Tom Black, our host for the Ethiopian supper on Sunday recommended that we stop at Outer Banks on our way down to Charleston and Savannah. We took his advice and booked two nights in a BnB. But fed up with eating crappy food in overpriced restaurants we took a detour to Virginia Beach to visit a Whole Foods Market. The store far outshone any of the other grocery stores we had visited so far on this trip.
One peculiarity about the store, they can’t sell spirits. In Virginia a company called ABC has a monopoly on the sale of Whiskey etc. a charming assistant at Whole Foods told me. I therefore left the store a little disappointed because I had finished the bottle I bought at London Airport.
We arrived at Kill Devil Hill and the destination of our Outer Banks BnB way early so we decided to visit the Wright Bros Memorial site. We parked up and walked across to the visitor centre.
The centre told the same story we had recently viewed at the Air and Space Museum in Washington. They had a copy of the plane that flew 875 ft on the fourth attempt, just like the Washington Museum. We decided to walk to the Kill Devil Hill from where the brothers learnt how to glide. Walking towards the hill proved quite difficult as the southerly wind of 30 mph pushed us backwards. We made it to the top of the hill from where we could see the ocean on both sides of the Outer Banks.
The Outer Banks consist mostly of sand held together by grass, trees, tarmac and cement. Most of the houses are raised from the ground as if they are expecting the flood to sweep across the land at any moment. The area between Nags Head to Kill Devil Hill is less than ½ mile wide. I doubt that the average height is more than 5ft above sea level. With global warming liable to increase the sea level I can’t see this community lasting more than 20 years.
Our BnB lies no more than 200 yards from the inland waterway known as Kitty Hawk Bay. We have no complaints about the accommodation. The place has been tastefully decorated, perfectly cleaned with all mod cons and a large double bed.
I came to Outer Banks 50 odd years ago and visited the site of the Wright Brothers first flight. All I can remember about the place was that it was deserted. Today the main road running through is busy with cars and lined with retail establishments. Cheap eateries battle with all the normal American shopping experiences, Target, Starbucks etc. We did notice a revolting store called Planet Sugar which promised to ruin your teeth in under a day. Despite our lovely BnB I wouldn’t return to Outer Banks.
In the early evening we strolled down the road towards the Kitty Hawk Bay shore and walked northwards. Nice houses, always made of wood, lined the roads. We returned with the wind blowing hard into our faces.
A quiet night in and we watched an old movie on Netflix called Little Things starring Denzel Washington and Rami Malek. I’m sure I’ve seen it before but I couldn’t remember the whole story so happy to rewatch. Throughout the night the wind battered our wooden home.