One morning last week, I popped into a Starbucks drive-through for a quick jolt. This was in Greenville, N.C., home to our Nags Head Hammocks warehouse. The 20-something barrista nearly gave me an unexpected java bath as she leaned out the window to hand me my cup, and spied my Tortuga’s Lie T-shirt.
“Tortuga’s!” she giddily exclaimed. “I love that place – don’t you? Isn’t it just the best place to eat on the Outer Banks?” Turns out she hailed from Nags Head, and once she graduated from college, was headed straight back. No idea what she was going to do once she got there. But she had to get back.
That’s just how it is. The Outer Banks puts a hook in you that stays. It may feed you a bit of line, and you may run off in different directions for a while, but usually sooner rather than later, the place just reels you back, and back, and back.
Before I rattle on any further, I want to be clear that there’s a treasure-trove of outstanding eateries up and down the Banks; if a restaurant sticks around here, it has to be good. Tortuga’s is just special to me, not only for its zesty Caribbean-styled menu, but even more because of the special OBX memories I have of the cheerful place.
That’s really why I decided to write today: the draw these islands have on folks, myself included. And I hope this Website, newly designed to better reflect our beloved Outer Banks and the hand-woven quality of our products, can become a spot for you to connect with this special set of islands even when you can’t be here. Maybe it can even help you plan your next – or first-ever! – visit, which definitely needs to include a stop at one of our Nags Head Hammocks stores!
If you’ve got OBX questions, we hope this site can help you sort them out, with links to proven sources for answers. Most OBX info is only a click or two from your fingertips; the feel of the salt breeze on your face, however, requires a trip here!
- How’s the OBX weather? Not to gloat, or anything, but today is just dandy. A light breeze coming up from the southwest, just below 90 degrees, solid visibility, mostly open skies. Sun and surf, baby! By sunset, absolutely perfect hammock weather.
- How are the waves? How’s the surfing? Sorry, but no serious swells today. But check again soon – it can go from flat to glassy here in the blink of an eye.
- What about the fishing? What’s in season right now? Where can I put my boat in?
- Any big, scary storms out there? I’d like to say we don’t sometimes get ’em. We do. Always best to know ahead of time.
- Which restaurants are tops? Who’s got the OBX-style clam chowder and softshell crabs? Who brews their own beer?
- What if I want to get hitched on vacation? You may not be alone! Turns out a whole lot of people want an OBX wedding.
Surfing the Web is hardly body surfing off Nags Head, but when you can’t actually be here, we hope our site can help you keep your ties here strong.
The first time I visited the Outer Banks as an adult was more than a decade ago, in January, the dead of winter, around 9 o’clock at night. Right after checking into a hotel, I asked the desk clerk that most annoying of questions, “Where do the locals go to eat?” She was nice enough to act like not every other person asked her that very same thing. At that time of night, she said, try Tortuga’s Lie. Look for the turtle sign. Not even a mile south, the right side of the beach road.
I remember first stepping inside Tortuga’s, trying to shake the cold off me – that Atlantic wind was biting hard, as it surely can on the Banks in winter. Tortuga’s is a happy, unassuming place. The owner, who I’m convinced was born smiling, was helping the kitchen crew, as he often does. The dozen or so customers that blustery, frigid night (my first proper visit to the Outer Banks and I see snow flurries? How wrong is that?) were huddled around the cozy bar like it was a fire to get warm by.
I remember how those OBXers whom I’d never met before quickly welcomed me into to their little group. They asked me questions – Where ya from? Why on earth would you come here in the middle of winter? (I confess it: I love this place in winter!) One of them bought me a tasty adult libation to go with my late dinner.
I left that night thinking: I want to live on the Outer Banks!
That happens a lot with this place. Of course, we can’t all live here. And I’m not blowing smoke when I say that’s what I love so much about working with Nags Head Hammocks – buying a hammock, chair, swing or stand from us means a little piece of our uncanny barrier islands will be joining you at your home, to tide you over until you can next sink your feet into our own tides again, or can make that first very visit here to ruin yourself to all other beaches in the future!
Thanks for hanging out with me for a bit. Ya’ll come back now, ya hear?
-Frank
