Nags Head

Thursday

Nice  -well nice for a hotel breakfast – Ben said gravy and biscuits was very good.  I had egg, sausage and half a bagel.  Anything tastes pretty good looking out at the Atlantic Ocean!  

Atlantic Ocean at Nags Head South

One thing we were watching today is a guy driving a small bobcat with a front end loader on it – he is clearing the sand from the side parking lot right under our room.  After watching his process for about ½ hour it was amazing to see it was clear when we returned from our day trip – we were gone about 6 hours – he did it!

About 10 we headed north to Corolla to get a view of the 4^th lighthouse.  Mile after mile of beach houses in all descriptions, sizes and colors.  I still like the older ones with the weathered cedar shingles.  It seems many of the houses have repair vans of every type – laying carpet, painting, cleaning etc.  Got to get these rental units ready for the season!  The further north you go there are a few more lots without homes but not many.  This area is not preserved as national park and nature preserves so it is very built up.  Ben and I both remember when you could go as far north as Kitty Hawk and then the road stopped.  Now it is house after house  with every kind of service business the beach visitors might want interspersed among them. 

We did drive on 158 as far as Wright Brothers Memorial and stopped to get a passport stamp.  The visitor Center is under construction so they had a temporary site with little if any exhibits.  The rangers were doing talks but there was a large crowd so we did not join in the group. 

Wright Brothers Memorial

We continued north…

We got out at the park in Corolla to photograph the lighthouse. The wait to climb would have been at least an hour – looked like an entire bus load of young people in line to go up.  When you looked up there were people all the way around the top!  There is a very nice park with picnic grounds and walking trails between the sound and the ocean.  We drove over to see the Whalehead Club -  a restored 1922 home built as a hunting retreat. We but decided not to take the tour.  Jane had to get out to guide Ben under a tree – the Sprinter air conditioner missed by just an inch or two.    

Currituck Light House

Whalehead Club

Beautiful clear and sunny day for a drive with very moderate temperatures in the 75-85 range.  We drove back as far as Duck and stopped for lunch.  We chose Aqua on the sound side and had a great lunch.  Jane had fish tacos and Ben had Crab Dip.  Both were excellent and we left full but not over full which means we can enjoy dinner!

Fish Tacos

Crab Dip

We drove all the way back to Nags Head on the beach road expecting the traffic to be bad but it was not bad at all.  I can only imagine what summer would be live.  April and May and perhaps September would be the best months in my humble opinion. We are playing “hotel” this afternoon.  Jane watching the birds and people from the balcony and Ben taking a nap and checking his schedule for next week. 

Comfort Inn South Nags Head getting windows washed

We made the  snap decision to extend our trip by a day when Ben realized he did not have an inspection on Monday – so an extra day at the beach, stay a night with Jeff on Saturday and return to Kingsport on Sunday….sounds good to me.

We have two restaurants we want to try – two old ones and both with good ratings.  Tonight we chose Millers on the Waterfront.  Jane had a broiled shrimp, scallops, and small crab cake.  Sides were really good choices – broccoli salad and dill carrots.  Excellent all the way around.  Ben had Organ Inlet Tuna with potatoes and carrots…after he sent it back to be cooked a little more he loved it. 

Broiled Seafood - The Trawler

Tuna

Almost Sunset

  The view was very nice and if we had been about 30 minutes later it would have been a fantastic sunset.  Only problem was a table of about 12-15 people near us that were very loud.  Ben could not hear anything – well he could hear everything and nothing - sometimes his hearing aid makes matters worse!