in the past 30 days, i've been lucky to cross a few things off my life list & one of them was to visit & climb the Cape Hatteras Lighthouse, 248 spiral steps all the way up to the top...that is high.
another extremely hot & humid day. but once we made it to the top, the strong winds cooled us off. if you leaned against the lighthouse, you could feel it slightly move...freaky, but so cool at the same time.
breathtaking views all around!
Tim is afraid of heights...the fact that he got that close to the edge to film the view took a lot of guts, that's for sure.
& we didn't stay on the balcony for five minutes, it was more like 20. the ranger there was really nice & answered a lot of our questions.
down below, we visited the two homes where it was nice & cool before heading back to OBX.
during our drive back, lots & lots of cars were lined up on the side of the roads along the islands with vacationers & locals checking out the beach views, kite boarding, basking in the sun & kayaking. it was pretty wild, but not so good for some who's vehicles were stuck in the sand.
after the hour drive and a quick stop for lunch, we headed back to the hotel to relax and i spent some time with my long time girlfriend, Lori & her daughter, Lauren, by our Inn's pool. it was a fun time and VERY relaxing. the water was extremely warm.
during our vacation, i picked out all the restaurants where we'd dine for dinner & one of them was at Trio Wine, Beer & Cheese...MY HAPPY PLACE ;)
this is new to me, tasting wine through a dispensing machine. they give you a card, you select a taste, which was around 1 or 1.5oz, half glass or full glass if you like it a lot. the price varied from low to high end. there were four that i just LOVED & i even bought a bottle, a 2009 Ferrari Carano, Cab Sauv, Alexander Valley. it's rich, smooth, no tannin aftertaste and a perfect summertime wine. a California wine that i am going to have to try & find locally.
food was good, too. they have lots of paninis to try even a cheese bar, that i didn't get to try. maybe next time. it was a great place that i hope to visit again some day soon.
they also have a huge selection of draft beers and other specialty beers. Tim really enjoyed the Banana Bread Beer...i tried it & it was really delish. not heavy at all, crisp and clean, so light! many others that were in the bar area bought it as well.
