Happy New Year!

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December 29, 2010

There are lots of reasons to ring in the New Year on the Outer Banks, and at the heart of it  is the weather!

 Friday Night:  Partly cloudy. Not as cool with lows in the lower 50s.

 New Years Day:  Partly sunny. Highs in the upper 50s – 60s

 Saturday Night:  Mostly cloudy. Lows in the lower 50s

Sunday:  Mostly cloudy with a 40 percent chance of showers. Highs in the upper 50s.

 Live entertainment and music from Duck to Manteo:

  • Aqua S Restaurant & Spa, Duck: Buster Curtis. (252) 256-7654
  • Sunset Grille, Duck:  9:58 Band.  (252) 261-3901 
  • Longboards Island Grill, ByPass in Kitty Hawk: – Gangsters of Love. (252) 261-7377
  • Outer Banks Music Showcase, Kitty Hawk: Tribute to Elvis Show. (252) 261-7505
  • Awful Arthur’s Oyster Bar, Kill Devil Hills: Matt Hoggard. (252) 441-5955
  • Outer Banks Brewing Station, Kill Devil Hills: TR3 with Tim Reynolds. (252) 449-BREW
  • Port O’ Call, Beach Road, Kill Devil Hills: ASG with Four in the Floor. (252) 441-7484
  • Peppercorns at the Ramada Inn, Beach Road, Kill Devil Hills: The Wilder Brothers. 252-441-2151
  • Beach Road Grill, Nags Head: The MoRons. (252) 480-2228
  • Kelly’s, Nags Head, Rocking New Year’s Eve Party with Dueling DJs Party. (252) 441-4116
  • Lone Cedar Café on the Causeway, Nags Head:  Old Enough to Know Better. (252)  441-5405
  • Poor Richard’s Sandwich Shop, downtown Manteo: The Walker Brothers. (252) 473-3333
  • Sea Level at Pirate’s Cove, at the foot of the Washington Baum Bridge, Manteo
  • Striper’s Bar and Grille, Shallowbag Bay, Manteo: Jeremy Russell and Force of Habit. (252) 473-3222.

Or, for a healthy alternative: Tortugas’ Lie Annual Blue Moon 5K Run. It starts at 11 p.m. There’s no registration and it’s free. Just show up and run three miles in the cold and dark. Everyone is finished in time to toast 2011 —

Happy New Year Y’all!

Categories: Dining, Holiday Happenings, outer banks, Things to do, travel, Uncategorized.

The Blue Moon Beach Grill Reviewed

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December 22, 2010

I have heard many great things about the Blue Moon Beach Grill. Located at Surfside Plaza in Nags Head, the BMBG is located in a strip mall that lays between the Beach Road and the Bypass at about the 13 Milepost. It’s small which in my experience usually equates with excellence. (http://http://www.bluemoonbeachgrill.com/.)

I met several friends for lunch recently. We were seated at a table right away. The last time I attempted lunch at the BMBG was in early summer and we were turned away as there was a 30 minute wait. My anticipation was palatable. The thing about strip malls, though, is the front door. You enter right off the sidewalk/parking lot. In this case the front door also opened from the north and the north wind. None of us could take our coats off, and you got a blast of arctic air every time the door opened. Which happened a lot.

After examining the menu, I decided on a Caesar salad with fried oysters. A sign on the wall proclaims Outer Banks Catch, a local nonprofit program that promotes and encourages support and consumption of local seafood. (http://http://www.outerbankscatch.com/.)  And our local oysters have been superb this season and these were no exception. These were perfectly fried, delicately salty and crunchy.  

In the 1930s, Caesar Salad was voted by the master chefs of the International Society of Epicures in Paris as the “greatest recipe to originate from the Americas in fifty years.” (http://whatscookingamerica.net/History/SaladHistory.htm.) The formula for a perfect Caesar is pretty much the same and makes it a great winter salad: fresh romaine lettuce and croutons dressed with parmesan cheese, lemon juice, olive oil with garlic and anchovies. The version I had at the Blue Moon included grape tomatoes, sautéed onions and diced bacon. I like the inner crisp leaves of the romaine, the fresher the better. My salad consisted of the outer end leaves that tend to wilt in a dressing. The onions added an interesting visual dimension, but ultimately overpowered the salad. There were no croutons – possibly due to the fried oysters. I was disappointed in the salad, but the good news is that there were maybe six or seven of those delectable fried oysters served on top of the salad and that was just right.

Categories: Dining, outer banks, Recipes, Things to do, Uncategorized.

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Outer Banks Photos of the Season

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December 20, 2010

Xmas Decor Manteo
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Cactus Christmas Tree
Cactus Christmas Tree

Christmas bouys on fence
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Categories: Holiday Happenings, Home & Garden, Roanoke Island, Uncategorized.

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The Other Manteo

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December 17, 2010

I use a couple of search engines and apps to find information to share with you in this blog including WhosTalking.com and several Google alerts (Outer_Banks, Roanoke_Island, Manteo) that send posts with those names mentioned to my In Box.

Which led me to an article in BClocalnews.com. Written by Jennifer Schell for the Kelowna Capital News, the article lists her “Favourite Things to Share this Holiday Season,” and in which I discovered the other Manteo, a resort in Canada. Kelowna is located in the middle of British Columbia’s Okanagan Valley and lays approximately midway between Vancouver and Calgary. Pretty far from Outer Bank’s Manteo.

Let’s see what Kelownan’s want under their Christmas tree:

  • Homemade crackers at Discover Wines or Okanagan Grocery
  • A gift certificate to Wine Plus+ Wine School
  • A Thermomix. Just rated the No. 1 foodie gift on the Food Network
  • Sea to Sky Seasoning, mini flavoured salts, tins of luscious Fanny Bay Smoked Oysters, smoked salmon, Maldon Sea Salt from Codfather’s Seafood Market
  • Monika’s coveted Christmas cookie boxes at Okanagan Grocery
  • Moni’s Nuttier Than A Fruitcakes
  • Wine
  • Cheese, Carmelis Goat Cheese and Gort’s Gouda
  • Jars of grilled artichokes, olives and other Italian delights.
  • Simply the freshest, best olive oil (and red wine vinegar) from the Olive Oil Merchant—online store offers fast, free delivery in Kelowna (free delivery for olive oil? Wow!)
  • Beautiful chocolates and chocolate bars from Sandrine Pastry & Chocolate and great Christmas breakfast Ideas and quiche
  • Chef Rod Butters of Raudz Regional Table now has his personal line of preserves for sale. Drunken Cherries, homemade pickles and more
  • Chef Bernard’s, Wild Apple Restaurant at Manteo, Blackberry Basil Jam or Star Anise Marinade for your gift basket
  • Summerhill has the perfect bubbles (including the Cipes Gabriel that won Best International Sparkling wine recently) and decadent Icewine chocolates
  • Broken Barrel Furniture Company has beautiful wine racks or cheese boards (a place to store all that wine)
  • BBQ master, chef Martin Laprise’s line of sauces and rubs, including Taboo BBQ with cute, saucy labels
  • Wrap your wine gifts this Christmas in one of these gorgeous, cozy wine bags made from recycled wool
  • Gift Certificates to The Rotten Grape for your wine loving pals.

It’s all about food and wine! Here’s a link to the full article: http://www.bclocalnews.com/lifestyles/112039504.html.

Categories: Arts, Holiday Happenings, outer banks, Things to do, travel, Uncategorized.

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Interesting News from Around the Web

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December 10, 2010

Kitty Hawk Walmart is Aming for a Spring Expansion
http://outerbanksvoice.com/2010/12/09/walmart-is-now-aiming-for-spring-expansion.

In mortgage news, here’s an article from Big Builder online:

NEW YORK – Homeowners who delayed locking in super-low mortgage rates – think close to 4 percent for a 30-year fixed – may have waited too long. Rates are creeping back up, in part because of the tax-cut deal in Washington. http://bigbuilderonline.com//industry-news.asp?sectionID=363&articleID=1462871.

N.C. Bank Leader Faces Senators

WASHINGTON — N.C. Commissioner of Banks Joseph A. Smith Jr. pledged to Congress on Thursday to offer not just management, but leadership, if he becomes the chief of troubled housing agencies Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. http://www.newsobserver.com/2010/12/10/854084/smith-vows-to-lead-in-dc.html

And finally, big news on Hatteras Island: Voters in the southern towns of Buxton, Frisco and Hatteras pass liquor by the drink.

Categories: Uncategorized.

A case of mistaken identity

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December 8, 2010

We were walking Buster one fall day a few years ago, around the corner to the end of the cul-de-sac and back. 

As she was want to do in her younger days, Pepper, our cat, popped out of the bushes.

What are you doing? You never walk with us anymore.

(I’m not in the mood to walk now, just making sure you acknowledge my presence.)

Buster stops sniffing the ground and looks at me quizzically when he sees me talking to the cat. He begins to bark. WOOF! Wayne is pulling on his leash, but Buster is holding his ground. He is now facing back at me and the cat. Every pull of the leash, he moves a little bit backwards. WOOF!

Will you shut up? You’re scaring the living daylights out of the cat.

(What a blockhead, he sure is loud)

I picked up the cat and told Wayne to go on ahead, that I would bring Pepper home.

WOOF! WOOF! WOOF!

(And obnoxious.)

Wayne finally gets Buster about 30 feet in front of us and was soon within sight of our front porch.

Hey Lee? 

That’s

Not

Our

Cat.

Pepper’s on the front porch.

I dropped the cat (thank you very much). And sheepishly went home.

Buster was sitting on the front porch wagging his tail and looking at Pepper.

(I see you’ve met the neighbor’s cat;  why did you think Blockhead was barking? Even he knew it wasn’t me!)

Categories: Fall Weather, outer banks, Pets, Things to do, Uncategorized.

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