OBX in effect Day 3

We went back to First Light for breakfast and this time I had the french toast in my sights. With a side of bacon of course. Booyah:


And here's a shot of the lovely interior:


It was good, but honestly not as good as it looks. If I were to get it again I would've asked it to be extra crispy (I like crispy, alright!?) and I would've asked for the whipped cream on the side as it made the toast soggy. The bacon was very good however. Considering this was their signature item on the menu I was a bit disappointed. The best items I ate there were no question the pancakes and potatoes. The biscuits weren't too shabby however.

Judy and Dave wanted to go look at properties so we had the day to ourselves. Our first stop was the Currituck Lighthouse.


We paid a small fee and climbed the sprial stairs up to the top.


It was windy as hell up there but we took in the marvelous view anyway.


After this we rode around looking for a decent local ice cream place to satiate Nikki's sweet tooth but once she saw Dairy Queen the thought of a Blizzard ended our search. Doubly so when I spotted the sign that they were offering a seasonal pumpkin pie blizzard!


It was friggin delicious. The spice blend they sprinkled on top was definitely more than just nutmeg. It really was a terrific blizzard. I loved the chunks of pie crust. Lovely. Gorgeous.

After DQ we hit up a place called the Corolla Brew Pub which unfortunately I neglected to get a picture of outside. We headed inside and I noticed they had a few local brews on tap. I ordered the brown and was immediately taken aback. This was the best beer I'd had in a long time, if not the best beer I've ever had. Wow. Look how pretty it is:


MMmmmmm. That is all I have to say. If you really want to know how it tastes, you'll make a point of trying it the next time you're in OBX. Nikki ordered a house cabernet and the guy brought it out in one hell of a wine glass. This was probably the biggest glass of wine I've seen served. Monstrous. Here is my lovely wife, attempting to conquer the crimson beast, pinky out of course.


I didn't get any great pics of the interior but here is a pic of the taps and the wall behind the bar, covered in glasses and lovely lovely liquor.


I couldn't leave this post without a picture of me enjoying said amazing brew, could I?


After a few rounds and Nikki's jug o' wine we met up with Judy and Dave for dinner. This time it was my choice so I chose a place we had driven by a few times that looked promising, the Red Sky Cafe.


One trend to this meal was lukewarm. Everything I ate was lukewarm. Let's get right to it. The asiago artichoke dip that was served with bread tasted like pizza in dip form. This would've been totally awesome had it been served hot. Unfortunately it was served room temperature. You will start to notice a trend here...


I also ordered a margarita and Dave promptly told the server (who was a snotty bish) to upgrade it to Patron. I didn't mind at all. While this was a real margarita and I applaud them for that I was kind of in the mood for a sickly sweet synthetic pre-bottled one. So this one didn't hit the mark for me. I may have felt differently had I been in the mood for a traditional margarita.

For my entree I ordered a special that unfortunately isn't on their online menu and this was so long ago I only have my terrible memory and one picture to go off of. It was a lamb and skirt steak dish served over pasta with feta cheese and roasted pine nuts.


As any normal person would, I expected this dish to be served HOT. But it was also served lukewarm. Room temperature. Meat served room temperature. Was the oven on a smoke break or something? I will give the place credit though, on second perusal of the menu it did say served over pasta salad so I guess it was my fault for not reading the menu correctly. But can you blame me? I was two beers and a margarita in, and I'm a skinny white boy with no tolerance. I picked at the dish for a minute or two and pushed it away. I had a very bad experience at this restaurant. On the other hand Nikki and Judy ordered the Herb Encrusted Chicken and I ate most of Nikki's and it was actually very tasty. Probably because it was HOT. Also Dave said his sweet and spicy duck was very good. I would've ordered that but I'm not huge on citrus glazes. I work at a citrus flavor and fragrance plant, can you blame me?

After dinner we headed over to the Swann Bar & Lounge for drinks and dessert. We headed up the stairs to a quaint little lounge area with a small bar and fireplace, at least I think there was a fireplace... The specialty drink menu was pretty damn impressive and had me salivating after my disappointing dinner. I ordered a cinnamon apple spice martini thing. The presentation was very pleasant:


Unfortunately it had too much Jack in it. It was a bit too strong. But martinis are supposed to be strong, right? I guess I just didn't know what I wanted to drink that night because it seems I wasn't pleased with anything. Anyway after perusing their dessert menu I ordered the apple pie a la mode. Another fantastic presentation:


Now this tasted wonderful. One quip I had was the massive amount of raisins I encountered in every bite. I wasn't expecting any raisins, let alone a 1:1 ratio (at least) of apples to raisins. Dave explained to me that this was a southern thing. I didn't mind it, I do love raisins, but I ordered apple pie, not raisin pie. See for yourself.


But like I said, it was good nonetheless. I end this post with a few pictures of our tipsy crew, I hope you've enjoyed this enthralling tale of my first experience of OBX. Which come to find out is a pretty damn boring place out-of-season and with nasty weather.

OBX in effect Day 2

The second day in OBX they already knew where to take us for breakfast since they had been there once before we arrived. This place was called First Light Breakfast & Burgers and was definitely one of the culinary finds of the trip.


I ordered the breakfast sandwich with bacon which also included a side of breakfast potatoes.


The sandwich was good, their biscuits are abnormally large, like any decent breakfast joint should have, but the real star of the dish was the side of potatoes. Red skinned potatoes cooked just right and sauteed with onions in butter, the flavor profile was fantastic. This is what breakfast potatoes should be. Here's a shot of Judy's side of pancakes which are also friggin huge. There are only two pancakes on that plate, that's how thick they are:


I couldn't believe they offered a stack of four on the menu. Even with my reknowned ability to eat an inhuman amount of food I don't think even I could finish four of those. A woman at the table next to us ordered the house special french toast and when it was brought out I knew exactly what I was having for breakfast the next day.

Our first full day in OBX was spent seeing all of the touristy stuff. We went to the Wright Brothers National Memorial and after that we went down to Roanoke Island to see the replica of Elizabeth II and the Lost Colony exhibits. Here are a few pictures from throughout the day:





While on Roanoke Island we spied an interesting restaurant to grab a quick lunch so we headed into The Magnolia Grille.


I asked the waitress what types of beers they had on tap and apparently they had their own draft house so I ordered the stout (don't remember the name and google isn't yielding any results). I remember really liking it. Judy ordered the shrimp and grits which came with a side of hush puppies. Since I wasn't quite hungry after the large breakfast I ordered a side of hush puppies for myself since it is one of the things I randomly get huge cravings for. The shrimp and grits came out and was unlike any plate of shrimp and grits any of us had ever seen:


Judy tried her hardest to finish the entire plate, which speaks volumes for how good it was considering her typically fickle eating habits. What a gorgeous plate of food. Here's a pic of my hush puppies. I like mine extra crunchy, but they were very good nonetheless:


After dinner we walked around a bit more and then headed back to the house. We skipped dinner that night and opted for the liquid diet. Nikki and I watched a lot of Dexter on dvd and relaxed. Here's a picture from the backyard just after the sun went down:

OBX in effect

We've just returned from our short stay in Outer Banks, NC. My mother-in-law rented the place for the week with an open invitation to the family to come down and stay. During our stay it was only the four of us... It was too much house for four people but the place was much nicer than I had expected. Unfortunately the weather was horrid. We literally saw about 15 minutes of sunlight in the four days we were there. But enough talk, time for the food!

It was roughly a six hour trip from our house to Corolla, NC where our place was. I decided we would stop off at Ben's Chili Bowl for lunch on the way down. It was quite an experience.


The line wasn't long at all but the smells wafting from the grill made the short wait almost unbearable.


MMmmmm if only you could smell that. Now unfortunately Nikki doesn't care for chili, so there wasn't much for her to choose from, but I already had my order in mind: the standard chili half smoke which includes mustard and onions and a side of chips. Nikki ordered the turkey burger with a side of fries.



My half smoke was terrific. I loved the combination of chili and mustard on the half-beef half-pork smoked sausage. The outter casing had a great snap. I contemplated ordering a bowl of chili after I finished... topped with mustard. Another thing I liked about the meal was it wasn't super-huge. I didn't feel horrible and bloated afterwards. I'm not a huge chip fan so I didn't touch those but Nikki's fries were nicely cooked with a molten potato interior. Deceptively hot. I walked out with a burned tongue. Here's a half-shot:


Nikki said her turkey burger could've been a bit more flavorful but I pointed out that she ordered a turkey burger from a place that specializes in chili and smoked sausages. Her reply was simply "Good point". We relished our seats at the bar and watched them work their magic all the while chatting it up with the locals sitting around us.


We arrived many hours later to find a very large and well-kept house:


It had a huge foyer,...


...pool, gazebo, and jacuzzi and backed up right to the beach looking out over the Atlantic.


It was pretty amazing. Immediately after unpacking it was time for drinks so I was handed a huge Grolsch. When Dave (my mother-in-law's boyfriend) learned I had never tried potato vodka he immediately poured me a glass of that too. After finishing both I was thoroughly buzzed and starving. Nikki felt the similarly famished so they recommended a place called Mike Dianne's Grill Room.


The complimentary bread and oil was good.


The oil was exceptionally garlicky which I loved. I had a glass of the Leese-Fitch cab (pictured above) which was so-so. I ordered the Grill Room salad and the 8 oz. filet with a shiitake mushroom demi glace which came with green beans and garlic mashed potatoes.


This salad was good. I had never had a green salad served over cous cous. The textures were fantastic and I love me some toasted pine nuts. My only complaint about this dish was the horribly bitter pepperocini. I've eaten these peppers by the jar so I know what they should taste like, and this wasn't it. It took all I had not to spit it out on the table. Ugh, disgustingly bitter.

Unfortunately I forgot to snap a shot of my dish before I dove into it. I was warned by my mother-in-law that the green beans are al dente but that was an understatement. They were a step above raw. Speaking of raw, here's a shot of my medium rare filet:


Yes, it was most certainly undercooked. After that much alcohol I barely noticed. Fortunately I would much rather have an undercooked filet than an overcooked one so I didn't really mind. The sauce was good but honestly I barely remember what it tasted like. I don't think it really added too much. What I was really craving was some sort of wine reduction sauce but sadly that was not one of the options.

After the main course we couldn't decide on a dessert to share so we ordered three, the flourless chocolate cake, the "house favorite" key lime pie, and the peanut butter pie. Again, by this time I had a lot to drink. I ordered whichever glass of port wine would pair best with the chocolate cake and by that time I was pretty sauced so I forgot to snap a shot of the desserts when they hit the table. But here is one shortly after we started inhaling them:


In my opinion the best of the three was the chocolate cake. I have no idea why the key lime pie is their signature dessert because it was decidedly average. The peanut butter pie was good but not great. The molten core of the flourless chocolate cake stuck to the roof of my mouth and was ever so much fun to suck off of my fork. This is fast becoming one of my go-to dessert choices.

We went home and hung out and passed out. Next up day 2.