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Gone with the wind
By Rick Boychuk
Wilbur and Orville Wright learned to fly on North Carolina's Outer Banks. What better place, then, to conduct our own recreational experiments with wind and prepare our daughter for her flight from the nest?
"OK, ENOUGH of that old-people music, Ricky.”
This comment on my musical selections from a 19-
year-old wisenheimer in the back seat named Claire.
Ever the family provocateur, she has decided that
calling me Dad is too old-fashioned. Her mother
Molly, busy scrutinizing a map of North Carolina
from the navigator's seat, was born and raised in the
United States. Marriage to yours truly helped turn
her into a "dualie” - a proud Canadian and a homegrown
American.
But Claire has never lived in her mother's native
country and has decided she wants to know more
about her heritage. She has also conveniently landed
a scholarship to the University of North Carolina at
Chapel Hill and is feeling pretty smug about it.
Deservedly so; she worked hard on her studies and
merits some sort of parental reward. So here we are,
crossing the Wright Memorial Bridge to the Outer
Banks of North Carolina's Atlantic coast. Our plan is
to explore the banks and conduct a couple of recreational
experiments with wind before delivering Claire
to her new school.
The Outer Banks are a necklace of sandy islands
along the state's coast. From Kill Devil Hills, made
famous by the Wright Brothers' first powered flight in
1903, to the communities of Nags Head, Hatteras
and Ocracoke, the islands are a beguiling playground
of unspoiled beaches, historic sites, charter fishing
outfits, wildlife refuges, outdoor-sports schools and
splendid seafood restaurants. We sample a variety of
the latter, but no amount of coaxing can get my companions
to try the offerings at Dirty Dick's Crab House.
Legendary food, I'm told, but the girls are having
none of it. It appears that Dick has stepped well beyond
the local appetite for cheeky monikers. To wit: Try
My Nuts, which specializes in gourmet nuts, and
Awful Arthur's Oyster Bar.
We book in to the recently opened Oasis Suites in
Nags Head, which offers full kitchens in its 17 suites.
Our rooms look out over Albemarle Sound. We toss our bags into our rooms and head immediately
for the Wright Brothers National
Memorial, located at the site where Orville
and Wilbur learned to fly. Attracted by the
steady ocean breezes and the forgiving
sand that afforded soft landings, the dapper
boys from Ohio built and flew the
world's first powered airplane here.
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