January
Making the most of the fact the kids and Russ were all on winter break, we decided to take a little road trip down to Outer Banks on the North Carolina coast and then dipped down to just outside Lancaster in South Carolina to visit a school/work friend I hadn't seen in about 25 years. Day 1. We stopped off at Virginia Beach for lunch (just near Norfolk on the map above) and had a walk along the beach - it was a very windy day! We arrived at our accommodation in Nags Head, Outer Banks late in the afternoon, just in time for happy hour at the hotel - free beer and wine, thanks very much! We decided to try the Outback Steakhouse for dinner, which claims to provide Aussie fare, and were amused by how it was basically normal food with Australian names (Toowoomba salmon or Melbourne rib-eye anyone?!). What really tickled our fancy though was the bloomin' onion, a deep fried very large onion with a spicy sauce. We had to try it - it was actually very good, but not particularly Austral...