OBX

Thanks to the road crew, we (meant both royally and colloquially) have a laptop - which means that the blog will be updated more than it would otherwise.

So, vacation...

Day 1: Atlantic City. It turns out that there are no restaurants outside of casinos here. So we gathered our courage and wandered into the Showboat casino. Boy, what an exciting place! People everywhere playing the slots. Such noise! Such light! The road crew lost about $2.50 before becoming bored and leaving.

We ate at Casa Di Napoli. We (royally) had the sea bass. It was not quite as good as at Romaine's, although it was more expensive. This sea bass was baked - which is probably not quite the best way to prepare it. Presentation upon something not referred to as moroccan couscous was very nice. The sangiovese was young, but still enjoyable. The road crew had some kind of ravioli, which we understand to have been more than adequate.

While you're in Atlantic City, be sure to take in the wind farm. Six or eight stately scissorhands grace Route 30 east into Atlantic City - it's worth seeing.



Day 2: The Cape May - Lewes Ferry and the final 6 hour drive to OBX. Turns out that the Ferry has two (2!) bars - and the aft bartender (Tom) is quite accommodating, if a bit hard of hearing. A Rum and Coke and a Jim Beam and Coke (without the coke), and we're on our way south. Gas is cheap in Delaware, at around $2.58/gallon. It rises further south. Cruising onto the outer banks around 7:30, we check into the hotel, and head back to one of the highlights of the last trip, the Outer Banks Brewing Station. This time, the Catfish Jambalaya was nice, but not inspired. Perhaps it's better with their beer. We'll have to check that out sometime soon.



Day 3: Cape Hatteras. A late start put us at breakfast at 12:30 at "Stack 'em high", a local tradition. Expect about $ 15.00 a person for breakfast - unless you're very careful. The blueberry pancakes were delectable, and the coffee respectable. The bacon was, well, it was bacon...

After a bit of souvenir shopping, we headed south to Cape Hatteras, where we arrived just a bit too late to climb the 198 feet up to the top of the tallest masonry lighthouse (in the US?). We like it in it's new position. It was moved back in 1999 nearly 3000 feet to its much more prestigious digs.

Dinner was at Owens' restaurant. As befits "the only restaurant on the Outer Banks still owned and operated by the founding family", the cuisine was unadventurous. We had the yellowfin, which was definitely serviceable, as was the almondine. The shaved ginger was a nice touch. We won't be going there again. Far too stuffy.