scooterbird

My family (on my mother’s side) is from here…well, Yancey County, anyway.

...and I’ll bet I’m the only one on the list (other than maybe the buddy I went with) who went here as a destination! Yep, he had family in Lumberton and grew up seeing the signs on every family drive but never actually making it there. I hadn’t been there in probably 25 years or more…I said it was worth it just because of the “checklist” factor: you kind of have to go just once. Yeah, there really isn’t anything there; it’s entirely self-referential marketing and capitalism. Kind of says it all about our country, doesn’t it? (I read in an article that Ben Bernanke, the current Chair of the Federal Reserve – the guys who control the money supply in the U.S.! – worked here as a poncho-wearing clerk/waiter when he was taking his first job as a teenager. I’d say that proves it.)

You should go up in the Sombrero Tower and at least browse the shops and see some of the amazingly tacky and tasteless merch. (Beer bottle openers with Catholic iconography on them??) The food is cheapie roadside fare, but the ginger ale is absolutely excellent (and potent!) For the older travelers, the antique store is quite good (and not cheap in any sense).

Everybody talks about how “tacky” O.C. is. Don’t listen to them! It’s not the Riviera, but quite frankly, you’ll have more fun here. There’s always something to do, and though it wasn’t always, the beach is very clean nowadays.

Particularly I’d like to visit Saba and Statia (St. Eustatius), which, oddly, isn’t listed.

Never take the guided tours unless you can’t walk, or unless it’s a day in July and the humidity has reached 10,000%. Stay off the beaten path and go to the places that don’t get covered in all the brochures. I recommend the Watergate Hotel (for the historical value there), and ask about tours of the catacombs under the Lincoln Memorial.

The walk through North Beach was particularly wonderful…literally, I heard music coming from open windows, passing cars, guys on the street corner…all the way to the Embarcadero. It melded together as one continuous song. Amazing.

A nice place to visit and the locals are friendly. It rained every day while I was there…the natives acted like the world was ending!

I highly recommend the Epic Cafe on the corner of 4th Ave. and University. Very good coffee, free Intarweb, cool freaky people. Their sandwiches are huge – you can split one with a friend.

Also recommended is the Surly Wench, a bar a few blocks down 4th Ave. Didn’t try the food as I’d already eaten, but the bheer was good, the cigar girl was very cute, and the place had a very odd and casual laid-back-goth appearance, with pin-ups on the wall and pirate accoutrements on the celing. The selection in the jukebox must be seen to be believed.

Stayed all the way in the south at St. Lawrence Gap…and rented a moke to careen all over the island. Marvelous time; wanna go again!

Granted, I still do miss Memorial Stadium – I always shed just a single tear when I go through that part of Waverly – but the Yard is tremendous. There is no place better to watch a ballgame, the food is great (if expensive), and you’re right downtown. Ain’t the beer cold, hon!

I’m actually from between Baltimore and D.C., and of the two, Baltimore is the better city. The people there are a lot more real.