Dinner at the beach

Posted on 2011/09/09 by Kara

Today was a pleasant day. Neil did his usual bike ride down the beach road and Connie got some beach time. After his ride, Neil joined her and they enjoyed the beach until noontime. A sandwich was obtained and after lunch we just enjoyed watching the ocean from the patio for the afternoon, since it was in shade and Connie didn’t want to get too much sun.

Connie, designated the “dining and lodging coordinator,” scanned the local restaurant guide for a good place to go for dinner. Unfortunately , some of the usual places on the Soundside in Nags Head are still closed for repairs after Hurricane Irene. However, after much review, Connie chose Mulligan’s Raw Bar & Grille. They have an outside deck where you can eat and enjoy a view of the ocean.

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They decided to start with appetizers and work up from there. A She Crab soup was on the menu which was advertised as being packed with crabmeat. They each ordered a cup. Unlike most She Crab soups, this one was not made with heavy cream. It was creamy, but lighter in texture and lived up to it’s claim regarding the amount of crabmeat. Both Connie and Neil agreed that the lighter texture was perfect for the beach and enjoyed it very much.

After this, as you can see by the picture, Neil finally got his Oysters! They were very good, but seemed small compared to what we usually get down here. But, they were perfectly fine and provided with lemon, horseradish, and ketchup.

Service was a little sketchy as the server seemed a little at odds to begin with as the deck seating started to fill up. But luckily, the service area was nearby and we were able to get crackers, napkins, and utensils for ourselves.

After that we decided we were still a little hungry but not enough for a full dinner, so we got one fried oyster dinner to share. It came with Hush Puppies, fries, and cole slaw. The oysters were tasty! The hush puppies were good, the fries were OK, but a little overcooked, and the cole slaw was too salty to eat. That last was a shame because it seemed to have a good flavor otherwise.

After arriving back at the hotel, Connie had a disappointment when it turned out that the saved butter pecan ice cream ended up to have melted. The little freezer just wasn’t cold enough. So liquid ice cream was slurped and Neil had fun for the rest of the evening teasing her about it. (Yes, they are easily amused.)

More tomorrow!

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First night at OBX

Posted on 2011/09/08 by Kara

Hi! Kara here. Here I am last night at the Black Pelican on the Outer Banks of North Carolina with the Laubenthal’s. We arrived today. Nice weather so far but a bit windy.

We spent time at the bar here one of their usual haunts when visiting here. But unfortunately, they were met with disappointment right off the bat as they were out of Oysters! Who ever heard of a seafood restaurant at the beach not having Oysters (in season)!

So, as a back up they selected grilled fresh Tuna bites which came with tortilla chips and salsa. Another disappointment! Tuna was fantastic but chips had been fried and salted to the point of being inedible. Salsa was good but nothing exceptional.

Finally, they ordered a wood fired pizza: the Chesapeake Bay. It had Béchamel sauce. Crab, and Bacon as the main ingredients. Bingo! That was really good! It made up (almost) for the previous disappointments.

Besides, they had Guiness and Fat Tire ale on draft, so that helped.

After going back to the hotel and reading e-mail by the pool we walked across the street to a convenience store to find some ice cream. But, alas there was none. So, we hopped in the car and headed down the beach road. There we found a handmade ice cream store with a line out the door (they must be good we reasoned). They were!

Neil was so proud that he decided to get a hand packed pint for less than two single scoops would cost and it would last 2 days because of the freezer in the hotel room! Yummy!

Well, that’s all for now!

XOXO Kara

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Getting Ready to Travel!

Posted on 2011/09/05 by Gunther

Packing up today to go to the Outer Banks! Connie finally has her boot off and has even done a 2 mile walk already.  She is very happy to be free and looking forward to beach time and feet in the salt water.

We are looking forward to some beach time. Weather looks a little iffy but we are hoping for the best. We know that Neil is especially looking forward to eating lots of Oysters and Shrimp while we are down there.

Not the Outer Banks

We are very happy that the area we are going to wasn’t too affected by Hurricane Irene.  We’re really happy for the people who live there and the businesses.  We thought about cancelling the trip, but with enough research figured out that all was OK in the Kill Devil Hills and Nags Head area.  We’re glad to be helping out the local area by still going as planned.  They rely on tourist dollars.

House sitter is lined up and snacks, etc. bought, so I guess we better get packing! More later!

Gunther the Bear

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Our First Post

Posted on 2011/08/19 by Neil Laubenthal

Greetings to all! Gunther here. Kara (she’s the dog) and I travel around with the Laubenthal’s. They are recently retired and will be traveling a lot. We are looking forward to seeing lots of new things with them and sharing our experiences both on the road and off.

Neil Laubenthal was a Windows System Administrator and is also a retired Submarine officer. Even though he worked with Windows computers, he prefers Macs and will assist folks with their computer issues though that is somewhat like the Maytag repairman, he’s pretty lonely…he’s been working part-time for the last year so he’s eased into being a bum. He’s also the primary photographer in the family.

Connie Laubenthal was a Medical Laboratory Scientist who ran the Medical Laboatory Evaluation program for the American College of Physicians. She also served on a workgroup for the CDC, a technical committee for the Califirnia Health Care Foundation, and wrote many articles for various professional publications. She is particularly looking forward to retirement after her high pressure career (assuming Neil doesn’t put her back to work) (I’m working on it he says).

They are going to celebrate their 35th anniversary this year, so are ready to start this next phase of their life together (if Connie doesn’t throw/push Neil off the back deck first).

Connie just had minor foot surgery last week and just got off of crutches. Neil is really glad of that since he had to bring everything to her before that. Now she’s just clomping around the house with a big ‘ol boot.

In about two weeks we’ll be taking our first trip to the Outer Banks in North Carolina (well, maybe…since Hurricane Irene visited down there there might be this little problem). More about that later!

TTFN!

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