SNOW AGAIN!!!

Here in North Carolina we can go some time without seeing any snow.  So to have seen it a few times this season, especially within a few months of each other, is truly something special.  We thought we would show everyone some pictures of the snow storm we had in February. We definitely got more snow this around as you can see from these pictures take at our Duck store.

SNOW!!!

Last Friday it snowed for about 2 hours from Avon to Corolla.  It left a beautiful little dusting on everything for a short minute.  It was the earliest snow on the Outer Banks that anyone can remember.   Here are some pictures from we were able to take before it melted away.

Last week....

We had a northeastern come in and if you have ever been down here when that hits then you know its cold and windy.  One of the houses in Rodanthe unfortunately fell into the ocean because the waves were so high from the wind.  Click here to read more and see a few pictures.

There for the beach.

Surfing on the OBX provides you with waves that are too small, perfect, or that are simply worthy of Noah's Ark. On July 4th, the water was about 70 degrees and you could catch 3-4 ft waves at a rate of 20 an hour... fun fun fun. Last week, 1st week of September, Hannah came by and offered some very steep and big surf with changing conditions every hours. It is important to surf hunt on the OBX because the break differs so much. Every 1/4 mile offers a new type of waves and Frisco even offers a totally different swell and wind direction. In case of doubt, stop at a local surf shop and ask, they'll be glad to help you. The best local knowledge for surfing comes from this website: www.obxsurfinfo.com. The live cam is always filtered by salt water residue, but the morning comments and pictures posted before 7am will tell you everything you need to know for a succesful day in the water. The most useful I've seen yet. For a more technical surf forecast, try www.magicseaweed.com. Althought not specific to the OBX, it offers some nice graphic up to 7 days ahead.

Bodie Island Lighthouse

Not too long ago we were searching for the perfect places to take pictures and video of our products in their natural habitat, so of course we were searching for the most relaxing spots along the Outer Banks. After a full day of driving around, hiking and searching we decided to go down to Bodie Island Lighthouse. It’s a great lighthouse to visit because it’s not that far from the main road that carries you into Nags Head and it beautiful scenery to admire. It’s the perfect place to just stroll around and visit. Did you know that the Bodie Island Lighthouse we can visit today is actually the third one that was built? For more information about the Bodie Island Lighthouse visit this link.

Here are two pictures we took that day.

Check out Meghan cheesing infront of the lighthouse (above).

Visiting The Stores

I got up and headed out to the Outer Banks on Wednesday morning to take a look at our Nags Head Hammock stores while I had an open day. I left about 6:30 am for the drive from Greenville to the coast. Some of the billboards were being fixed and some changed so I also wanted to check out the progress on the billboard project. The first billboard on hwy 64 East is in Plymouth. It needed fixing on my last trip and was glad to see that it had indeed been fixed. 

The next two billboard changes were to paint the two yellow billboards to red to tie them to the billboard theme and the store colors. This work had been done as well. It is great to see a project executed.

 

When driving through Duck you will see people jogging, walking, biking and just looking around. Duck is a beautiful place to do all of these things. I was envious of all of these people knowing that their day at the beach was just starting and I was working at the beach. Oh well—there are worse places to work.

 

I arrived at our most northern Corolla store at Timbuck II at around 9:30 and started out the products that we have in the common areas. All was well. The Corolla store looked great. Justin (who works at the store) and I made only a few minor tweaks to one of the displays in the store. We loaded four barstools in a happy customer’s pickup truck for the ride back to Virginia during my visit.

 

My next stop was the Duck store. It is a beautiful property and we purchased it several months ago. The store always is wonderful. The combination of music and the flowing water from the waterfall and fountains in the store give it a very relaxing feel. This property has a huge deck out back and it overlooks the sound. It is a wonderful spot to sit and wonder (or in my case to check emails). For a moment I forgot that I had a job to do and needed to move on to the other stores.

 

Our Point Harbor store is located on the mainland, so across the 158 bridge I went. The largest hammock and stand in the world is being displayed at this store. This along with the beautiful landscaping makes this a wonderful place to visit. We have a project in the works that will improve the landscaping even further. In the near future, there will be an improved walkway that will take you to the front of the store as well as the side entrance.

 

Upon leaving the Point Harbor store, my belly was letting me know it was lunch time. Fish tacos at Mamma Kuan’s seemed like the perfect fare for my beach trip. The restaurant was hopping and the food was great. The blackened fish tacos there are just the ticket. The day was shaping up well.

 

My last visit of the day was the store in Kill Devil Hills. This is a beautifully landscaped store as well and a joy to visit. I visited with Bill Rosso (the president of Nags Head Hammocks). We discussed the business climate in the area and several small things we need to do to improve our stores.

 The Outer Banks area is always a pleasure to visit even for a work day. I hope to get there soon again and hope that you can get there to enjoy it as well.

 

Signing off for now,

Walter Perkins III

Owner

Gators on the Brain, Part 3

Winterville, N.C., where I live, is a couple hours’ drive from the Outer Banks.

On the main road that runs by my neighborhood are several stretches of roadside ditch that don’t drain quickly after a heavy rain. Within minutes of a serious cloudburst, several temporary mini-canals form along either side of the road. Whenever we get a good dousing, I point this out to my 7-year-old, who is usually too consumed in the back seat by his Nintendo DS to notice. Last time I mentioned it, he surprised me by asking if those flooded ditches didn’t drain, would we end up with alligators in them?

In the 1930s, several alligators were sighted in the New York City sewers, and reportedly killed with rat poison. However, the legend of gators in the bowels of the Big Apple still persists today. So why not alligators in Winterville drainage ditches?

There have been occasional reports of alligators to the southeast of here, in the Pamlico River around Washington, N.C., but to my knowledge, no one’s ever seen one of the big reptiles in the stretch of Tar River that cuts through my part of the state. I’ve even asked the nice lady at the Pamlico-Tar River Foundation, and she said she’d never heard a mention of one around here. Not to say it’s not possible, she added, but so far, no.

So when my son asked his alligator question, I should have just said: No, we won’t be seeing any alligators in the ditches beside the road. But I’m a guy, and guys will often say dumb stuff, because we think it’s fun.

So instead, I responded: “That would be cool, wouldn’t it?”

“Yeah,” my son agreed. “That would be cool.”

A minute later: “If an alligator came to our neighborhood, do you think he would eat Jack?” Jack is our Jack Russell terrier. I glanced in the rear-view mirror. My son was giving this serious thought. His face told me he was working himself up to being worried the dog was now going to be eaten by an alligator.

For a lesson in how not to parent, see above.

– Frank