Now don’t get me wrong, Podunk is familiar with beaches. The Salmon River has pristine beaches, some of our lakes have nice, sandy beaches, and I have traveled outside my landlocked state of Idaho to enjoy an oceanside holiday or two. Perhaps because I was so focused on eastern North Carolina’s beer and oyster trails, I failed to calculate how beachy the NC Coast would be.

Geography lessons aside, it’s November for Pete’s sake, and I came prepared for some good old fashioned off-season chilly fun. But the beaches around Wilmington turned out to be warm, gigantic, and nearly deserted. Outer Banks is also incredibly beachy. I am certain based on the shuttered amusement park rides, ice cream shops, and overflow parking lots that being here during the high season would cause my little rural heart to palpitate.

Sacrificing a few degrees to have an uncrowded shoreline (and free parking) is a great trade in my book. The Outer Banks get pummeled with tourists in the late spring and summer. Many businesses are now closed until March so it’s a bit of a scavenger hunt to find spots that are open for commerce. But, as Podunkians, we are used to businesses being closed because it’s Sunday, or the fish are biting, or it’s a powder day, so we are very adaptable to this form of travel.

You may be asking, Podunk, why are you in the Outer Banks of North Carolina if not for the beaches? The truth is, I got cheap tickets to an emerging music festival… but that is a story for the next installment from the road, er, the beach.

Next up — Grassfed Bluegrass