2.10- The "Collard Shack"

Proprietor Cathy Jones, in front of the "Collard Shack" in Otway, NC

(click on image for full size)

Today I dropped by the "Collard Shack," a colorful little... well, a shack that sells collards, among other things.

The little shack with its eye-catching sign is an irresistible must-stop on NC Hwy. 70 in Otway, NC (between Beaufort and Harkers Island.)

The Collard Shack sign... call (252) 241-9751 for more info

Despite the name, this little place offers much more than just collards... Though of course fresh collards are readily available...

Local honey, peanuts, pecans, assorted preserves (strawberry, figs, sorghum, apple butter etc), rutabagas and potatoes are available... as well as those must-haves, pickled pigs feet and pickled pork brains.

SEE MORE OF THE COLLARD SHACK at my other blog, The Dinghy Dock...

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12.23- Roadtrip Oasis

A Lorenzo Ghiglieri bronze statue stands in front of "The Oasis at Lakewood Landing"

Today a friend and I drove from Oriental, NC to Washington D.C. to fetch my brother back to Oriental for a holiday visit.


On the way, after a long stretch of country driving towards I-95, we came upon "The Oasis," a gas store with a Dunkin' Donuts.

It was time for a break, and the donuts were calling to me, so we pulled over.

It was a nice, clean, well-lighted and roomy place, with friendly service and all the goodies you would expect at a roadside Oasis.

The most extraordinary thing about the place is "The Emperor" Statue out front, featured in the above photo...

It is an impressive bronze sculpture by world-renown artist Lorenzo Ghiglieri. Ghiglieri's works include "the 'Official American Bald Eagle' in bronze, silver, and gold, now on display at the White House and part of their permanent collection." (see Ghiglieri website, below)

The Lion's front paw rests on a rock bearing the following inscription:



(Click on image or here for full size)
“ 'THE EMPOROR' [20 ][2004]

"I AM THE EMEROR OF THE LAND – MY KINGDOM IS NOW AFRICA – AND RULE THE LAND FROM OKAVANGA TO KENYA AND HAVE BECOME A SYMBOL {in Bible Histo} FOR KING RICHARD THE LION HEARTED

"-Lorenzo Ghiglieri"

You can learn more about Ghalieri (and see photos of him with the Pope, Michael Jackson, the King of Spain, Luciano Pavarotti and others who own his artworks) at the Lorenzo Ghiglieri website, which includes a photograph of the above statue.

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12.22- Land & Sea Cycles

Eclectica on the porch of "Land & Sea Cycles," a store in the old Central Hotel at Hodges St. & Broad St.
(Click on picture or here for full size)

Today brings blue skies and cooler air after several rainy gray, but warmer, days here in oriental.

Need to do some last minute Christmas/Channukah shopping? Try "Land & Sea Cycles" in the old village at the intersection of Hodges St. and Broad St. Plenty of the unusual here.

How about a two-tailed dragon candle-holder ? (the dragon is a symbol of Oriental, of course.)

Located in the old "Central Hotel" building (as the sign says, circa 1903), this place adds a lot of color to the primary intersection in Oriental, Broad St. (NC Hwy. 55) and Hodges St.

Sorry, not much time for discussion of Central Hotel history, as I have been busy on tamales and tomorrow will be driving to Washington D.C. to pick up my older brother who is coming down here for the holidays... More later.

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12.07- Thirty Seven Cents per Gallon

Gas pumps in front of moribund Texaco station on Florence Road

Way out in Pamlico County, on Florence Road, stands this old Texaco gas station.

The pumps indicate 37 cents per gallon... they must have last been set in 1971 or 72.

While the station and store are no longer open for business, the pumps, lube containers and other artifacts have been kept in good shape and are on display out front, while a collection of old soda bottles decorate the front window sills: See more photos of this Texaco on my other blog, The Dinghy Dock.

This property is owned by a member of the Day family, which family also owns the nearby "Day's Landing," featured in my prior post of October 20.

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11.21- Cheap Gas

A man rides his bicycle up Broad Street (NC Hwy. 55) past the "Town and Country" grocery store, where gasoline has just dropped below $2.00 per gallon

I rode my bike up to Town and Country to buy a Coke from the machines outside when an employee came out to change the price sign.

As she was flipping the numbers, several folks asked what the new price was going to be, and cheered when they learned it was just now breaking the $2.00 level.

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11.01- "Marine Consignment of Oriental "

Dinghies on display in front of "Marine Consignment of Oriental"

If you are boating down the ICW and have a list of boat parts you are looking for (a bit redundant, I know), you might want to drop by Oriental and visit "Marine Consignment of Oriental" on Broad Street (Hwy 55).

Outboard motors, hardware, sails, rigging... any parts, big or small... if it attaches to a boat, they probably have it here.

If you have some extra parts to sell, you can sell them here on consignment.

I like the mouse on the bow of this dinghy... I guess it's supposed to be terrified by the frightening speed this rowing/sailing dinghy can achieve.

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10.5- Air supply

Compressed air hose at Village Hardware

Village Hardware, on Broad Street (Hwy. 55) is a great place for such things as nuts, bolts, mosquito control, mulch and boat parts.

Not everyone may know that it is also the place to go to fill your tires with air. Even when the store is closed.

An air hose protrudes from the south side of the building, ready for all your low-tire issues, free of cost. I suggest you bring your own pressure gauge, however, since the built-in one seems to be off by about 10 psi (they always are).

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9.15- Visit Oriental... Bring your own gasoline

Gas pumps at Oriental's "Town & Country" grocery store bear the effects of hurricane Ike... plastic bags over the pump handles.

If you are coming to Oriental this week, you may want to bring some jerry-cans of gasoline to make sure you can get back home.

Both land-based sources of gasoline in town (Mac's Mini-Mart and Town & Country) have no more gasoline... they have been empty for a few days now.

This is apparently a common sight throughout much of the southern and eastern regions of the U.S., purportedly because of the prophylactic shut-downs of refineries along the Gulf Coast of Texas and Louisiana, resulting in about a 20% reduction of the nation's oil refining capacity.

Those stations that do have gasoline have of course been charging higher and higher prices for what is left... In his campaign to enforce NC's anti-price-gouging laws, the NC Governor has already sought 7 subpoenas for gas stations according to an article in today's Raleigh News & Observer. The News & Observer also reports that many school districts are struggling to keep their school buses running.

I have not found out if any of the area marinas with fuel docks have run into similar shortages... but even if they do have gasoline / diesel, marina prices are normally much higher than land-based gas stations, and it is kind of hard to pull your pickup truck up to the pump in Whittaker Creek.

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9.06- Hanna aftermath

Electric Co. vehicles and line workers assembled under clear skies and a half moon in the parking lot at Mac's gas station as the sun sets.

Tropical Storm Hanna came through Oriental as dawn approached this morning, bringing 20-30 mph winds from about 2:00 a.m. through 8:00 a.m.

From about 8:00 a.m. to 10:00 winds were in the 30-40 mph range, with reported gusts near 60 mph. After 10:00 a.m. it became a beautiful clear day with 5-10 mph winds the rest of the day.

No flooding overnight, no storm surge, no heavy rains, and winds similar in strength to common thunderstorms in the area, though the winds persisted at strength for longer periods of time.

The storm did knock out power to the entire town for a few hours this morning, with intermittent power outages throughout the day as "Progress Energy" crews made repairs around town.

All in all, Hanna was a lot of not much around here. Should be a nice day for sailing tomorrow, and I hope to be out, either in the Bauer Classic 10 dinghy or crewing on my neighbor's Catalina 25.

Ike looks to be headed for FL and the Gulf, and Josephine appears to be petering out. It will be nice to not have everyone talking hurricanes 24/7 around here, as they have been for a few days now.

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