A couple of posts back, I mentioned having great plans for the FICA tax refund.

I went to Kill Devil Hills, N.C. with a colleague for a couple of days. It was a 250+ mile drive from Raeford, with a stop in Hope Mills to pick up said colleague. North on I-95, and east on U.S. 64 (which begins as a four-lane divided highway with controlled intersections, and eventually downgrades to a two-lane undivided highway with no shoulders). There are two long bridges to cross, one across the Alligator River, and the other across Croatan Sound.

First, I had my seafood fix there: crab, scallops and oysters. We stayed at a beachfront hotel (with no ocean view, since it was on the first floor) that cost over $150/night. For breakfast, I had a waffle that I made myself with a self-serve waffle maker.

You can tell whether someone is a local by looking at their license plate. The three letters begin with OBX (for the Outer Banks).

I got my first sunburn in a year, but the very next day there was a downpour. I got my car stuck in Corolla (pronounced co-RALL-a), where N.C. 12 ends and becomes a beach access road, where you can't get very far without a 4x4, since it's all sand. A truck with Pennsylvania tags helped pull us out, which happened just before the storm came.

The Wright Brothers national memorial was a nice place to see the "birthplace of aviation"...or is that Ohio?

The First Flight High School (yes, this is a N.C. public school) in Kill Devil Hills puts Hoke County High School to shame.

By the end of the trip, my friend realizes that we spent way too much money and doesn't know how he'll come up with rent for next month...but that's another story.