Issue 1.3
pier (pîr) n.
1. A structure for fishing or social activities.
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peer (pîr) v.
1. To look at intently.
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What’s on roadmap your cash gokite register?
Post-It logic. Photo: LWW
Not inside — but on the keyboard. My favorite example lives in a local craft shop and is decorated with personalized messages. Bottle caps and Chinese fortunes. The most telling is a hand-written note tagged to the front. It reads, “Smile like it’s May.”
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I’d argue you could sum up the Outer Banks’ whole tempestuous love affair with tourism in that four-word phrase. Short, semi-punchy and highly seasonal. Every April, we can’t wait for folks to flood in. Come September — or, as this silent missive suggests, quite possibly June — we’re just as happy to see them evaporate. But what transpires in those tweener months that makes such normally friendly natives feel so suddenly hostile?
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Maybe it’s the weather. Spiking temps are scientifically proven to heighten irrational behavior. All that extra humidity and hot pavement. Hours baking beneath the sun or huddling behind artificial AC — not to mention the smoky days left by the latest uncontrolled burn. It might be the traffic. Few places go from green lights to gridlock with such severity. One minute you’re blazing the whole bypass in barely 10 minutes. The next, you’re creeping the beach road with some leadfoot’s hood ornament stuffed up your tailpipe. Dodging wrecks, pedestrians and the occasional obscene gesture.
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Tourists are The alarm clock to our offseason nap. The suit-and-tie to our sarong and sandals.
Perhaps it’s just the mad influx of bodies themselves. In a community where making lifetime friends takes just one winter, facing an endless barrage of strange humans can be taxing. Not just humans, but de facto bosses. Another 300,000 every week, piling on a potential double-shift of mundane demands. And that’s our real beef with the seasonal slave trade: tourists are work. The alarm clock to our offseason nap. The suit-and-tie to our sarong and sandals. The Mr. Slade to our Fred Flintstone. (Or Barney Rubble, depending on your personality.) Coming at us with an endless list of things to do — when we’d rather be screaming “Yabbadabba-do.” But like all good employers, they’re also the ones who cut the checks and deliver
the life we lead the other nine months a year. And in that way, tourists are less like our bosses, and more like our moms: Sure, they might embarrass you, even yell at you — seemingly born with an uncanny talent to drive you nuts for no reason whatsoever — but none of us would be here if it wasn’t for them. And as this issue’s “Viva Tourista” article points out: they have no plans on leaving us anytime soon. So the next time some unsavory character asks for directions to your closest competitor after using your bathroom, or complains about the red flags and rain like you control the weather — breathe deep, check your register and think of four short words sitting on a little blue Post-It. Or just look at the key that says “Cash.” And smile. — Matt Walker
Thank you for reading Outer Banks Milepost. We hope you’ve enjoyed it. If not — before chucking this issue in the nearest dumpster — please consider one of the following equally satisfying ways of expressing your disgust: Cut-rate confetti for the weekend bypass parade. Makeshift megaphone for yelling in traffic. Spitball fodder for snotty siblings (be they yours or someone else’s). Or simply add it to that six-month stack of newspapers you’ve yet to recycle. (Trust us: you’ll feel better.) Then, send any and all feedback — positive, negative or just plain confused — to: editor@outerbanksmilepost.com. Or light us up on Facebook with your opinions and ideas. We promise to find some way to re-purpose them.
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“Perhaps travel cannot prevent bigotry, but by demonstrating that all peoples cry, laugh, eat, worry, and die, it can introduce the idea that if we try and understand each other, we may even become friends.” — Maya Angelou “If you reject the food, ignore the customs, fear the religion and avoid the people, you might better stay at home.” — James Michener
Issue 1.3 We love greenbacks. Photos: C. White, Thomas Hipschen Reader You Brushes & Ink Marcia Cline, Dawn Gray, Chris Kemp, Ben Miller, Ben Morris Daniel Pullen, Charlotte Quinn, Stephen Templeton Lensfolk Matt Artz, Chris Bickford, Michelle Connor, Amy Dixon, Lori Douglas, Julie Dreelin, Tom Dugan/ESM, Bryan Elkus, Lauren Feeney, Leigh Hannah, Bryan Harvey, Matt Lusk, Mickey McCarthy, Brooke Mayo, Dick Meseroll/ESM, Ben Miller, Rob Nelson, Crystal Polston, Gina Elliot Proulx, Daniel Pullen, Ryan Rhodes, Patrick Ruddy, DJ Struntz, Laurin Walker, Chris Wilson Penfolk Molly Harrison, Sarah Hyde, Fran Marler, Mickey McCarthy, Matt Pruett, Ryan Rhodes, Brendan Riley, Corinne Saunders, Clumpy White
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Art Director Ben Miller/Bighouse Design Big Mouth In Chief Matt Walker Blame It All On Suite P Inc. PO Box 7100 • KDH, NC 27948 252-441-6203 editor@outerbanksmilepost.com • sales@outerbanksmilepost.com Outer Banks Milepost is published quarterly (sorterly) by Suite P Inc. All contents are the property of Suite P Inc. and do not reflect the opinion of advertisers or distributors. Nor do their contents reflect that of the creative types (who would never, ever sell out). Comments, letters and submissions are usually welcome. Please include SASE for return delivery of all snail mail, however, Milepost and Suite P Inc. still aren’t responsible for any unsolicited materials. And don’t expect much else to move much faster than IST (Island Standard Time). Oh yeah: if you reprint a lick of this content you’re ripping us off. (Shame on you.) To discuss editorial ideas, find out about advertising or tell us we blew it – or just find out what the waves are doing – call 252-441-6203 or email: editor@outerbanksmilepost.com; sales@outerbanksmilepost.com.
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New school learning, old school visitors and a stern lecture for NC’s legislature.
This place really blows.
Every course is its own hidey-hole.
15 36 16 39 graphiccontent Become Jockey’s Ridge’s BFF.
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One county seat, two challengers and a pile of questions.
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Snapshots and soundbites from our first summer photo survey.
OFFERING TRADITIONAL & CONTEMPORARY SOUTHERN DISHES
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Viva Tourista!
CONTINUING THE RODERER FAMILY TRADITION OF GREAT FOOD AND HOSPITALITY SINCE 1985
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upfront soundcheck STORM’S A-BREWIN’ The fury over sea level rise – and why North Carolina should prepare now
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Few coastal residents are big fans of Jim Cantore. On TV, he hypes every tropical disturbance into the next Katrina. In person, he’s tangible evidence your town occupies the “cone of destruction’s” not-so-sweet spot. Sometimes he’s right; sometimes he’s wrong. Still, no public official would ever suggest we ignore his hurricane forecasts entirely. Yet, that’s the exact approach North Carolina’s legislature adopted toward another potential coastal threat when they voted to dismiss the possibility of a 39-inch increase in sea level rise by 2100.
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“Just because there is a group of folks that project sea level rise does not mean the sea will rise,” said Senator David Rouzer (R-Johnston) at a preliminary hearing for the controversial HB 819. “There was consensus years and years and years ago that the earth was flat; turned out to be round.”
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Never mind that this “group of folks” includes North Carolina’s own scientific advisory panel, every other coastal state, plus the Army Corps of Engineers; it’ll be four years before the state can even consider hiking up its metaphorical trousers. With 2000 miles of developable real estate at risk — and the corresponding increased expense of building higher roads and stronger infrastructure — the potential economic damage is too gruesome to even think about. Instead, the final version of the law allows local governments to make their own decisions. Or not.
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“Anytime you fiddle with how we can build [along the coast] there are economic consequences,” says Tom Thompson, Chairman of NC-20, the collection of coastal county governments and business interests who successfully lobbied against the panel’s report. “So, if you’re going to pass something [this] dramatic you need to make sure the science is correct. And 39 inches is not science. It’s computer simulation based on a string of hypotheses.”
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Apparently, since long-term weather models account for climate change — and climate change is not 100% empirically proven — those computer models are unreliable. NC-20’s solution? Rely on historical data instead. And since Wilmington’s data goes back the farthest in the state — 60 years — extrapolate that rate out in a line to 100 years and plan around that: a much more manageable eight inches. The problem? Weather patterns don’t like straight lines.
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“If you go back 100 years, the historical record looks approximately linear,” says Dr. Reide Corbett, Interim Co-Program Head of Coastal Processes at the Coastal Studies Institute. “But if you go back 1000 or 2000 years, sea level changes are not linear. Very few things in science are.” Corbett should know. He’s currently supporting NOAA’s sea level rise research by analyzing core samples from the floor of the sound. They hope to reach back 5000 years. But even he says historical data alone won’t predict future levels. “If we want to project out 100 years, then we have to have some understanding of what temperature will do in the future,” he explains. “There’s obviously more error associated with [computer models] looking out 100 years than one week, but we still have to make those projections.”
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upfront So who’s right? Probably depends on your politics. While 97% of the international scientific community believes humans are impacting climate change, Thompson’s team argues they’re just grant-seekers ensuring their own job security. (He points to a series of mid-‘70s news articles where scientists foresaw a future ice age.) Likewise, panel members say NC-20 is cherry picking research to protect their own financial interests. They counter that no matter how many newspapers published those cooling reports, even 40 years ago the vast bulk of scientific literature predicted warming trends.
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One thing both sides agree on is the state should prepare for different rates and revisit the data every five years. They also both say we have a couple of decades before we’ll really see any dramatic rise firsthand.
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“It’s not the catastrophic event some people suggest. But most of the acceleration comes on the backside... so we better put in some safety standards.” – state science panelist
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“Anyone who has lived on the coast for 46 years has lived with the 30-year prediction already,” says state panelist Spencer Rogers, Coastal Construction & Spencer Rogers Erosion Specialist for North Carolina Sea Grant. “So it’s not the catastrophic event some people suggest. But most of the acceleration [comes] on the backside of the curve, so we better put in some safety standards.”
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Clearly, now’s not the time to board up and bail. (In fact, Corbett likes to point out he just purchased a house here.) But just as a five-day tropical forecast gives people the option to make their own decisions — be it buy batteries, board windows or chug beer — planning around the most current climate change and sea level information only makes sense. Because, as every coastal resident knows, you’re gonna take a hit one day. And the less prepared you are, the worse you’ll be.
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“Whether it’s 100 years or 150 years — regardless of global warming or human influence — the height will naturally reach one meter,” Corbett explains. “So it’s something we need to start considering.” Perhaps sooner than we thought. In June, a U.S. Geological Survey released a study showing the greatest sea level increases on the planet ran from Cape Hatteras to Boston — three to four times the global rate. The question is: will North Carolina start cutting some legislative plywood just in case — or keep tuning out the weatherman? — Matt Walker
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BE LIKE BARCO
Next, he plans to run 30 marathons in 30 states inside 365 days to receive Titanium status. But to finance that dream requires an Scot Barco’s running 30 different even greater feat of endurance: this long-time marathons in 30 different states. So Pit bartender and Country Deli sandwich why are you still sitting there? deliverer must work double shifts from May Consumer or producer? Sounds like 14 to September 8 —116 days in a row. an innocuous question. Unless you’re Come September 9, he’ll clock out for the first consuming or producing experiences; then time in nearly four months and take off for Idaho things get complicated. Just ask Scot Barco. to start a 15-marathon running streak, driving In November 2006, the Kill Devil Hills resident and flying from Connecticut to Montana to stood at Manteo High School watching the Illinois to Colorado on consecutive weekends. conclusion of the first Outer Banks Marathon. If all goes well, he’ll complete his quest in Hawaii Cold. Wet. No one would envy running in on December 30. But no matter how the year such dreary downpours. But as the rain fell finishes, each race remains a personal victory. and the mist rose, Barco noticed a “crazed “He’s come a long way,” says Jim Snyder, smile” on nearly every finisher’s face. And it Executive Director of Outer Banks Sporting changed his whole outlook. Events, who enlists Barco as an unofficial “recon” “So much of my life has been about watching man. “Initially, he started doing races to help other people,” says Barco. “I realized I didn’t himself, but now he does them to help others.” produce anything.” So what did he decide to This November, Scot Barco returns produce? An inspiration to take action. home to take on the 6th annual Four years later, he’s completed 25 races Outer Banks Marathon. If you’re — traveling to places like Newfoundland and not busy, head over to New Hampshire. A tea-totaling vegetarian, you Manteo to watch him finish. might say distance running is both his virtue Although he’d rather see and vice. In fact, he once completed three you at the starting line. marathons in three states/provinces/countries in eight days to reach “Ruthenium” status among Marathon Maniacs, a group of international running enthusiasts. Even so, he doesn’t care about times. And he never trains a lick.
“It doesn’t have to be a marathon,” he says. “Just choose a goal, then make it happen. Experience life, not virtually or vicariously, but for “I don’t have a special diet or running ritual,” real.” — Brendan Riley Barco admits. “I just do them.”
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SUNSET roadmap STRIP Looking back on when Nags Head’s soundfront was the summer hot spot
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Every beach town has its “strip.” A line of hotels and businesses stacked up to greet visitors the second they arrive. Even low-key Nags Head can claim its own highvolume waterfront. You just have to know where to look.
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Dapper gentlemEn and ladies “We used to search for relics during nor’easters” says Rascoe with Hunt, who grew up behind Jockey’s Ridge treasure-hunting parasols brown glass, 1-cent milk bottles and clay pottery. “The wind would blow all the water back, exposing the sand flats.” would These days, Soundside Road is a sleepy street tucked far disembark to away from summer traffic. But in the 1800s, that same promenade stretch was ground zero for seasonal activity on the Outer Banks. Reachable only by boat, steamships would drop off along a halfturn-of-the-century tourists who took trains to Elizabeth City from Norfolk and elsewhere. Dapper gentlemen and mile wooden ladies with parasols would disembark to promenade along pier toward a half-mile wooden pier toward the waiting hotels. By the 1850s, a mile-long, horse-drawn railroad from the sound the waiting to the ocean let guests take the “train” to the beach — but hotels. not before pitching their “road trip” trash into the sound. Today, those artifacts stand as souvenirs to remember two centuries of tourism.
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upfront As early as the 1750s, people were traveling to Ocracoke to “sea bathe,” which was considered “highly favorable to health and longevity.” Records also noted the island was “strictly a marine village and those who are fond of amusement connected with the water may here receive full gratification.”
north side was for the “Elizabeth City people.” However, signs of an eastward migration were already beginning.
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By the 1830s, Nags Head’s soundside was drawing recreational visitors. In 1841, “The Ocean Retreat” became the town’s original hotel. More followed over the next 40 years, most famously the T-shaped Nags Head Hotel. Built over the water so you could fish right off the porches, it boasted 100 rooms. The rates on June 6, 1887 were advertised at $2 per day, $10 to $12 per week, and $30 to $40 per month. In 1893, Miss Maggie Harrison recalled “the sand came up so high to the windows that the sedge hens could walk right into the halls.”
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Fire destroyed the Nags Head Hotel in 1903. Others fell victim to the sand dune itself. (Rumor has it that at least one’s buried under the backside of Jockey’s Ridge.) But visitors never stopped coming. In fact, by the 1890s the sound was so populated with second-home owners from inland communities, the south side of the dock was called “the Edenton Side” and the
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Next stop: Ye Olde Tryeth Mine Nuttes. Photo Courtesy of Outer Banks History Center
In 1855, Dr. W.G. Pool constructed the first house on the beach. His family was so lonely he started giving away lots so others would build on the oceanfront. By 1883, there were 13 cottages scattered across mostly empty beach. Wrote Pool: “The houses were strung out along the edge of the surf above the high water mark within 300 feet of the line of breakers. None of the cottages were close enough together to be within speaking distance.”
The next 50 years would see a complete transition. Not in peoples’ motivation for coming to the Outer Banks — but in how they got here. Once the Wright Memorial Bridge spanned the Currituck Sound in 1932, the cars started flowing and old steamers stopped running. As the soundfront ceased being first stop on visitors’ list, the resulting rush of humanity headed straight for the beach and never looked back. — Mickey McCarthy Info called from the following helpful sources: “The Old Nags Head Hotel,” Daily Advance, July 6,1933; “Lyn Bourdow Letter,” April 20,1998; Old Nags Head by Edward R Outlaw, Jr.; The Outer Banks of North Carolina, by David Stick; Unpainted Aristocracy: Beach Cottages of Old Nags Head by Catherine W. Bishir; and Sarah Downing of the Outer Banks History Center.
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Asoundcheck FESTIVAL FOR THE REST OF Y’ALL Untangling the hairiest shoulder season in recent memory
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Photos (Top to bottom, L-R): Mickey McCarthy, Mickey McCarthy, Chris Bickford, Gina Elliot Proulx, Leigh Hannah
Once upon a time, “shoulder season” marked a gradual decline in weekend activity and a much looser schedule. Now we’re up to our necks in things to do. Concerts. Contests. Films. Festivals. But just because these events are designed to draw visitors doesn’t mean we locals can’t crash the party. Here are just a handful of options worth shaving off a few hours for:
THE ORIGINAL
Bud Light Lime Labor Day Cup (Aug 28-Sept 2); ESA Eastern Surfing Championships (Sept 16-22); WRV Outer Banks Pro (Sept 28-30) Okay, so it’s not one event, but it is all surfing — and it’s all at Jennette’s Pier — promising 16 collective shred-filled days at the peak of the tropical season. Headliner: Cash money. Between Bud Light Lime’s $125,000 and WRV’s $30,000 — plus VB’s $155,000 ECSC in late August — bank on some high-dollar pros lurking. Sideshows: Surf studs = sunning starlets. Price Tag: Free. Pressure Point: Scoring a private sandbar for 100 miles. Details: www.budlightlimesurfseries.com; www.surfesa.org; www.waveridingvehicles.com Dare County Arts Council’s 2nd Annual Southern Circuit Film Tour (Sept 12-Nov 6) DCAC brings back thinking-person’s cinema with three documentaries: Joe Papp in Five Acts (Sept 12), An Encounter with Simone Weil (Oct 12) and Bag It (Nov 6). Headliner: As creator of NYC’s “Shakespeare in the Park” and A Chorus Line, Papp’s bio features famous alum like Meryl Streep and Christopher Walken. Sideshows: Tap into your inner film geek by meeting directors and producers after each showing. Price Tag: $10 adults; $8 students; $5 kids. Pressure Point: Finding just the right beret to set the mood — then getting seated next to Glenn Eure. (Awkward!) Details: www.darearts.org 3rd Annual Outer Banks Triathlon (Sept 22-23) If personal torture’s your idea of a party, head to Manteo for this non-stop rager of swim-bike-run punishment. Headliner: Take your pick of three gruesome flavors: “I can’t believe I finished.” (Sprint); “What was I thinking?” (Half); and “Kill me now.” (Olympic). Sideshows: Pasta dinner specials as far as the eye can see. Price Tag: $75 to $260 depending on division. Pressure Point: Finishing 2nd to that self-important jackass from boot camp. Details: www.obxmarathon.org 62nd Annual Nags Head Surf Fishing Club Invitational Tournament (Oct 3-6) The sea is your oyster as hundreds of anglers team up to celebrate the reason people first got hooked on Outer Banks living. Headliner: Red drum. Bluefish. And whoever hauls in the big prize. Sideshows: Bait-stealing birds, multi-generational memories and the return of beach driving. Price Tag: $400 for six people. Pressure Point: Praying your name finally pops up on a very long waiting list. Details: www.nagsheadsurffishingclub.com
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Outer Banks Bluegrass Festival (Oct 5-7) How-dee! The best dang country music idea since blowing a jug hits Roanoke Island Festival Park for two days of picking and grinning. Headliners: Whiskey Rebellion, Nu-Blu (Friday); Rhonda Evans, Doyle Lawson (Saturday) Sideshows: Food stands, train imitations, a steady supply of sequined sports jackets — plus banjo champ Gary “Biscuit” Davis. Price Tag: $10 to $50 depending on age, day and pass. Pressure Point: Just getting in. (At press time, the show was 80% sold out.) 6th Annual Duck Jazz Festival (Oct 7) Ground zero for autumnal audio events, this yearly outdoor concert makes the Duck Town Green a stone groove. Headliner: The Grammy-nominated Rippingtons, featuring guitar virtuoso Russ Freeman. Sideshows: Paula Atherton, The Fuzz Band, Emme St. James & Her Jazz Gentlemen — plus that one old lady busting a move way down front. Price Tag: Totally free. (BYOBCOBT: bring you own beach chair or beach towel.) Pressure Point: Discovering that original Rippingtons sax-player Kenny G. won’t be making a cameo. (Or maybe that’s a good thing.) Details: www.townofduck.com 2nd Annual Wild Mustang Music Festival (Oct 13-14) Corolla’s colt of a music event is already kicking ass — rounding up 30 bands in two days to make hay for wild horses. Headliners: Dumpstaphunk (Sat), Grammy-winning Rebirth Brass Band (Sun). Sideshows: Local food, wine and beer, plus homegrown acts like Formula, UberLounge, Zack Mexico and Hound Dogs, all served up with a side of Critters. Price Tag: $30 a day/$50 for a two-day pass. Pressure Point: What’s black and white and pulls you over? Details: www.mustangmusicfestival.com Inaugural Outer Banks Seafood Festival (Oct 20) If you don’t build it, they still come. This fall, the former Windmill Point site trades carnival rides for food stands filled with fresh, native fruits de mer. Headliner: It’s called a deep fryer. Look into it. Sideshows: Cocktail, tartar, cooking classes — plus a lot of jabber over what Nags Head should really be doing with all the waterfront real estate. Price Tag: $1 food/drink tickets. Pressure Point: That cholesterol conversation you’ve been avoiding with your doctor. Details: www.outerbanksseafoodfestival.org 16th Annual Wings Over Water Festival (Nov 6-11) A week of non-stop nature loving — from coastal kayaking and canoe tours to animal photography classes and astronomy nights. Headliner: Birds. Lots and lots of birds. Sideshows: The Nov 10 fundraiser at the NC Aquarium features a keynote address by biologist/author/illustrator John Sill. Price Tag: Anywhere from free to $50 per event. Pressure Point: Having your Audubon membership card slip out while signing up for the “Backcountry 4x4 Expedition.” Details: www.wingsoverwater.org
COUPON
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upfront Fifty years later, this empty desk is the hottest seat in town. Photo: LWW
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BYE, BYE BUS roadmap
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How long was your bus ride growing up? Thirty minutes? Maybe an hour? And what did that do for your corresponding school day? “Two hours, one way,” says former Corolla resident/ 2003 Manteo High School graduate Susan Lukonis. “I got on the bus at 5:50am and got home around 4:45pm.” Getting an education in Corolla has always required extra effort. Lighthouse keepers had to petition the
The Outer Banks’ first charter school helps Corolla kids stick closer to home.
state in 1896 just to secure a schoolhouse. By 1958, it closed as only two students remained. Dare County filled the gap for free through the 1990s, but shrinking budgets soon left Corolla parents with two choices: put their kids on a longer bus ride to mainland Currituck (in the case of Jarvisburg Elementary, the bus leaves at 6:30am for a 9:00am school start); or pay Dare County $1850 per child and provide their own transportation.
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While students will occupy a historic schoolhouse, their education will be anything but dated.
“Dare County gives its schools more money per student than Currituck County,” explains Corolla Education Foundation President Meghan Agresto. “So parents have to make up the difference.”
Now, thanks to Agresto and her team of committed supporters, there’s finally a local option. On August 28, the Water’s Edge Village School (WEVS) will open its doors to 26 students from kindergarten to 6th grade. And while the kids will occupy a restored version of the same historic schoolhouse, the education they receive will be anything but dated, as charter schools enjoy smaller class sizes and more flexibility. “Our curriculum is project-based… more integrated hands-on learning,” Agresto explains. “And ‘learning magic’, they say, happens in class sizes that are no bigger than 15.”
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Urgent
The MarkeTplaCe SoUThern ShoreS
Care Center
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graphiccontent • Walk-In Medical Care for Non-Traumatic Illnesses and Conditions From Sprains and Cuts to Fish Hooks and Sore Throats. • On-Site Lab & X-Ray • Minor Procedures • No Appointment Necessary
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The Outer Banks Hospital Urgent Care Center is operated by Outer Banks Professional Services, LLC an affiliate of The Outer Banks Hospital
252.449.7474 • The Marketplace • MP 1 5565 N. Croatan Hwy. • Southern Shores, NC 27949 milepost
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“Where can I get a good cup of co<ee?” Fresh roasted in store!
•Kill Devil Hills • Manteo •Nags Head
upfront Seen as an alternative to our strained public school systems, attending one of the state’s 100 charter schools is highly competitive — and so is the battle to start one. The foundation’s seven members spent four years working to earn the Public School Advisory Council’s recommendation to the State Board of Education. Besides having to learn the details of building a non-profit organization and running a public school, they had to secure support from three different Currituck County superintendents, funding from community businesses, plus get a waiver to teach fewer than 65 kids. (WEVS currently maxes out at 31 students.)
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According to Joel Medley, director of the Office of Charter Schools, the council ultimately saw WEVS as providing “significant help with the transportation of students… to eliminate long rides. [And] the map [the applicants] provided sold quite a few council members.”
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Now the real work begins. Unlike traditional schools, the state can shut down WEVS for not meeting academic goals. Also, they receive no state money for building expenses — only operational costs. Meanwhile, the tiny two-room structure must make its benefits available to every student in the state.
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“A charter school is a public school,” notes Medley, “supported by public dollars serving public students for the public’s benefit.” Of the 26 kids attending WEVS at press time, 12 live in Carova/ Corolla; another 14 are spread between Duck, Southern Shores, Powell’s Point, Point Harbor, Kill Devil Hills and Nags Head. Once enrolled, any child can attend until they age out. But should the school fill up, new applicants must apply via lottery where not even the most local address guarantees a desk. As Agresto notes: “It’s possible years down the road that Corolla kids could get squeezed out.” Whether Manteo moms one day decide to cart their 3rd-graders hours north will depend on the school’s performance. But for every kid stuck on the road for two hours — be it by bus or car, on the way to charter school or traditional elementary — at least the extra road time brings its own advantages. “I think [living in Corolla] helped,” says Lukonis, who went on to UNC-Chapel Hill, and now works for the American Red Cross. “I had a lot of time to read and study.” — Corinne Saunders 2000 S. Croatan Hwy. Kill Devil Hills 441-5338 Scarborough Lane Shoppes, Duck 261-7297
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Monteray Plaza Corolla (next to Food Lion) 453-4862
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More than just swimwear!
Join us for dinner and enjoy a fresh menu selection and the best in Southern hospitality. An Outer Banks tradition since 1965! Specializing in large parties. MP 8.5 Beach Road • Kill Devil Hills • obxportocall.com • Reservations (252) 441-7484 milepost 13
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SKETCHES OF SUMMER soundcheck
The end of the season is upon us. Use this mix of illustration and arithmetic to reflect on our favorite (and not so favorite) sights and sounds.
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1.) Cornhole 2.) Tailgaiter 3.) Traffic Jam 4.) Sunscreen 5.) Jellyfish 6.) Firecrackers 7.) Banana Hammock 8.) Jailbait
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the family that spays together...
stays together!
startingpoint FORGET FACEBOOK Become a Friend of Jockey’s Ridge
It’s the number one tourist attraction on the whole Outer Banks — it’s also our biggest monument to local activism. In 1973, Carolista Baum stood in front of the bulldozer of a would–be developer to help save the East Coast’s tallest sand dune, triggering a groundswell of momentum that would produce Jockey’s Ridge State Park. In 1990, Peggy Birkemeier started the Friends of Jockey’s Ridge to fill budget shortfalls and fund educational programs via volunteers’ retail efforts and sponsor donations. On September 23, the nonprofit will hold their annual meeting and rally the community to take a greater role in maximizing the impact of this giant natural resource. We talked with Vice President Chris Toolan about how you can help get your hands dirty.
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MILEPOST: So what kind of changes is the organization going through? CHRIS TOOLAN: Our mission has always been about supporting park projects. Before, we did that mostly through retail sales. Now we’ve downsized the gift shop to just a few of our most popular items and we’re hiring an Executive Director who will coordinate volunteers to give hands-on help to the park and its staff. We don’t want to lose our old members. They have contributed far and wide to the success of the park. They helped fund a Polaris to help get elderly visitors up the dune — not to mention boardwalks and fences and other small projects the state would take 1000 pieces of paperwork to do. We’re just redirecting some time from selling t-shirts to develop a group of volunteers to help directly with park activities.
MP 4.5 on the Bypass
(252) 715-1407
Family Owned & Operated for Over 25 Years! SALADS • APPETIZERS PIZZA • SUBS • STROMBOLIS BEER • WINE • MIXED DRINKS Dine In Or Carry Out Open Daily For Lunch & Dinner
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For example? Mainly we’re trying to farm people out to help the park rangers who are overburdened with 1.4 million visitors each year: helping visitors find their way around, working races like the Killer Dunes, putting new programs into the park teaching about wildlife. We still love getting those checks to fill budget shortfalls, but we’re trying to build a volunteer group that’s in love with the park and can donate a few hours whatever their talent is — whether it’s carpenters, storytellers, administrative or retail sales help, or people who just want to help pick up trash.
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So this meeting on September 23 is about implementing these changes and getting folks to raise their hands. Exactly. I mean, Jockey’s Ridge is something that sits in our backyard — something we drive by every day and go “wow” — but we don’t always realize it’s an amazing natural area for us to enjoy. The Friends want the park to be an even bigger part of the community — besides the 30 million tons of sand that make up the hill [laughs]. Wanna be a real Friend of Jockey’s Ridge? Come out to the park on Sunday, September 23 at 1pm for the annual meeting and tent sale. And take part in Beach Sweep on the Sound, Saturday, October 20, 9am-12pm. And for more on how to donate, sponsor or become a member — $25 for individuals; $45 for families — go to: http://www.jockeysridgestatepark.com/friends.html Photo: Julie Dreelin milepost 15
We grow memories.
questionauthority Diamonds & Denim
BOB vs. BOB
Dinner & Dancing
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Fund-raising Event For
The Elizabethan Gardens
The Elizabethan Gardens
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October 27, 6-11pm Celebrate the flavors & fun of fall while dancing under an autumn sky.
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silent & live Auction
Call for Tickets Now! 252-473-1554 per person $60. Corporate tables of 8 $1,000.
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Clothing • Maternity • Children • Baby • Home • Toys • Art • Gifts • Pets • Jewelry
Clothing • Maternity • Children • Baby • Home • Toys • Art • Gifts • Pets • Jewelry
elizabethangardens.org
Boutique
A Mix of New, Gently Used & Locally Made Goods to Please the Planet
252-449-4326 pleasingtheplanet@gmail.com MP 6 Plaza on the Bypass Kill Devil Hills, NC
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Bring in this ad for 15% off your next purchase!
roadmap In a political season rife with partisan
gokite friction, the county battle between
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Woodard and Muller is looking surprisingly friendly.
10/3/11 3:18 PM
MILEPOST: It’s interesting to hear you speak so highly of each other; because nationally the two parties aren’t so friendly. BOB WOODARD: Well, it is a partisan race, but we don’t bring those platforms to the table.
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issues on Hatteras Island with beach driving; and another with local fishermen trying to get out to Oregon Inlet. It’s ridiculous. That’s our history. We need to help those people make a living. But the board also needs to be futuristic in dealing with employment — bringing in the Information Technology-type services that would be a great fit here. MULLER: Revaluation is huge. Property values are going to drop about 40%. No doubt, some people are going to see substantial increases in their tax bills, especially on the west side. We can’t stop it, but there are some things we can do to ameliorate it, like charging reasonable EMS fees. But take your tax bill and put it next to your homeowners insurance and tell me which one’s the bigger threat. How can we be competitive in that family vacation rental market when our homeowners are forced to charge more just to break even? Other long-term threats are access to beaches — both on Hatteras Island and on the northern end — wastewater, transportation. The biggest negative in all the visitor surveys is traffic. How are we going to manage that? I don’t have all the answers, but we’re smart enough as a community to start working toward solutions. And we have to do it together. One thing I want to focus on is that we are one county. If you’re not catching crabs in Stumpy Point, the waitress in Kitty Hawk is not getting tips, and the kids in Buxton aren’t getting new schoolbooks because the taxes aren’t paid. It all links together.
BOB MULLER: There are a lot of folks who would like to see the county go to a non-partisan format because Republican and Democrat don’t particularly define candidates at the county level. And I hope the people will let this election be a debate about the issues that will face Dare County But solutions cost money. If property taxes are going up to meet an already over the next 20 years. strapped budget, is it time to add a So what are those issues? Revaluation penny to the occupancy tax like we do for nourishment? seems most pressing. WOODARD: The re-val in 2013 is going to be a huge issue. I need to get in there and study it more but I do feel like in these economic times we have to be very careful about growing government — not looking to cut positions but certainly consolidating services where we can. The other thing I’m concerned about is our retail sales. I serve on the Visitors Bureau and it’s been a great summer, but we’re down on the retail side. We need to get some experts in to discuss that. We also have some huge
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This election season will be the most brutal ever. Or so you would think from the national debate. And, honestly, when we first asked Bob Woodard and Bob Muller to discuss the race for Dare County’s only open seat (District 2), we were hoping to see a little blood fly. After all, Muller is a Democrat, Woodard a Republican. As
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KDH Commissioner, Woodard said “yes” to Lowe’s; Mayor Muller helped shape Nags Head’s “no box stores” vision. But instead of two party prizefighters striking partisan blows, we found two cordial candidates with strikingly similar views. Both are strongly pro-beach nourishment, pro-beach tourism and pro-beach access. And both see major issues coming down the pike, particularly the impending property tax revaluation. (In 2013, the county will adjust its rates to keep the necessary revenue coming in, so while home values may be down, peoples’ bills will actually increase.) Most notably, both believe in a governing philosophy that puts following personal values over bending to public opinion. Maybe that’s why they share such strong mutual respect. As Woodard notes: “Bob said it and I’ll say it: no matter what happens in this election, Dare County will get a great representative.”
MULLER: I’m not sure new resources are going to be the answer. The efficient use of existing resources is going to be the answer. A large part of our budget comes from tourist-derived revenues; we can build those revenues and build property values back if we have a plan to maintain ourselves as a successful vacation destination. Let’s get our vacation economy thriving through more events. Make this a place that folks want to come to, so property values rise, rents rise,
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more property taxes go on those economic generators on the ocean front — those rental cottages — and the burden will get lifted and shifted back over the other way. So short term, the strategy is to be more efficient; long term is to grow the Outer Banks as a family vacation destination.
WOODARD: I don’t see a need for a special tax. I’ve said it before: I can still do the same thing today that I did 40 years ago on the Outer Banks. I can take a beach chair and a cooler and go watch one of the top 10 sunrises in the world — climb the highest sand dune on the East Coast and watch one of the top 10 sunsets. Or go to Oregon Inlet and charter a fishing boat and enjoy one of the top 10 sportsfishing destinations. We just have to bring more visitors in to enjoy those things that we as locals have enjoyed for years. And the Visitors Bureau is spending enormous amounts of money to draw folks, like funding shoulder season events. And we’re putting it back into the community.
MULLER: Bob’s right. We all know the fall is the best time to be here, so let’s make it a place people want to come to. Let’s make that 12-week season 15 weeks — 18 weeks. I think arts tourism is one of the seriously undeveloped segments. And there are other ways to diversify the economy. We have this wonderful synergy of the Coastal Studies Institute, Duck Research Pier and Jennette’s Pier. We’re getting ready to get an enormous amount of data capacity this fall. Let’s develop and nurture those industries to add to the economy and the vacation experience.
“I hope the people will let this election be a
debate about the issues that will face Dare
County over the next 20 years.” — Bob Muller
WOODARD: That’s a very serious question. I know from a town perspective at KDH, you have to fund needs rather than wants. There are other avenues for funding bike paths and things, like grants. And I’d have to pick the school board’s brains and get their input, but if I had my druthers, I’d table a bike path in favor of doing what needs to be done on the educational side.
MULLER: You have to remember that a quarter of our county budget goes to education. That’s $25 million. And all of that money is unallocated tax dollars; there are no matching funds. So we have to be really careful because we can make real savings there, or as we run it up that cost goes directly into the tax rate. But in the end it comes down to what kind of government you want and what are you willing to pay for. And that’s what elections are about: making those decisions. And folks need to do what Bob and I did: become part of that process. Serve on a board; come to a meeting. It’s a Obviously, tourism fuels everything. But little time-consuming, but the end result is one thing that’s frustrating for residents, you get to say, “I was part of that.” And that’s I think, is when it comes to projects a really good feeling. that drive or protect tourism, decision makers find the funding — or in the case WOODARD: And it’s important. Nothing’s of nourishment, we raise it — but not so more frustrating then to not hear from your much when it comes to spending directly constituents. We have minor issues on the on the year-round community. At what table and you’ll see 20 or 30 people show point do you start peeling off that revenue up — then you have a budget hearing and and — instead of funding something to nobody shows. These things affect your lives help the visitors’ experience, like a new and your livelihood. We may not always bike path — apply money directly to support your ideology but we do care and filling community needs like education? we take what you say into full consideration.
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questionauthority Which brings me to the next question. At the May 8 primary, I got into a discussion in the parking lot where two people said, “I’ll never vote for Bob.” For Commissioner Woodard, it had to do with Lowe’s. Mayor Muller, it was the response to Isabel when South Nags Head was closed off for a week. In both cases, they felt like you ignored the will of your constituents. Care to respond?
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safe to allow residents and property owners to return. There were some folks who really, really didn’t like that. I know because we held a facilitated public meeting after the event to get feedback and try to build a better system. But if there aren’t some people who are pissed off at you as an elected official, then you’re not doing your job.
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So, philosophically, where do you draw the line between reflecting popular WOODARD: Well, they certainly have a opinion and voting your conscience? right to feel that way; and I have empathy for them. But I took a sworn oath that I MULLER: You need to have a set of values would defend property rights. That was and your votes need to reflect those values. zoned commercial property. And the There’s a role for listening to the public and owner had the right to sell that property making sure that you see all sides of any to whoever could qualify to purchase it. issue. But I always scoff when I hear elected So to say, “No, I don’t want a Lowe’s,” that’s leaders say, “I’m doing this because the not the right answer. Our country was built people want me to.” I don’t buy it. They’re on entrepreneurialism. It was built on the doing it because that’s what aligns with fact that competition is good. And quite their values. Again, you need to get as much honestly, that decision added about 118 public input as you can — public hearings, visitations, emails, permanent jobs to the county that are “[Elected officials] phone calls — but in the end, you make full-time, paying positions. So the may not always support a decision based on your values and what board did what was ethical. I’ll defend your ideology but we you think is best for the community. that as long as I’m in office. And I’ll do care and we take WOODARD: I protect individual property rights as what you say into full can’t say it any better. We had long as I’m in office. another recent issue consideration.” with the chickens MULLER: Can I say in the backyard. something about — Bob Woodard And I admit: the Lowe’s? I think given public hearing was the framework overwhelmingly for that the Lowe’s it. But it was pitting application came neighbor against into, KDH board did what they were required to do. But I’ll also neighbor and I didn’t think that was right for tell you that framework wasn’t mandatory. our community. So I voted against it. And The town of Nags Head set size limits back it failed. And I was told, “You didn’t listen in the ‘90s, specifically to keep out big box to the majority.” And they certainly have stores. And any town, any community, had a right to feel that way. But as an elected the same option. As far as folks who don’t official, you do your research, you do what want to vote for me? I had 20 years for you think is best for your community, and people to be pissed off about something. those are the tough decisions you have Isabel was certainly a divisive issue. We kept to make. But you know, you never hear South Nags Head closed until we felt it was someone come up and say, “Bob, I really
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appreciate you holding the line on taxes.” or “Bob, thanks for being a catalyst in Ocean Acres for making the storm problems and flooding we had go away.” And the list goes on. So I’ll take the one or two negatives against all the positives. You both sound so much alike. What can you tell the voter out there to push them in a direction — I’m assuming — your direction?
like to do that for the county. WOODARD: Same here. I’m certainly not going to bash my opponent. I know his commitment to the community and he knows mine. If you know me, you know I’m very serious about what I do and what is in store for the future. So I would say the same thing: if you really want to find out about a person and what their values are, take the time to talk to them. Take the time to ask those who know in the community: “Will Bob give it 100%?” I’ll give it 110% and then some. And we’ll let the voting public decide.
MULLER: I’m not going to contrast myself with Bob; all I can do is present my experience. So, I would urge voters to talk to folks who live in Nags Head. To look at my record and the community I helped MULLER: And we’ll get a good, hardbuild. Look at my recent public service working commissioner either way. working on affordable housing and trying — Matt Walker to get broadband into underserved areas. The Outer Banks has a great future ahead The preceding interview was edited for space, flow and clarity. For a complete transcription of the of us if we grasp it and start dealing with full 90-minute discussion — including topics from the issues that shape our future. I have a coastal protection to free speech visions — go to: history of doing that in Nags Head and I’d www.outerbanksmilepost.com.
This fall, make Mako Mike’s your place to dine out, and to show our appreciation, we’ll give you a discount card to make it easy to eat here often. Affordable Fall Specials, something for everyone and casual dining in a comfortable and “very colorful” atmosphere... it’s our way of saying thanks for supportingus at Mako Mike’s.
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The candidates were concerned a more pugilistic portrait would give voters the wrong impression. Instead, they agreed just to hug this one out.
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â&#x20AC;&#x2122;t n e r a s t s e u g r o u s o s â&#x20AC;&#x201D; w n o o h o s s e h c m r i a t . e y y t n r a a Res e p e m h o t h going t as well join h g i m you
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What do you see when you look at this photo?
The quintessential tourist? Burned out — and burned up. So clueless he grabs every piece of plastic crap in the beach store but forgets to buy sunscreen? Maybe you see something more valuable but equally cynical: a human ATM that spits out dollars every second he stays here, keeping your pockets flush with cash and the local economy afloat. One thing you probably don’t see? A human being just like yourself. “Everyone is a visitor to another place at one point or another,” says Lee Nettles. “We’ve all been in a different town, driving down some road, lost and looking for a place to eat. In the end it’s a shared set of experiences.”
Granted, as Executive Director of the Outer Banks Visitors Bureau, Nettles pretty much has to be warm and welcoming to anything with a pulse and disposable income. But the job also gives him access to sales figures, surveys and other gritty market research. In 2011, they hired N.C. State University to spend all year asking random visitors questions like, “Why are you here?” and “Will you come back?” In July, the researchers unveiled their latest Visitor Appraisal and Loyalty Assessment. Turns out that while year-round residents like to put strict definitions on terms like “local” and “tourist,” the lines are a lot blurrier than we’d care to admit. Visitors’ top three favorite aspects of Outer Banks living? The beach, relaxation and family time. Bottom three? Traffic, traffic and traffic. And though we tend to think of every foreign tag on the bypass as another Jersey Come Lately, a huge percentage of these cars makes regular visits with surprising frequency. Of the 343 people surveyed, a full 61.1% planned on coming back for one or two trips during the next two years; 21.5% said they would be back three or four times; and 14.2% indicated seven or more. A couple even said they’d return 60 times in the next two years. And with each return trip, their ties to the area only grow stronger. “I’d love to find a way to bridge that divide of helping visitors and locals get to know each other better,” says Nettles. “Because it’s not ‘us’ and ‘them,’ it’s individuals. And a lot of them feel just as passionately about the Outer Banks as we do.” So, on a hot afternoon in July, we set off with a camera, a six-pack and a friendly attitude to do our own research. Read on for soundbites and snapshots Milepost’s Officially Unofficial “Definitely-Not-A-Local-But-Not-Really-A-Tourist-Either” Market Study.
Portrait photography by Chris Bickford milepost 21
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First observation: visitors have waaayyyyy more fun than we do.
When’s the last time you chased a grown man around the umbrella with a plastic shovel? Or excavated a hole so big it comfortably sat five? If locals “go to the beach” — tourists celebrate it. Chocked with cold beer, casual shade and a super cute girl lurking in the background, these North Jersey college kids couldn’t wait to show off their Subterranean Relaxation Station. Between mugging, chugging and plugging the Garden State they kicked back without a care in the world. Except one: “Are you gonna make us look cool?” Mission accomplished.
‘oh no, he’s gonna tebow!’
They call themselves the “A-Team.” Back when Mr. T was still prime time, this rat pack of DC road trippers took a coed vacation — and they haven’t missed a summer since. Thirty years later, they’ve picked up a few extras (sons, daughters and new acquaintances). And lost a few. (“I’ve personally been through two wives myself.”) The remaining cast of friends just keeps cracking each other up, reliving old memories and starting new ones. (“Oh no, he’s gonna Tebow!”) And with every minor goofball moment, the Outer Banks wins another fan for life.
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Habitat: shoreline, fishing piers, tackle stores Call: “The place sure has changed, Martha.”
Pescadaro retiruum
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Dixi truckasaurus Habitat: beach accesses, pier parking lots Call: “Dang!”
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Habitat: strip malls, boutiques Call: “See if this card works instead.”
Purchis purchis
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Illustrations by Chris Kemp
Habitat: riptides, rescue sleds Call: “Which way’s the beach?”
Oceanus perplexum
Habitat: limos, last call, late-night hot tubs Call: “Technically, I’m still single...”
Bachelorettus plasterus
Habitat: nocturnal watering holes Call: “SoCo on the rocks, two rum-andCokes, seven Jagerbombs...”
Frattus imbibum
Habitat: holidays and weekends Call: “We have a house at milepost...”
Stickerus ubiquitous
Habitat: any place with a free lobster tail Call: “I hope it’s king crab, not snow crab.”
Buffet infinitum
Habitat: Your rear bumper. Call: “#$&!#%!”
Tyrannosaurus lexus
Habitat: historical monuments, souvenir shops Call: “Honey, look at that!”
Spectator maximus
‘we’re really from
puerto rico!’
Second observation: “Are you from here?” isn’t always the easiest question to answer.
Just ask the wisecracking sisters sitting in the shorebreak: “We’re really from Puerto Rico — can’t you tell?” Truth? They both grew up in Moyock. One moved to Denver just after college, one stayed put. Come summer, the two families reconnect for a happy homecoming at the beach to give the kids a taste of sun, sand and their own formative experiences. And while many people with similar addresses and histories would rush to claim resident status, these women won’t dream of it. “You kidding? We come here to play tourist!” Proof that defining who you are is often less about geography — and more about the situation at hand.
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“So where can a single guy find a girl?” That’s not the tattooed stripling talking — it’s his father. For two decades, this Virginia family’s been choosing their weekly beach home based on keeping everyone happy. And the old man knows that at some point in a boy’s life a summer vacation’s most exciting moments go down once the sun drops. So this time, they’ve posted up close to the greatest number of KDH nightclubs. Next year may be Mom’s turn (shopping in Duck). Or Dad’s (pier fishing in Nags Head). But while the definition of “action” may keep changing, one thing remains: “We always come back here; this is our family place.”
‘where can a single guy find a girl?’
Coffee so fresh you want to slap it! milepost 27
Third observation: just because you don’t live here year round, doesn’t mean you don’t live here. “Take pictures of our socks!” For these girls and their 28 family members, the party never stops — from one daughter’s birthday party to a five-day, multi-generational volleyball tournament. Between spiking balls and striking poses, their parents share vintage details from a half-century of visits. Some are fuzzy. (“What was that little beach hotel called again?”) Others firm. (“We always — always — ate lunch at the Carolinian.”) But there’s one milestone they all recount vividly, and relive annually: “One of the girls was almost born here; I had to hop in the car with her mom and speed the whole way to Richmond.” And they’ve been racing back to celebrate ever since.
‘take pictures of our socks!’
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Meet Uncle Sam. Family patriarch, American patriot and bona fide fitness freak. Sam took a bullet in World War II, stood up and kept fighting. Today, the 87-yearold stays battle ready thanks to a non-stop diet of healthy eating and fitness books, from which he dispenses regular tips, like “Americans don’t get enough Vitamin D!” and “Read upside down — it helps exercise the brain.” But it’s tales from visiting the Outer Banks in the late ‘40s that prove the most riveting — “We’d go fishing off Oregon Inlet all day, then hop overboard and go skinny dipping at night…” — sixtyplus years of Outer Banks war stories to make the saltiest local proud.
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gofish
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little slough so they Most can’t see the line. people And we constantly change beach accesses laugh. because people get wise. We’ll start at One guy Bickett, work our way even to Bonnett then come back up to Avalon. gave me a Then, every Saturday Popsicle. you get a whole new group of people, so we start on down the list again.
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HOOK, LINE AND STINKER artisticlicense
Local angler “Wimpy” explains why he stopped casting for fish — and started reeling in visitors. Most beach days are boring. Maybe it’s because I’m a fisherman by trade, but after six years of watching people look for seashells I thought, “What if we threw a shell out there and tied it to something?” Now I go ‘tourist fishing’ every time I hit the beach. And the responses are just amazing. We’ve had people chase the shell full-speed through our crowd yelling, “Excuse me!” Others sneak up real slow. Some smack it with a flip-flop. One woman screamed and jumped so high her husband had to catch her.
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Photos: Crystal Polston
It’s all sight casting. You see someone coming, wait for them to look away, then toss the shell someplace they have to walk past. Crank it once so it looks like it’s crawling. Once they start to point or poke at it — reel it again. As soon as they get it in their hand, you snatch it and watch them go nuts. Like all fishing, it’s a learning process. We started out with a seven-foot rod; now we’re using a two-foot ice fishing rod, which is easier to hide. We look for beaches with a
If it’s too hot, we don’t bother. Nobody’s walking; everyone’s swimming. You want a day with a nice easterly breeze to cool things off — 3pm to 5pm is optimum — and low tide. We catch a few locals, but they tend to camp out at the same place all summer. Mostly it’s tourists, women tourists. And I don’t know what it is…but if someone’s wearing red — a red shirt, a red hat — it’s 100% guaranteed they’ll bite. If someone walks past we’ll change bait — swap the conch out for a starfish and try to catch ‘em on the way back.
Nobody’s ever really gotten mad. Most people laugh. One guy even gave me a Popsicle. And once you catch four or five people, the whole area gets into it, like, “Here comes someone!” By the end of the day, there are 30 people who’ve never met, all laughing and having a good time. I still fish. But fishing is work. If I can laugh every time I cast and not clean anything? And make everyone else around me laugh? That’s even better.
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With sizeable waves, shallow water and constant wind, more kiteboarders visit the Outer Banks than almost anywhere else.
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Another welcome boost in visitation numbers. Photo: Bryan Elkus
gosurf outthere
You can’t reach the Outer Banks from Hawaii by car. Same goes for Europe. South America? Doable, yet doubtful. But if the bypass ever crossed the ocean, you’d see a big change in license plates jamming down 158. For every “Rhode Island” two would say “Rio.” Forget Massachusetts. Try Marseille. And instead of fishing rods or surfboards, they’d be stuffed full with high-tech kites, harnesses and fiberglass sticks all built to fly. “We’ve been running our annual gear tests here since 2000,” says John Bryja, editor of Canada’s SBC Kiteboard Magazine. “Every year, without fail, Hatteras has delivered ideal conditions. Wide-open beaches and waist-deep water make it one of the best destinations in the world.” milepost
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Not bad for a sport born on the heaving seas of the Hawaiian Islands. In the 1990s, Maui’s Laird Hamilton and Manu Bertin of France decided to soup-up their sailboards. Outfitting their blades with maneuverable kites — similar to the inflatable foils used by paragliders — they discovered a powerful new combination of lift and control, ripping the ocean’s surface and soaring up to 60 feet in the air. Some residents thought they were spotting UFOs. The more minds they blew, the more kiteboarding stormed windsurfing spots across the globe. So what makes the Outer Banks more special than California or Key West? Same thing that wowed Wilbur and Orville Wright and all those traveling windsurfers who named Canadian Hole: Steady winds bring an average of 20 or more kiteable days per month — sort of like finding a honey hole of endless fish or a wave that never stops breaking. But it’s not only the consistency that draws such a rabid fan base. It’s the geography. “The sound is shallow enough that if you fall you can walk back in if you need to,” says professional kiteboarder Jason Slezak. “With sand bottoms and low boat traffic, it allows people to be comfortable at any level.” Cross over to the beach and more competent riders can face the challenge of an open ocean and a chance at launching themselves into orbit. The lucky few who land a pro career often make the Outer Banks a regular stop. Some live out of their suitcases for six months or so; others choose to stick around longer. Born in Athens — and raised between Cameroon, France and Greece — Nags Head resident Dimitri Maramenides started windsurfing at age eight. Twelve years ago he tried kiteboarding. Like many before him, the former competitive sailboarder converted to the more radical discipline, earning a worldwide reputation for pushing limits. “Once kiteboarding came along,” says Maramenides, “there was no going
back to the heavy, bulky equipment.”
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Maramenides actually started his own company, Epic, to keep up with the sport’s highperformance maneuvers and growing population of younger riders. Today, even the most diehard sailboard retailers like Fox, Ocean Air and Kitty Hawk Kites recognize that — just as snowboarding ultimately outpaced skiing — kiting is now the cutting edge of wind sports.
Go behind Real Watersports in Waves, and you’ll see steel rails and ramps custom-built for the high-tech acrobatics. You’ll also see the athletes capable of doing them justice. Each year, the world’s top 30 names — such as five-time world champion Aaron Hadlow and nine-time women’s winner Gisela Pulido — gather for a one-of-a-kind competition called the Triple S Invitational.
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“As a rider-judged event, it really pushes the envelope with what is being done,” says longtime kiter Matt Nuzzo, who himself moved down from New York in 2001 to start Real with business partner Trip Forman; today it’s one of the sport’s biggest companies. “We see pros from Spain, Brazil, Antigua and Germany.” Perhaps even more impressive than the celebrity cameos is the sheer number of newbies who start kiteboarding locally. Real’s “Zero To Hero” camp has schooled over 40,000 students alone — that’s just a fraction of the kiting zealots making year-round pilgrimages. And first-timer, seasoned vet or ripping pro, they’re all drawn to the Outer Banks to experience the dynamic trio of wind, water and open exposure, a combination that’ll keep kiteboarders coming — no matter what it takes to get here. — Fran Marler
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SWINGER’S PARTY endnotes
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The secret to enjoying golf? Friendly partners and a hang-loose attitude.
There is a space. Somewhere between the head of the club and the ball’s surface. Maybe it exists up in the top of the swing, hovering among wide swatches of blue and white. Perhaps it’s an infinite universe deep inside some tiny dimple. Could be just the expanse between your ears. But at some point on the golf course you must crawl inside and disappear. Completely. Sometimes literally.
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Seeing red was never this relaxing. Nags Head Links. Photo: Matt Lusk
perfectly: bright purple Polo; sunny expression; shocks of white hair swirling over his visor. His khakis even sport dirt streaks from his last 18 holes — a round he finished earlier this morning. If you played “guess the golf lifer,” this mid-sixties athlete would win hands down. Truth is he just started playing seriously two years ago. “I’ve piddled with it for about 10 years, but I never had time,” says the Kitty Hawk retiree. “When we moved here I met so many wonderful people through the game that I just fell in love with it.”
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To stand among warm breezes, soaring ospreys and waving sea oats is TRULY invigorating.
“Better use a club, chief,” offers a helpful voice outside the brush. You might say he’s smitten. While his wife and grandkids soak up the beach all “Can’t tell if there’s snakes, but that’s definitely poison ivy.” summer, Skip’s dodging sand traps at Seascape or the Pointe. Come winter, you’ll find Club? What I need is a GPS locator for all these missing him hunkering with pals inside heated carts. But fall’s the golden season for Outer balls. A lawyer for that elderly couple I nearly beamed Banks golfing. Rates drop. Crowds dwindle. And easing traffic puts eight gorgeous with my opening drive. And maybe a Valium for the poor courses from Currituck to Nags Head in striking range. All of them potentially fierce greenskeeper watching it all. But no matter how poorly I play, when you consider the narrow fairways, water obstacles and honking winds that define our environment. I’m still having a blast. The secret? Pray for the best. Laugh at the worst. And bring at least three caddies: one to show you That’s why Skip seeks shelter in his happy attitude. He shrugs off the bad shots. Cheers the good ones. And offers an endless supply of self-deprecating one-liners that make you laugh — “There’s a lot of poop left in that diaper!” — even what you’re doing wrong; one to tell you which club to use; if they make no sense. and one to remind you it’s just a damn game.
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“Don’t worry,” laughs Skip Hughes as he hands me another used Titleist. “A thousand balls washed up behind the clubhouse after Irene — half of them were mine.”
“The first thing I learned was that I wasn’t going to be any good,” he fibs. “So I just go enjoy it for what it is: Fun.”
Fun? Really? From a televised distance, golf’s the original Olympics of Boredom. Four hours of slow walks, whispering announcers and subdued applause. The hottest action pops up in an occasional Cialis ad. But to stand An avid sports fan and affable jokester, Skip plays both parts on the fairway among warm breezes, soaring ospreys and waving sea oats is truly invigorating. It’s also a natural
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sedative that can make even the maddest personalities mellow out. “This is like meditation for me,” confides Ashley Barnes. “A way to turn my brain off to everyday life and just enjoy the outdoors. And no matter how bad I play, one good hit can make my whole day.” Buff. Ballsy. Ashley bounces into the parking lot wearing swim trunks and a Morning View t-shirt. You’d think she’d be racing for the nearest sandbar or concrete bowl, but after a busy day serving caffeine junkies, a quick nine holes is the sure way to calm down and tee off simultaneously. And from her first swing, it’s clear the 33-year-old’s skills on a surfboard, a skateboard — even a diving board — translate, as every crack and club suggestion rings true. All this, despite a tragic yearlong break.
Mark can’t remember not having the fever. His grandparents babysat him between bunkers by age 9. As a four-star waiter on Maui, he enjoyed access to world-class greens. These days, the 37-year-old barely gets four hours at Duck Woods each Sunday. The other 60 hours he spends at his Route 12 restaurant or powering to and from Corolla. So this Wednesday afternoon, he’s up to the challenge of a good nine holes — even if it means giving a free lesson on the side.
Wearing a white glove, the right attire and a stoic, patient expression, he gives silent instructions like a traffic cop. Even the ball snaps to attention as he sinks multiple birdies. One’s almost an eagle, until the ball sticks to the cup’s edge. Watching his par game teeter off by half-a-hair, the pressure of a pro tournament suddenly feels insurmountable. How does anyone consistently play 18 holes for four straight days? And how do they not choke on “My mom was my only golf partner,” she that final hole with millions of dollars coming explains. “So when she died I just stopped down to a fraction of an inch? But it’s that highplaying altogether. One day, I saw her clubs stakes rush that gets people hooked — and keeps sitting in my shed all dusty and thought, ‘This them interested no matter how good they get. isn’t right.’ Now, I use them every time.” And every time she connects with something greater: her childhood, her mother, her surroundings. Or the sense of Zen that comes from tackling something so simple in concept, but difficult in practice. “Deep down, it’s just you, the ball, the club and the yards,” she explains. “But it’s still hard. It’s really, really hard.” It’s hard just to feel comfortable. Everyone else wears proper shoes; you’re rocking slipons. They name-drop drivers, putters and pros like lifelong pals; you’re on a blind date with borrowed equipment. Just driving the cart feels awkward and jumpy. For anyone who’s only played against windmills, clowns and galactic dinosaurs, golf’s real obstacle is understanding the culture. But it’s also the path to getting better. “Knowing the game is the game,” insists Mark Grizzard as he repairs one of my many divots. “Learning the etiquette, how far you hit your clubs, the proper swing. But once you get the fever, it’s all you want to do.”
“Golf can humble anybody,” says Grizzard. “That’s why the best approach is to have no expectations. And just keep playing.” Even when you’re losing. Come the 9th hole, my once shaky performance is in total shambles. It takes two drives just to reach the ladies’ tee. The next two shots pinball from the woods to a bunker. I’m tempted to end the collective torture and flee for the clubhouse, but my partners won’t have it. “You got this!” they scream (before wisely finding the nearest hiding spot). Sidling up to the ball, I try to recall all the afternoon tips — toes here, head down, grip just so — then, as the club eases back, I stare at the polka-dot surface and banish every last thought... CRACK! I climb out of that empty space just in time to see a tiny white arc. And as my pals cheer as it plops on the green, suddenly I can’t remember any of the day’s God-awful shots. All I can think of is the next one. — Matt Walker
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VINO, VIDI, VICI endnotes
Why more and more winemakers are discovering and conquering northeastern North Carolina. In slanting light and fading heat, dozens of people gather around picnic tables under towering Jarvisburg pines. They’re eating barbecue just pulled from the pig and sipping wines made from grapes grown less than 100 yards from where they sit. After a hot day’s work in the field, Sanctuary Vineyards winemaker John Wright bids hasta mañana to his workers and wanders over to unwind with a Rhône-style blend of Syrah and Mourvèdre.
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coastal breezes cool things just enough to produce tasty wines for enjoying right now.
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The seventh-generation farmer knows wine snobs view northeastern North Carolina as a “viticultural backwater.” That the chances of Currituck joining the ranks of Provence and Napa are virtually nil. Yet he continues to produce vinifera (European) grapes like Syrah, Viognier, Tempranillo, Aglianico, Petit Verdot, Cabernet Franc, Albariño — plus two French-American hybrids, Traminette and Chardonnel — as part of a growing regional movement that’s yielding bolder vintages for adventurous oenophiles.
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“We’ve been fighting those misconceptions since we opened,” says Kenneth Hyman of Trio Wine, Beer and Cheese, a Kitty Hawk retailer that stocks Carolina labels. “But over the last 10 years people have figured out that other good wines are made here.”
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He means other than Muscadine. Native only to the southeastern United States, this grape’s been synonymous with ports and dessert wines since the 16th century. In fact, the nation’s oldest cultivated grape vine lives on Roanoke Island. The 32-foot-wide, 120-foot-long Mother Vine is believed to be more than 400 years old and produces the most famous variety of Muscadine, white Scuppernong. Experts don’t know whether the vineyard (it’s actually five vines) was cultivated by English colonists or Croatan Indians, but when Philip Amadas and Arthur Barlowe were on the island in 1584, they commented about the local grapes, “In all the world the like abundance is not to be found.”
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Only in the last two decades have local wineries tried growing non-native species. Start on Knott’s Island, where Martin Vineyards puts out respectable reds despite their isolated location in the middle of the sound. Martin began growing Muscadine grapes in 1977; by the late ‘80s, a process of trial-and-error proved that vinifera can also thrive in coastal North Carolina.
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To our west in Tyrell County, Vineyards on the Scuppernong boasts three acres of musky Catawba, another vinifera. Still, owners Jack and Grace Bishop devote nearly eight times the space to 15 different varieties of Muscadine. With renowned Virginia winemaker Tom Payette as advisor, they have won numerous awards for transforming the grape into different styles — including a bone-dry red — but Grace says, “in this area sweet wine pays the bills.”
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Red or white — dry or sweet — sticking with Muscadine’s almost 250 varieties is the milepost
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Farm-to-fork meets grape-to-glass. Photos: Brooke Mayo
most foolproof way to make wine in eastern North Carolina. Planted in the right soil, the native species thrives in this warm, humid climate. It also doesn’t require pesticides or herbicides. “I had a grand scheme of planting Cabernet and Syrah,” admits Vicki Basnight, “but then I’d have to use chemicals.” That would run contrary to the Lone Cedar restaurateur’s primary vision of bringing an organic, local wine to Roanoke Island. Instead, she has planted Scuppernong and Carlos, both varieties of Muscadine, with plans to spin something new from the traditional Southern favorite. And while her vines in Wanchese and the north end of Roanoke Island are not yet ready for harvest, Basnight hopes to pour the first round in 2014. The key word being “hopes.” Even using the most reliable plant species, local winemakers face geographical
challenges — unseasonable temperatures, rainfall, disease, pests, the limited resources of being in a rural area and the occasional ill-timed tropical system. But the greatest hurdle of all may just be figuring out what works on your particular plot. Wright notes that of his 100 acres, only 20 are suited for growing grapes. Ironically, just one acre of it grows Muscadine, a Sanctuary workhorse. His farm’s sandy soil lowers yields on that variety, so he purchases those grapes from other farmers and uses his other space for European experiments. What proves successful gets fermented for a future day in the shade. And for what doesn’t? “I rip them out,” he says. “I made mistakes planting varieties that I wanted to grow instead of what I know grows well here. Every time, we come back to what already grows best.”
More often than not, winemakers say grapes love our sunny coastal region, where the sandy soil drains nicely and the coastal breezes cool things just enough to produce tasty, medium-bodied wines for enjoying right now. If there’s a drawback to the warm climate, it’s that grapes ripen faster with lower acidity, rendering wines that offer ample fruit aromas and flavors early, but don’t age well. But then how many wine lovers prefer to wait years before popping the cork? With plenty of eager tasters passing through, could northeastern North Carolina become a newly recognized wine-growing region? Wright says he wouldn’t mind that at all. “You can’t even call it competition,” he insists. “If another winery came to Currituck it would just validate that this is a good place to grow grapes.” — Molly Harrison milepost 37
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MONSTER fooddrink MONEY MAKER endnotes
Photo: Matt Lusk
artisticlicense
questionauthority From “Surrender the Booty” shirts to Kyle Busch hats — Britton Ricketts might be the Outer Banks’s biggest art seller.
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T-shirts are the original beach souvenir. Long before visitors left with “OBX” on their bumper, they went home with artwork on their backs. Today, with the right vision, a restaurant can make more money branding gear than broiling seafood. So when businesses want to spice up tired logos or hire a new mascot for hoodies or hot sauce bottles, they instantly know where to turn.
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“Everywhere else is so corporate,” says Britton Ricketts, co-owner of Flying Fish Ink, a custom screen-printing, embroidery and graphic design business. “You don’t go to the city to buy a T-shirt, because everything’s Wal-Mart and Applebee’s, but you do here. It’s actually kind of a goldmine.”
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But this goldmine took a lot of digging. Like one of his sinister comic book characters, Ricketts’ talent morphed from mild-mannered textbook doodles into a ravenous monster of creativity. As a teenager, so advanced were his skills and so quick his turnaround, Ricketts became the go-to guy for every art project from bulletin boards to school menus to yearbooks. After graduating from the Governor’s Magnet School for the Arts, the Portsmouth product moved to the Outer Banks in 1994, drawn to the relaxed beach lifestyle and the fringe boarding culture. By 1996, he found a tough but wise mentor in Guy Grazetti at Graphic Attack.
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basically making the lame look cool and the cool look cooler. After servicing longtime accounts like Froggy Dog and Blue Point, Ricketts went freelance in 2000 and began drawing fresh designs for Quagmire’s, Goombays, Red Drum, Tortuga’s… “Anywhere I like to eat or drink, I probably did the logo,” laughs Ricketts. “I didn’t really turn stuff down.” Meanwhile, Ricketts supplemented his income through surfboard art, painting everything from the absurd to the terrifying for local shredders, which facilitated connections in the action sports industry. A sub-repping gig with Volcom Clothing and Electric Visual followed as Ricketts capped the pens and moved to Wilmington.
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Fledgling start-up or established business, he makes the lame look cool and the cool look cooler.
“I had quit drawing at that point,” he says, “but learning about fashion production and repping clothes helped me sell myself as an artist. You’re nobody until somebody knows you. Eventually, I knew the right people.” A serendipitous encounter with a newly sponsored Electric athlete, NASCAR driver Kyle Busch, at the 2005 Orlando Surf Expo provided a new creative conduit. Former 17th Street Surf Shop manager Ryan Kingsbury had just gotten the Media/ PR job for Kyle Busch Motorsports, and the franchise needed an artist for logo branding of anything KBM or Monster Energy Drink related. As luck and timing would have it, Kingsbury knew a guy. “It was exactly what I was doing before — selling artwork to make people money,” says Ricketts. “But now I understood details I’d never known before because I was stuck on the Outer Banks. It’s easy to make money here, but we’re not competitive in the real world. You have to go away to come back. Once Ryan got with KBM, everything clicked and I could start designing locally again.” Choked with accounts, Flying Fish owner Mike Stokes offered Ricketts freelance work before bringing him on as a partner this summer. “There are lots of good graphic artists and illustrators,” says Stokes, “but finding someone who can get artwork from a computer screen into a press and onto a shirt is invaluable. It’s such a specialized skill. Then he’ll turn right around and paint a skateboard deck that’s just insane.” Of course, Britton still paints skateboards... and surfboards and motorcycles, while drawing his own comics and KBM/ Monster artwork on the side, though much of that moonlighting ultimately yields more accounts for Flying Fish.
“I never had a goal to be an artist,” admits Ricketts. “I was doing plumbing because I had to pay rent like everybody else. But Guy told me, ‘You can always be a plumber if the art thing doesn’t work out.’”
“Surfboards and comics were never moneymakers,” admits Ricketts, “but they’re what set me apart as an artist. If you found a box of my personal work, which isn’t as formulaic or gimmicky as my graphic design, you’d never knew I drew it. I might be overqualified for lighthouses and birds, but if that’s what you want on your shirts, then I feel like I can draw you the most badass lighthouse or bird you’ve ever seen. No matter the job, I put in equal effort.”
Like the business name, Ricketts attacked graphics, injecting his own uniquely sharp aesthetic into propaganda for fledgling startups and established dynamos alike —
“On the other hand,” he finishes, “If you want me to draw you Dimebag Darrell as a toxic zombie, I’ll blow your mind.” — Matt Pruett
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FAMILY getactive TRADITION
For the Martier clan, musical talent just comes with the territory.
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What’s it take to get all four Martiers in the same room for one hour? Three weeks. Five phone calls. Two interviews. And a combined total of 36 texts. By the time we finally assemble, my hands and voice are getting sore from typing and talking. So I can’t imagine how four of the Outer Banks’ most in-demand musicians must feel at the height of summer.
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“I pulled a ‘regulation quad’ yesterday,” laughs papa Dan as we wait in the foyer of Outer Banks Old Time Photos. “That’s four gigs in one day. No second jobs — just drumming.”
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His wife Laura is just as jammed up; her sultry siren’s voice being the star of several weekly engagements. Their son Josh hits the skins almost nightly for the rabidly popular Hound Dog Family Band. Meanwhile, daughter Lucy’s either recording originals or soundtracking happy hours. All of them collaborate on any number of side gigs, creating a blistering pace that will run past Labor Day. But most venues aren’t ready for live music on Friday at 7pm, giving the Martiers a semi-regular break between sets.
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Banks to help Dan’s brother start a business. He left; they stayed. Lucy was born a year later. And the music scene’s never been the same. “We got into playing right away,” says Dan. “I worked with the Wilder Brothers and bands like the Rarely Heard. Then we formed the B-Sides, which is where we made the biggest splash, playing up through Virginia.” Regular Richmond and VB gigs helped build a regional following. Back home, local gigs and collaborations filled off-nights. In between, the kids enjoyed impromptu jams and woke up to visiting musicians blowing sax on the backporch. It was a creative melting pot destined to forge future musicians — but not without some extra fire. “I was pretty strict about them taking music lessons,” says Laura. “A lot of times, reluctantly. Poor Josh, in 6th grade I sent him away to arts camp. He called home so much we had to install an 800 number [laughs]. But I think it’s really served them well; in ways they probably don’t even realize.”
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“This is our family hour,” Laura confides. “The time we actually get to be together.”
And they’ve generously agreed to spend it staging goofy tourist photos. Among the happy banter and costume changes, Dan kills time by slapping his knees. Laura hums arias and turns random comments into impromptu lyrics. The kids mostly listen. All of it offers a tiny glimpse of what it was like to grow up in a household where “go play” meant something totally different.
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“I mostly remember music,” says 22-year-old Lucy. “Enya, Brian Eno, Laurie Anderson — and lots of Paul Simon.” “The Rhythm of the Saints!” laughs Josh, 27. “Anytime I hear that album, it reminds me of home.” Home could’ve been many places. Laura and Dan met in Memphis while backing different road bands and married in 1984. Shortly after Josh was born the new trio moved to Florida’s Suncoast — then took a shot at L.A. before deciding the big city was too much. They were on their way back to the Sunshine State in 1989 when they stopped on the Outer milepost
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Anyone who’s watched Josh wield his sticks won’t argue. Long-armed and lanky, his frame is custom built for running a drumkit. Bare feet keep the beat tight; the rest of his body blazes ridiculous fills. But whether he’s standing in last-minute or focusing on the Critters — the Asheville-based indie rock act that is his real passion project — his mustached mouth hangs blissfully agape like “Animal” from the Muppets. As if percussion was his first and only love. Except it wasn’t. “I was more into guitar,” admits Josh. “But someone else always played better, I guess. And growing up hearing my dad all the time, drums just came naturally.”
Laura, Dan, Josh and Lucy take a break from the local saloon circuit. Photo: Cindi Harrell/Outer Banks Old Time Photos
Meanwhile, Lucy — who grew up with drums, classical piano and a taste for electronica — picked up the guitar. With the rest of the house running in live music circles, she started running tape and recording her own music. “In 8th grade she found this five-string guitar and a fourtrack,” Laura remembers. “And to compensate for her playing — which was still pretty rudimentary — she layered her voice. It’s still amazing to hear. A couple songs sound like she’s her own choir.” By high school, Lucy filled a whole hard drive with MP3s. But no matter how tech-savvy she gets, the compositions remain subtle. Mostly stripped-down six-string and synth elements that let her voice steal the show, stacking up in delicate, haunting harmonies like chords on a keyboard.
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They offer a tiny “I’m sort of bad at networking myself,” says Lucy, who spends half the year in Australia. “But my plan is to finish an album this glimpse of summer before I leave — knock a song out each day, and get what it them out every way possible.” was like And so Lucy pumps out fresh material. Josh pounds out the jams. And Mom and Dad find inspiration in those they once to grow inspired. After years fronting jazz combos and big-time up in a productions like “Patsy,” Laura’s brushing up on guitar so she can also play solo whenever she pleases. And while Dan’s household still the area’s go-to drummer — including backing Dave where “go Matthews’ stunt guitarist Tim Reynolds in TR3 — he now finds himself frequently filling in for Josh as much as he can. play” meant “We’re so proud of them both because they’re so much something more original than Laura or I,” Dan beams. “They’ve definitely totally upped the bar.” different. Listening to the Martiers trade compliments and memories, it’s
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easy to feel jealous. Instead of tired high school clichés about raiding the liquor cabinet, there’re stories of Josh high-tailing it home with Dad’s pilfered high-hat. Or Lucy’s first concert — a Foo Fighters/Chili Peppers double bill where she rode Flea’s dirt bike backstage. But a performer’s life has its own pressures — on both sides of the microphone.
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“I used to get really nervous whenever Mom and Dad had a big gig,” Lucy admits. “Like when Mom sang with the Virginia Symphony, I was almost scared.” “I still get scared,” adds Josh. “I remember watching Dad open for Dave Matthews and thinking, ‘Please make this a good show.’” Just like some musical version of the Flying Wallendas, when one member flies the whole family gets a thrill. And when someone falls, they all feel the pain. In either case, they all understand the joys and challenges that lie ahead.
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“We worry about the kids sometimes,” says Laura. “Because music is such a tough calling. But I feel like Dan and I have enjoyed success just being able to lead a full and good life with music being the primary component. So we still have faith.” Maybe because they grew up inside the faith. While this whole notion of an “Outer Banks Osmonds” sounds uniquely quaint, it’s not. Both Dan and Laura played in church bands alongside their own parents. Dan’s father still teaches piano. Laura’s dad played guitar, and her four sisters still sing gorgeously. This summer, the sisters paid a visit with their own child prodigies. One night, every man, woman and child, ages 14 to 50, took turns sharing an open stage. The whole family tree swinging, swaying and shaking their roots — including Dan, Laura, Josh and Lucy.
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BREAKING AWAY I can’t take another day. This cramped cage. Those stupid coffee table races. And if I don’t eat something besides soggy lettuce, I’m gonna crack. Okay, I admit it: I was flattered at first. To have her pick me — me! — out of all the day-glo paint jobs and super heroes. (They think they’re so cool — the jerks.) Call me old-fashioned, but for me, it’s plain shell or nothing. Mr. Natural. So when the hand came down and scooped me up, I poked my eyestalks up at those cute freckles, wriggled my antennae and thought: “Now here’s a girl who appreciates a guy for who he is! Who will let a fella crawl up and down the bars when he wants to. Hang out in his water dish. You know: be himself.” She even bought me a buddy so I wouldn’t be lonely. Okay, so Herman wasn’t always the best roomie — some guys don’t realize there’s a time to scratch gravel and a time to sleep — but that don’t mean he deserved what he got. Flinging him halfway ‘cross the room. Poor guy. I mean, I don’t know where you come from, but in my neighborhood, you hold a fella upside down too long, you get pinched. Herman’s lucky he survived. Not that it did him much good. Look at him over there. All curled up and dried out. So undignified. Eyes bulging. Tail frozen in that squirmy shape. Like some morbid question mark screaming out to the cosmos: “Why me, Lord? Why?! ” But does she care? Nope. One day, it’s: “Awwww, how cute.” Next it’s: “Let’s stick him in the cat’s face and see what happens.” Well, I ain’t going out like that. Not me, pal. Next time that kid forgets the latch, I’m clawing up there and prying the friggin’ thing open. And I don’t care how much noise I make in the process. Freedom, baby! Freedom! All I need is a place where I can hide out a day or two and finish my escape plan. Someplace cool. Someplace moist. Someplace… safe. That spot beneath the space heater looks like a good place to start. — C. White
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endnotes Do ya feel lively, punk? Well, do ya? Then join the Outer Banks Forum for the Lively Arts for three fresh fall concerts. On Sept 8, the Canadian Brass mixes musical genres from baroque to jazz; Oct 6, pianist Emile Pandolfi applies classical training to pop styles; and Nov 3, it’s one of legendary guitarist Les Paul’s personal favorites, Frank Vignola. All shows start at 7:30pm at First Flight High School. $25 for adults; $12 for students. More at www.outerbanksforum.org. • That’s just a fraction of autumn’s impending audio invasion. On Aug 24, Bubba Sparxxx brings New South rap to the Outer Banks Brewing Station. Sept 13, Guttermouth hits The Pit with Orange County’s OG mix of hilarity, obscenity and hardcore thrash. And on Sept 29, C-Ville’s Hackensaw Boys throw down the hoedown at Port O’Call. (Keep an ear on www. obxentertainment.com for additions and updates.) • Comedy Club of the Outer Banks (aka the Ramada Inn) sends in the clowns starting Aug 29-Sept 2 with Mark Riccadonna (and Brian McGuinness). Sept 5-7 features Mike Stankiewicz (with John Kensil). Sept 14’s got Vince Martin (with Kate Brindle). Sept 21 brings Mark Matusof (with Bill Russ). And Sept 28, it’s Allan Goodwin (with Andrew Forrester). Tix are $21; shows start at 9pm. Get serious details at www.comedyclubobx.com. • Costa Rican painter-turned-KDH transplant Carolina Cato has been busy turning a surreal eye on her new home. Catch her swirling spirals, polka dots and neon landscapes at Manteo’s Neil GT Gallery — on glowing display through Oct 13. • If catching fish is your art form, swing down to Hatteras Village for Sept 15’s Day at the Docks. This annual celebration of coastal culture runs 10am-5pm and features cooking demos, waterman skills contests, music — plus special appearances by Alaskan fisher/poet Dave Densmore and Niaz Dorry, director of the Northwest Atlantic Marine Alliance. Visit www.dayatthedocks. org for more. • The Hatteras Wave Jam also blows through Avon and Buxton Sept 1215. Last year, Irene washed out this stop on the American Windsurfing Tour, but they’re back and ready to go loopy. Updates at www.americanwindsurfingtour.com. • Feeling testy? Check out Real Watersports’ Demo Daze on Sept 1 for a chance to try out new kiteboarding gear before dropping a dime. (Pre-register at www. realwatersports.com.) And give your ears a fresh experience with the Real Concert Series — every Tues and Thurs thru Oct 15 at Mojo’s Café. • Clock’s ticking on the Downtown Manteo festivities, but you can still catch the Farmers Market every Sat through Sept 29 and the Tuesday Craft Fair through Sept 27. More at www. townofmanteo.com. • And First Friday keeps firing all the way through December, promising live bands, good grub and – of course – the Dare County Arts Council’s opening receptions for each month’s featured artists: Sept 7 is photographer Brooke Mayo’s “Harvest Hour” Collection plus paintings by Barbara Geernat. On Oct 5 it’s the 17th Annual Beach Book Cover Competition plus “More Than the Sum of Its Parts” — award-winning composite imagery by Linda Browning. And Nov 2, Bill Lease’s photos highlight the issue of hunger while raising money for needy families with “Food For Thought: A Shared Promise and Responsibility.” • Eye patch? Check. Fake beard? Check. Insane, bloodthirsty lust for treasure? (Maybe not.) But at least kids can score piles of plastic gold during the Outer Banks Pirate Festival, which sails through local businesses Sept 13-15. Kitty Hawk Kites in Nags Head serves as captain to this annual event, hosting a Scallywag School for Young Scoundrels. Details at www.outerbankspiratefestival.com. • Real-life captains, ahoy! The Oregon Inlet Billfish Round-Up runs Sept 12-15. This three-day white marlin event benefits Shriners’ good deeds — no fez required. And Oct 14-15, the 2nd Annual Marshes Light Marina Super Slam dangles a $10,000 1st-place prize. More info on both at www. marsheslightmarina.com. • Less yakking — more kayaking. On Sept 22, put your Hobie where your mouth is when Kitty Hawk Surf Co. hosts the Outer Banks Kayak Fishing
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Tournament. Choose to fish the ocean or the sound — Kitty Hawk Pier to Hatteras Inlet — from a mile offshore to five miles inland. Just don’t miss the Sept 21 captains’ meeting. Score deets at www.khsurf.com. • And Sept 21-23, the Eastern Surf Kayak Association will hold a contest at Jennette’s Pier. (Anyone who uses the phrase “goat boat” will be severely paddled.) Latest news at www.jennettespier.net. • Everybody “knows a guy who knows a guy.” Especially now since Guy Fiere did his whirlwind summer tour for two Food Network shows: a fall episode of “Diners, Drive-Ins and Dives” plus a “family reunion” special to air over the holidays. So which Outer Banks eateries made the cut? Rumor mill says Tortuga’s Lie, Black Pelican, Brew Station and the Brine and Bottle — to name just a few. But for a complete list you’ll just have to stay tuned. (Or see who’s been stuffing their Facebook pages with snapshots.) • What’s food without wine? Be at Sanctuary Vineyards in Jarvisburg for Sept 22’s annual Currituck Food and Wine Festival. With live music, local food and the Great Currituck Grape Stomp, it’s guaranteed to be barrels of fun. More at www. sancturyvineyards.com. • Blow it out your tailpipe when the region’s most rabid motorcyclists rumble in for the 2012 NC State H.O.G. Rally, Sept 27-29. (Get details at www.ncstatehogrally.com.) And between poker runs and bike washes, be sure to vroom over to Roanoke Island Festival Park for OBX Saves The Day Festival and Auto/ Bike Show on Sept 29, 10am-6pm. Go to www.roanokeisland.com for details. • This beach ain’t gonna clean itself, you know. Come out Sept 29 for North Carolina’s Big Sweep and Trashfest events. Same deal as always: go to one of the specified accesses from Kitty Hawk to Pea Island between 9am and noon, fill up a trash bag. Then bring the refuse to the Brew Station from noon to 4pm for a free after-party with Outer Banks Surfrider. More info at surfrider.outerbanks.org. • Scha-winngg! Is that a 3-wood in your pocket or are you just happy that fall is charity golf tournament season? Start with the Kitty Hawk Rotary Pro-Am Golf Tournament Sept 23– 24, where two dozen teams hit the Duck Woods Country Club to raise cash for Food for Thought, Community Care Clinic of Dare and others. More at www. kittyhawkrotary.org. • On Oct 15, it’s Kelly’s 19th Annual Golf Tournament. No details at press time, but there will be at least one round of golf – and several rounds of beverages. Watch www. kellysrestaurant.com for venues and pricing. • And on Oct 29, the 6th Annual Paul Shaver Memorial Golf Linda Browning’s composite Tournament will gather imagery crystallizes on Oct. 5. at Seascape to honor
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endnotes the legendary restaurateur and help local charities. Cost is $100 per player; $400 per team. Noon shotgun start; after-party at the Black Pelican. • Calling all Peeping Toms and Gladys Kravitzes! Oct 4-7 is your chance to snoop with impunity as the 20th Annual Outer Banks Parade of Homes lines up new houses for strangers’ viewing pleasure. It’s the perfect opportunity to get ideas — or just gossip over someone’s gaudy fixtures. More at www.obhomebuilders.org. • Are you a “try-athlete” — as in try anything? Then hop aboard the Blackbeard Adventure Race on Oct 6. This combo of mountain biking, trail running, kayaking, “coasteering” and orienteering travels for a combined total of 25-45 miles. Register at www.americanadventuresports.com. • Or try Artrageous — Dare County Arts Council’s funnest fundraiser. Be at KDH Rec Park on Sat, Oct 6, from 10am-3pm, for live art demos, kids’ activities, music, food and more. Then, Sun night, get to Kelly’s by 5:30pm for cocktails, heavy hors ‘douvres and a silent auction of highly collectable works. Proceeds from the 23rd annual event benefit arts education in Dare County schools, as well as the DCAC Endowment Fund and the Artrageous Scholarship Fund for high school seniors. More info at www.darearts. org. • The Whalehead Club promises twice the party for its 10/20 event, which commemorates both the 10-year anniversary Pure gold from a pawn shop. Photo: N. D. Pendant of the Corolla landmark’s reopening — and the 20-year anniversary of Currituck County purchasing the historic property. The gala features silent and live auctions, hunting and fishing-inspired cuisine, plus music and dancing. Tickets are $125 per person – or limited reserved tables are available for $1,000 and $2,500. • Too rich for your bloodhound? On Oct 14, you can celebrate Currituck’s down-home roots with the Whalehead Club’s Heritage Day Festival, starring the CCHS Marching Knights, antique cars, kite flying, kids’ activities and local arts and crafts. (Free for in-county residents; just $7 for out-of-towners.) And come back the following Sun, Oct 21, for the Corolla Classic Car Show, promising fabulous autos of all ages 10am-3pm. More on all three events at www.whaleheadclub.org. • Real men fly kites. Be at the Wright Brothers Memorial Oct 13-14 for the 26th Annual Outer Banks Stunt Kite Competition, promising hair-raising contests, dive-bombing demos and the occasional kite ballet. (Tutus optional.) Visit www.kittyhawk.com for a full schedule. • If that don’t cure your dance fever, shuffle down to the Comfort Inn South on Oct 20 for the Outer Banks Shag Club’s annual Harvest/Charity Dance to benefit Interfaith Community Outreach. Go to www.obxshagclub.com for more info. • Does your non-profit need money? Talk to the Outer Banks Community Foundation. To date, the philanthropic group has given more than $4.1 million dollars to Outer Bankers who’ve needed it. On Nov 30, they’ll celebrate their threedecade legacy with a special, invite-only gala at Jennette’s Pier — as well as award three substantial grant prizes to area non-profits. To enter, send your video
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submission in by Oct 15. Learn more at www.obcf.org. • Everything must grow! That’s right, the Elizabethan Gardens goes Crazy Eddie with their Big Fall Plant Sale on Oct 6-7, 9am-2pm. Then, on Oct 27, come back for Harvest Hay Day’s combo of favorite fall rituals from hayrides to bale mazes to educational stations. (NonMembers: Adults $8; Youth $5; Children 5 and under are free with a paying adult.) And stick around that night for the Diamonds & Denim Harvest Dance. From 6-11pm, wear your favorite blue jeans with sparkling jewels and enjoy live music, food, silent and live auctions, plus harvest moon hayrides. Individual tickets are $60. Reserved tables of 10: $1,000. Go to www.elizabethangardens. org for details. • Get in touch with your animal side when Wolf Awareness Week hits Alligator River National Wildlife Refuge on Oct 13. Learn about the endangered red wolf and journey into the woods to listen for their haunting sounds. And on Oct 27’s HowlO-Ween, take a night trip out to hear about nocturnal bats, owls, coyotes and creepy crawlers. More at www.fws.gov/alligatorriver. • Oct 19-20, creepy crawl back in time with Island Farm’s “Draped in Black: Victorian Death Rituals.” Join costumed interpreters on a nighttime tour and hear stories from the farm’s former residents — before traveling by lantern light to their final resting place in the family graveyard. Reserve your space at www. theislandfarm.com. • Of course, everyone knows the best part of Halloween is dressing up. For details on kid-friendly events — like the NC Aquarium’s Trick-or-Treat Under the Sea — check out the event calendar at www.outerbankschild.com. Adults? Keep an eye on the bypass signs for any number of Pimp ‘N Ho parties. • Get an early start on winter festivities when the 4th Annual Holiday Mann’s Harbor Craft and Gift Show runs Nov 9-10, promising everything from nautical décor to sea glass jewelry to home canned veggies. Plus, every kid’s Christmas favorite: knit socks! Email mannsharborcraftshow@ aol.com to set up a booth. • Or give a future college student a generous prize — and possibly catch a prize-sized fish — as part of the Annual Manteo Rotary Rockfish Rodeo on Nov 9. For over 14 years, this event’s helped award over $200,000 in college scholarships, while maintaining an annual $2,500 commitment to the Manteo Elementary School Library. More at www.rockfishrodeo.com. • Hooked on running? Then gear up for the 6th Annual Outer Banks Marathon, Nov 9-10, where thousands of fitness aficionados and just plain freaks will tread between 13. 1 and 26.2 miles, depending on their level of commitment (and/or dopamine, adrenalin and other brain chemicals). Jog over to www.obxmarathon.org to register. • And last but not least, on Nov 6, it’s the scariest day of all: Election Day! Dear God, what if the other guy wins?! Just take a deep breath. The best you can do is make an informed decision and vote your conscience. So before you press a single button, please check the NC Voters Guide (www.ncvoterguide.org) and the full spectrum of news sources. Then relax: it’s only the future of our world that’s at stake.
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