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Currittuck County Fun
So my wife and I see that Dennis Anderson’s (Grave Digger monster truck) is having carnival rides at his Muddy Motor Sports Park and we think, hey, why not take the kids and get them out of the house. I quickly realize I can’t afford to do this often. I night at the movies would have been a lot cheaper. But the kids are stoked and, luckily, this doesn’t come around often. Bonnie and I are content doing some people watching. I’m still not sure who’s more entertaining, the carnies (they smell like cabbage) or the locals. After taking out a small loan to get the kids on the rides we venture over to the mud pit to watch the “race” cars. Honestly, the races were the best part of the night. Bonnie appeared to be a genius to choose an early arrival and departure because when the sun went … Continued
February 10 Wind Storm
While some of you were still digging out of the snow, the Outer Banks was watching the tide come in on the sound side (hoy toyd on the sound soyd). Look at my youtube link at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0Vz_s0ASbA8. If you look carefully you’ll notice the parking lot at Miller’s Waterfront Restaurant is entirely under water. Down here we don’t get a lot of snow days but we will call off school if we get flooding or winds so high it’s a danger to cross a bridge while driving a school bus. And if you miss school altogether you get to make it up on a Saturday. So it’s pay now or pay later.
Gone Fishing, Came Up Empty
On Thursday my mechanic, Chris, calls and says he’s going striper fishing with his girlfriend. Since he’s borrowing my boat I decide to invite myself. I thought to myself, “This makes perfect sense. The family’s still on Christmas vacation, I haven’t done anything exciting, it’s cold out (the striper’s like it chilly), and just a few days prior I heard a report that the in-shore fishermen were maxing out”. How could this not be a raving success? We launched around 11:00 which isn’t prime fishing time but it was very foggy by the Virginia Dare Bridge on the Croatan Sound. We felt our way to the bridge and started trolling. After about an hour we saw one other boat that was fishing who said they hadn’t had any luck. Another hour later we decided the Fish Gods were not smiling upon us but mocking us and we headed home. I … Continued
Something New.
I’ve neglected the entries for a little while because things were a bit of a whirl-wind for me. I was named the varsity lacrosse coach for First Flight High School in Kill Devil Hills, NC. This is a big thrill for me and I’ve had a lot of support from friends all over. The lacrosse team just received varsity status meaning this is our inaugural season. I’ve helped with the local youth team for years and I had coached high school teams in the past so I’m really just getting back in to doing what I did for a job for nine years. I’m being assisted by two great coaches, Sandy Eanes and Mike Konrad. All three of us are from Maryland and they bring a lot of experience to the table. Like me, they are extremely excited to get started. This inaugural team coincides with the inaugural state playoff … Continued
Annual Christmas Letter
Another year goes by and what do I have to show for it? A few less hairs on my head, a few more pounds around my waist, and not as much money in our retirement account. My brother saw me last week and was shocked that I’d lost so much hair . . . . until he met my kids. He’s bald too, so I guess that means chasing girls can be as stressful as chasing little kids. The big question from everybody is, “How’d you do this summer?” My answer is, “Not too bad.” When I think back to last winter I was sweating bullets and wondering if anyone would come to the Outer Banks, much less, spend any money while they were here. Fortunately, by the time summer rolled around people were feeling okay about the economy and willing to go out and have some fun. For once … Continued
Mid-season report
I know this is a little after mid-season but my opinions are still the same. First, my beloved Redskins are worse than mediocre and I was wrong to think that Zorn needed more time because the team has obviously not responded to him. Granted he’s had several battles to fight but when I look on the field I see losers who don’t fear the coach. An example of this is the tirade that Joe Bugel had to give the offensive line’s effort versus the Falcons. Position coaches have to get on their players from time to time but Zorn was too nice to call them out. In addition, you see other players making silly mistakes with no concern for the consequences. Zorn must go and be replaced with a tougher coach. In making preseason predictions I use some general rules of thought to conclude how team’s are doing. Several weeks … Continued
It is lacrosse season yet?
New news: We now sell lacrosse equipment! Having been an active part of the OBX Lacrosse club here I’ve seen how hard it is for parents to get their kids suited up for lacrosse season. They either have to shop the internet or drive up to Hampton Roads. The problem with that is you spend either a lot of time or money and you don’t get to try stuff on or you don’t get to talk to someone who knows lacrosse. You get the stuff and you realize it doesn’t work. Well, since my business is virtually shut down during the winter I have a bunch of retail space I’m not utilizing. This is a great way for me to keep a little momentum during the winter and help out the players in the club. The inventory is in, I just need to get it organized and we’ll be ready … Continued
Gotta Love the Fall On The Outer Banks
Friday the 30th gave the kids a day off from school so with a nice forecast I decided to take the boys fishing on the skiff. I’d heard the stripers were going off at the Mann’s Harbor Bridge so we set out to see if this was true. Before we left I stopped by the tackle shop to see if I needed anything and I asked about the stretch lure which I hadn’t used before. Sure enough they had one and they were happy to take my money. The “stretch” should be called the “snag”. That thing would steer towards the bridge everytime while we were trolling. But just as we were turning around after our first pass we got a strike. The striper was a definitely a keeper and he was nice and fat. The boys were stoked. We messed around for a while and the few boats that … Continued
Almost Done
Well, we’ve pulled the boats out of the water in Nags Head and started the winterizing process. At Nor’banks in Duck we still have boats ready if needed and we’ll milk that a little until November at the latest. The only thing we have going in Nags Head is windsurfing. Last winter I was sweating bullets over the economy and how it would affect the summer business. We wound up being down a little but nothing hugely signficant. I read in Consumer Reports that vacations were the one thing the general population would actually spend more on now that they’ve reprioritized their finances. Hard to pinpoint the thinking behind that. We had a very good staff this season which makes it more enjoyable for everyone. The key phrase for a business owner like myself is “no drama”. Just give me a group of people that show up to work everyday … Continued