Travel Guide Obsolescence

Now that I'm back, I can report in detail about my adventures at the Outer Banks. I've also gotten rid of the "Picture Share!" annoyances and the punctuations weirdnesses from my posts sent from my phone earlier this week.

After we arrrived on Monday, my dad and I quickly ventured out to Owen's Restaurant, where we enjoyed the lobster bisque and coconut shrimp pictured earlier. I had a difficult time deciding whether I wanted the appetizer or dinner sized portion of the shrimp and the cup or bowl of bisque. Had I not been starving, I would probably still be there today. Well, maybe not.

Tuesday morning started out somewhat gloomy, but it seemed like a perfect day to go look for galleries. The Insider's Guide to the Outer Banks (22nd Edition) had a listing for the Crafter's Gallery. My dad and I drove up and down Highway 158 looking for it, without any luck. I tried calling, but there was no answer. In hindsight, the reverse order of procedures might have made sense. Then we drove to Kitty Hawk to look for the Kitty Hawk Pier Restaurant, which we couldn't find either. They told us at a gas station that Hurricane Isabel had taken it out. By then, we were hungry, so we went to a barbecue restaurant across the street, called the High Cotton.

The barbecue was actually quite good and I'm fairly picky about barbecue. What native North Carolinian isn't? I just had a sandwich, because I had noticed that there was an ice cream shop in the same area. My dad shared his cornbread with me and it was good, but it wasn't excellent. I'm very picky about cornbread, too. In fact, I'm a lot pickier about cornbread than I am barbecue.

Afterwards, we went next door to the book store. The extremely nice owner explained to us that the Kitty Hawk Pier Restaurant was being replaced by a Hilton. She said that Isabel had taken out the pier, too. She also sold us a map. While, as she and her daughter pointed out, it was out of date, it proved to be quite useful. After googling, I can report that the completion of the Hilton is scheduled for June 1st of 2006.

Next, we went down to the ice cream store. They had peppermint, my favorite flavor, so I was happy. They also had sugar cones. My dad bet that he would be able to have my leftovers, but he was wrong. Well, he got the last bite.

Then, it was off to Gallery Row, further south, in Nags Head...