Outer Banks Articles & Shorts - Issue 8: Summer 2015

PUBLISHER’S LETTER

Wow, is it already summer? Really, where did winter and spring go? I feel like I celebrated Christmas then, Boom!, it was bathing suit weather. How about you? Did these hot, sultry days sneak up on you too?

So, what are your summer plans? I know…for many it’s work work work. Tis the season. But I’m betting you all have your summer rituals too. I did a highly scientific poll of several folks I know to ask for theirs. The results gave me so many ideas! Here are a few of them. Maybe they’ll add to your closest-to-the-Equator seasonal activities too.

Have a cocktail party in the sound with drinks, candles and nibblies floating around on boogie boards. (It’s best to tie them all together and anchor them so you’re not swimming out into the black water to rescue your favorite bottle of bubbly!)

Take a blanket to a sand dune near you late at night – one with as little light pollution as possible – and spread a blanket then pull out your iPhone. Wait, what?! Yes, pull out your phone, cue up the star gazing app and see how many constellations you can identify.

Take your kayaks to the north end of the bike path on Roanoke Island near the old bridge to Manns Harbor a little before sunset. Paddle toward the arch of the bridge, then sit back and marvel at the purple haze that attaches itself to the side of the bridge. Hundreds of thousands of purple martins swoop in to rest on the bridge at twilight, and the site is surely one of the Seven Wonders of the Outer Banks. (Do any of you adore the word “twilight” as much as I do? It’s one of my favorite words, and definitely my favorite time of day. Especially in summer, it just seems like the most poetic description of time I can imagine.)

Take one of your rare days off and go visit some Outer Banks place you’ve never been to. I can’t tell you the number of locals I speak with who say they’ve never been to Ocracoke, for example! How. Is. That. Possible. When. It’s. One. Of. The. Best. Places. On. Earth. But, seriously! I’ll bet most of us who live here can admit to never having been to some fabulous place that’s right in our own backyard.

Rather than drive to Duck in the summer traffic, hop into your boat and head up! Dock, then have dinner at any of the restaurants that are within easy walking distance.

This last one made me do a double take, since there might be some of you who do this all the time, but it’s been years since I’ve done it: Take a day – an entire, morning to twilight day – and sit on the beach and read, sleep, talk with friends, drink beer, walk then sleep some more. Have nothing else that’s more important to do. Give yourself permission to just be there on the beach.

Ahhhhhhh.

This summer marks our 8^th issue of OuterBanksThisWeek.com magazine. As I write that, I will admit to you that I feel a vast amount of pride. I have all the other seven issues on my desk here, and even looking at the covers brings back such great memories of working with all the businesses that have chosen to be a part of each magazine. As all of you reading this would clearly agree, we have some fantastic businesses on the Outer Banks. But, what’s even more telling are the business owners. All the people we work with try their best to be helpful and help us represent their individual business as interestingly as possible. It’s not a simple task to put together words, images and designs that are true representations of each business. But, in concert, we pull that off. I say a huge, public thank you to all you owners who believe in this magazine and go the extra mile to help it be high quality in every aspect.

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