Adventures at the beach with the Road Junkie
I write a travel column for Duplin Times in Kenansville, N.C. called the Road Junkie. This is my August column, which talks about recent adventures in Carolina Beach.
Ciao!!!
Ever since I moved to Eastern North Carolina in 2001, I have always heard about Britts Donuts and how I should have one.
In addition to having a love for cupcakes, I also love doughnuts. I have been a diehard Krispy Crème girl since I was a child and have done an illegal u-turn for the “HOT NOW” sign.
Through the years, I read about Britts Donuts in various magazines and had tons of people describe them to me. Last weekend, I finally had a chance to eat one. It was part of an evening long adventure at Carolina Beach.
This adventure was planned by my coworkers Alan Wells and Nadya Nataly and included myself, Nataly’s boyfriend and one of Wells’ friends.
After arriving in Carolina Beach, we decided to ride the double Ferris wheel at the Carolina Beach Boardwalk Amusement Park while waiting for Wells. Not to sound like a certain 10-year-old boy (my son) but it was awesome. It was so cool to see some of Carolina Beach from the top of the Ferris wheel.
Yes, I’ll ride a double Ferris wheel in a parking lot but I’m not willing to travel across many of the bridges in this state. I guess I’m weird like that.
There were several other rides but we were content to just stick with the Ferris wheel. It was a nice way to start the evening.
The Carolina Beach Boardwalk is ranked as one of the top 10 boardwalks in this country by Food and Wine magazine. I can understand why, because it has various shops, restaurants and nightlife entertainment.
We decided to have dinner at the SeaWitch Café and Tiki Bar. It was an all-around great experience with lots of food, fellowship and live music from the band, Spare Change.
Remembering my promise for the “Year of Yes” and stepping out of my comfort zone, I ate food I wouldn’t have normally eaten in my regular life.
But that’s the beauty of having an adventure, it is a chance to do whatever. I sampled the Ahi Tuna Nachos, which featured layers of sesame-seeded pan seared ahi tuna, wonton chips, mango pico de gallo, avocado slices, crunch shredded cabbage and spicy wasabi aioli.
All of this is a mouthful for someone who is not a foodie, but a bookworm. Those ingredients worked well together.
I also sampled the Carolina Coast Shrimp Bruschetta, which had the toast on the side.
I started out on the safe side by ordering eight jumbo fried chicken wings. I ventured toward the wild side by having four in teriyaki flavor and four in strawberry jalapeño. I will say the latter flavor was different but not something I would ever try again.
For my entrée, I was challenged to go big (by not ordering The Bacon Lover burger). I ordered Carolina Shrimp and Grits. The dish had shrimp sautéed in bacon, scallions, garlic and white wine cream sauce served over a cheesy grit cake. This was a very ambitious dish for someone who was content to order a bacon cheeseburger. I have always wanted to try shrimp and grits because how can you go wrong with a dish featuring grits.
Overall, it was ok. I wasn’t able to eat all of it but it was ok.
After dinner, we hurried with roughly 15 minutes to spare to get fresh doughnuts from Britts Donut Shop.
To say the doughnut was delicious, amazing and down right awesome would be an understatement.
It was kind of like ‘Krispy who?’
To anyone who knows me, the library is my happy place. One bite of that doughnut and it was ‘Britts is better than the library.’
After that very sweet treat, we headed to the Silver Dollar for karaoke and dancing.
I will be honest. I can’t sing. I was once told that I should use my singing voice to help torture prisoners at Guantanamo Bay.
I know I am bad but I don’t think I am that bad. I was content to sit and watch others sing but Nataly wouldn’t let me do it.
With her in front of me cheering me on and her boyfriend beside me singing back up, I sang “Creep” by TLC. When I finished, I received applause and noticed nobody had bleeding ears.
Later, I provided backup to Nataly on “Ice, Ice Baby” by Vanilla Ice.
It was quite a Friday night. Before leaving Carolina Beach, I had a chance to put my feet in the sand.
Til next month, try to stay cool and have safe travels!
Overall, it was an awesome adventure that I wanted to share with you guys!
DAILY DOSE
1. Getting my library ready!
2. Enjoying the summer!
3. Adventures with friends!
 |
| The view from top of the double Ferris wheel! |
Ever since I moved to Eastern North Carolina in 2001, I have always heard about Britts Donuts and how I should have one.
In addition to having a love for cupcakes, I also love doughnuts. I have been a diehard Krispy Crème girl since I was a child and have done an illegal u-turn for the “HOT NOW” sign.
Through the years, I read about Britts Donuts in various magazines and had tons of people describe them to me. Last weekend, I finally had a chance to eat one. It was part of an evening long adventure at Carolina Beach.
This adventure was planned by my coworkers Alan Wells and Nadya Nataly and included myself, Nataly’s boyfriend and one of Wells’ friends.
After arriving in Carolina Beach, we decided to ride the double Ferris wheel at the Carolina Beach Boardwalk Amusement Park while waiting for Wells. Not to sound like a certain 10-year-old boy (my son) but it was awesome. It was so cool to see some of Carolina Beach from the top of the Ferris wheel.
Yes, I’ll ride a double Ferris wheel in a parking lot but I’m not willing to travel across many of the bridges in this state. I guess I’m weird like that.
There were several other rides but we were content to just stick with the Ferris wheel. It was a nice way to start the evening.
The Carolina Beach Boardwalk is ranked as one of the top 10 boardwalks in this country by Food and Wine magazine. I can understand why, because it has various shops, restaurants and nightlife entertainment.
We decided to have dinner at the SeaWitch Café and Tiki Bar. It was an all-around great experience with lots of food, fellowship and live music from the band, Spare Change.
Remembering my promise for the “Year of Yes” and stepping out of my comfort zone, I ate food I wouldn’t have normally eaten in my regular life.
 |
| Ahi Tuna Nachos |
But that’s the beauty of having an adventure, it is a chance to do whatever. I sampled the Ahi Tuna Nachos, which featured layers of sesame-seeded pan seared ahi tuna, wonton chips, mango pico de gallo, avocado slices, crunch shredded cabbage and spicy wasabi aioli.
All of this is a mouthful for someone who is not a foodie, but a bookworm. Those ingredients worked well together.
I also sampled the Carolina Coast Shrimp Bruschetta, which had the toast on the side.
I started out on the safe side by ordering eight jumbo fried chicken wings. I ventured toward the wild side by having four in teriyaki flavor and four in strawberry jalapeño. I will say the latter flavor was different but not something I would ever try again.
For my entrée, I was challenged to go big (by not ordering The Bacon Lover burger). I ordered Carolina Shrimp and Grits. The dish had shrimp sautéed in bacon, scallions, garlic and white wine cream sauce served over a cheesy grit cake. This was a very ambitious dish for someone who was content to order a bacon cheeseburger. I have always wanted to try shrimp and grits because how can you go wrong with a dish featuring grits.
Overall, it was ok. I wasn’t able to eat all of it but it was ok.
After dinner, we hurried with roughly 15 minutes to spare to get fresh doughnuts from Britts Donut Shop.
To say the doughnut was delicious, amazing and down right awesome would be an understatement.
It was kind of like ‘Krispy who?’
To anyone who knows me, the library is my happy place. One bite of that doughnut and it was ‘Britts is better than the library.’
After that very sweet treat, we headed to the Silver Dollar for karaoke and dancing.
I will be honest. I can’t sing. I was once told that I should use my singing voice to help torture prisoners at Guantanamo Bay.
I know I am bad but I don’t think I am that bad. I was content to sit and watch others sing but Nataly wouldn’t let me do it.
With her in front of me cheering me on and her boyfriend beside me singing back up, I sang “Creep” by TLC. When I finished, I received applause and noticed nobody had bleeding ears.
Later, I provided backup to Nataly on “Ice, Ice Baby” by Vanilla Ice.
It was quite a Friday night. Before leaving Carolina Beach, I had a chance to put my feet in the sand.
Til next month, try to stay cool and have safe travels!
Overall, it was an awesome adventure that I wanted to share with you guys!
DAILY DOSE
1. Getting my library ready!
2. Enjoying the summer!
3. Adventures with friends!
robert@mail.postmanllc.net
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