Back from the OBX

OBX...I hate that bumper sticker probably as much as my readers...unless that sticker is on your car. If it is...well, it's a little overdone wouldn't you say? I don't dig on most commercialization of a vacation spot. Where is the uniqueness? Why should you flaunt that you visited the "OBX"? If you feel you should, maybe you should also have a bumper sticker saying, "I take poops"....everyone has done it. It's like having a go with the high school whore way back when. It's not special. You can only have a bumper sticker if you did the prom queen...

Nonetheless, my wife and I just got back from Manteo, and Duck, North Carolina. Might I say, after working 20 of 23 days, it was a wonderful reprieve.

For those who have never been to the Outer Banks, it's a nice place...it's the beach as your parents remember...quiet, calm, serene, and not a lot of development. We'll emphasize that 100-fold for now since it is definately the low season.

Most interestingly regarding this area, we found that people in North Carolina really cannot cook seafood, don't offer a lot of good raw seafood, and would rather serve you the grass fed cattle, or the pulled pork sandwich. Being a newly christened Terrapin, it's really an atrocity to live on the coast and eat pulled pork. My wife and I both headed to the local crab shack last night in Annapolis, had a beer, a dozen raw oysters on the half, a bucket of clams, and a dozen steamed crabs. As much as we talk about moving south someday, I think North Carolina made negative points this weekend.

Another rant, I HATE when places try to seem "Fancy", charge a hefty sum for the "I fit a lot of adjectives into the name of this dish so it sounds fancy", and then come up short. Vis a vis...North Carolina in a nutshell. To the North Carolinians out there...PLEASE stop thinking that wall to wall carpeting, fancy labels, a catchy restaurant name, and a few French posters from Marshalls makes the place high dollar. Please...it's really unbecoming. My wife and I both got out of a dinner in Napa for under 100 bucks and it was some of the best food we have ever tasted. Please, stop overcharging for items the waitstaff cannot even hope to pronounce.

Speaking of moving south, our compass is constantly pointing to the charm of Charleston, SC. From our early autumn jaunt in September, we were impressed. The people, architecture, and cuisine is superb. Definately affordable, and the climate is quite tolerable for my cold weather hatin' wife. Our dream is to get some land, a few horses, preferably on a body of water, work until we're about 55 and retire to a life of leisure. I guess everyone has a dream like that. Currently we have the "REAL" American Dream...debt. However, as my grandfather said, got to spend it to make it.

On a side note life is depressing, no one lives forever, and the nicest people die from the most horrible diseases. I am constantly tempted to be a son of a bitch most times. However, it's just not in my repetoire of tricks. Talk to former women I have known, you may have a different answer about what a son of a bitch I am. And I guess I put on a great facade at work. One has to wear thick suits of armor to deal with crying and sometimes collapsing family members when you say, "I'm sorry, but your mother is dead, dying, or going to die". One has to cope. Me? I cope via pretending to not believe in God, Jesus, or any other diety. Do I have questions regarding why things happen to us, and especially to good people? Yes. Do I still believe there is an ultimate purpose? Yes, absolutely. Maybe it's my undying ego and need to feel more important than anyone in the room. But I honestly believe I have been put here to make this world better. I belive I am better at things than most people. Yes I am constantly humbled, most frequently by my lovely wife. But there is something to this life that not many know. I am lucky to at least live a breath of the infinity we have all been born into.

Until next, go heels, sorry terps, and be well.

Matty