southern-style greens. I had a medallion of venison tenderloin, potatoes au gratin and wilted greens with bits of smoked bacon. My wife did not want wine, so I had wine by the glass - a 1998 Rancho Zabaco Zinfandel. We ended the meal by sharing a Chocolate mousse cheesecake that was drenched with chocolate grenache and served with some raspberry couli. I had a glass of Whiskers Blake Port to go with the chocolate. Our bill was $98.00 including tip and tax. Not bad, but I liked the Blue Point Bar and Grill more than this place.

(Our waiter had no clue that Ranch Zabaco was a Gallo product. Nor did he have an understanding for the true pronouncement of gouda - houda. However, we forgave him his errors and tipped him smartly.)

We left Monday mid-day after having a very nice breakfast served in our room. We were glad we had made this trip to the Outer Banks and part of what made our visit so successful was due to the development and commercialization of the place that I've loved so much for so many years. I still find it hard to picture the current state of the Outer Banks and when I think about the area, I think of it, as I knew it years ago. I guess the overlay that I develop in my mind's eye is what allows me to still travel down there and enjoy the place.

In so many ways it has been ruined. Where there was nothing but sand dunes, sea oats and ocean there is now nothing but Burger Kings, cottages, motels, condos, hotels and more people, congestion and traffic than I thought I could ever imagine. But when in my room at the historic (it really is!) First Colony Inn, I could forget all that. Having some fine dining establishments also helped dull my sense of loss of "what it used to be like".

If you've been there before then you'll know what I'm talking about. If you have never been there, then pay the place a visit. Don't go there in the summer, though, too crowded. Visit in the spring or the fall. Don't come in the winter, too cold. Besides, that is when I like to visit the place and I don't want to advocate a larger winter population.

[This message has been edited by mrdutton (edited 02-23-2001).]