our weekend away

I had the pleasure of a weekend getaway to the Outer Banks with my sweet husband. We were celebrating our anniversary, which was actually almost 2 weeks ago...but, you know--better late than never--that's how we roll.

So, we always try to mix up things a little bit when we are visiting new places. Sometimes we do lots of people watching (and listening) and write down the funniest things we hear. Sometimes we play the game where you find everyone you can that you know...except the people you find are really not the people you know (for example, in case you ever want to play...you might say, "Hey, it's Charlie Heritage," upon sight of a tall, lanky, dark-haired, completely random guy. You really should try it.) This time though, we decided to give each place we visited a rating. Our rating system was based on three criteria: 1. atmosphere; 2. service; and 3. product (usually this was food, but in some cases it was, for example, history of human flight...that would be for the Wright Brothers Memorial in case you don't know your NC history). I won't give you the complete ratings list, but here are a few of the highlights (and lowlights):

Cape Hatteras Lighthouse

Yes, we scoffed the ridiculously high cost of gas, and drove all the way to Hatteras. But it was worth it! Windows down all the way, we took in the view of the beautiful seashore and were entertained by what is, apparently, the new frontier of wave riding--kite surfing. There is just something about breathing in that salty ocean air that makes summer complete. Charlie only wished we had taken his truck so that we could have driven out on the beach.

So, for the lighthouse...

Well, I won't even waste time listing the grade and comments for each category...it was given an A all the way around. Because as Charlie adamantly stated in response to my wavering between an A and a B, "This is history. You can't give history a B."

The Froggy Dog

Not to be confused with The Salty Dog, a popular waterfront dining establishment with great atmosphere and good food, The Froggy Dog was nothing of the sort. Sorry, Froggy, if you are reading, but I have to be honest with my readers. Here's how the Dog ranked on our scale:

Atmosphere: D. I couldn't ever quite put my finger on the smell, but it was kind of a great-grandmother's house meets elementary school cafeteria spray cleaner aroma. Although the restaurant was only a few yards from the water, the only view from the dining area was of the gravel parking lot.

Service: D. Our waitress was nice. She was also from another country. What country, you ask? Well, we might have picked up on an accent if we could have heard her. She whispered and mumbled her way through taking our order and scurried away from our table before we had the chance to ask any questions. We also didn't have the pleasure of meeting our silent server until about 15-20 minutes after we sat down.

Product (Food): D. So, I have to preface this one and say that Charlie and I probably should have made better choices in our selections. Charlie got a hot dog. A hotdog. At a seafood restaurant. At the beach. Don't ask me why. But I don't think he'll ever do it again. I tried to tell him that a 1/4 lb. hotdog was more hotdog than anyone should handle in one sitting, but he wouldn't listen.

Wish someone had told me that my crab sandwich was going to contain a whole deep-fried crab between 2 pieces of soggy bread. I would have listened.

The Downeast Rover Sunset Sail

One of the highlights of our trip, we set sail from the Manteo waterfront around 6:00 pm with our cooler and carryout.

Atmosphere: A. What could be better atmosphere than the beautiful Roanoke Sound at sunset? The captain said it was one of the best sails he'd ever had on this boat.

Service: A. The captain and first mate were friendly and laid back, but we also felt confident that they definitely knew what they were doing. There were a few times that I had white knuckles due to the white caps...but First Mate Marina (that was really her name--you know she's got to be good when her name is Marina) totally kept us from all going overboard.

Product (the sail): A. Nice boat. Good wind. Beautiful sunset. Romantic evening with my hubby of 6 years.

We have several more ratings from our trip (most of them positive), but this long post would get even longer. And I have laundry to do.

So this is the last one I'll tell you about. It tops the charts as an A++. Thank you for an amazing weekend, Charlie, just you and me! And wasn't it wonderful to come home to this?