savi.you

I was hoping to be able to post a bit while I was on vacation at the Outer Banks, but just didn't find the time to do so. Ok, that's a lie. What really happened, I was too buzzed from drinking Coronas, Mojitos, and Sangria all day! I figured I could just cram it all into one post when I got back home. So, now I’m back from my week off and finally have some time to write some things down while they’re fresh in my head.

We left on Saturday night around 11pm. Some of my friends thought that I was crazy to drive overnight with only a brief nap a few hours before. The secret for me were sunflower seeds, Red Bull and Howard Stern shows on my Tilt 8925 (with earphones). The sunflower seeds kept my mouth busy, which in turn kept my mind awake. The Red Bull obviously gave me a quick jolt of caffeine. I would chug a can of it when I was several hours into our trip and a booster about 2 hours later. The Stern show kept me entertained without bothering my passengers. Of course, Casey helped drive a few hours so I could rest my eyes for a bit so I can't take all of the credit. This worked out really well for my girls. They slept peacefully and I stopped only a few times to refuel or empty my bladder.

We reached our destination in about 9 hours. BTW, I used my recently purchase Garmin Nuvi to navigate and it came in real handy. I wasn't sure exactly what to expect, even after all of the research I did. The OBX is a totally different beach experience than any of the NJ or MD beaches and you’ll realize this the moment you see your first stretch of dunes along the highway. These islands, almost 200 miles, are flanked on one side by the Atlantic and the other side by the Albemarle and Pamlico Sounds. It feels sort of strange to be able to just drive to a place like this.

Since we arrived a few hours before Mike and his family, we ate breakfast at the Froggy Dog and spent a few hours hanging out at Club Hatteras, an amenity featuring an Olympic size and kiddie pool, deck area, putting greens, tennis court, grills and a playground. This is offered by Hatteras Realty for early arrivals on check-in day and people leaving late on check-out days. Mike arrived about 2 hours after us.

Once we got settled into the house and purchased some essentials at the local Food Lion, we immediately hit the beach. The Outer Banks are well known for their pristine white sand beaches, which seem to stretch out for endless miles in either direction. All the hype was totally justified. It's just amazing to see a beach like this...

The week just flew by. Every day, our group spent mornings on the beach, came home for lunch and nap time for our kids. The adults would hang out by the pool until the kids woke up, then we'd do a little site seeing or head back out to the beach. Our evenings were spent chasing ghost crabs, sitting in the hot tub or just hanging out in our luxurious beach house. It was just pure relaxation. The best part for me was being able to spend some quality time with my family and making new memories with a good friends.

We didn’t do a whole lot of site seeing, but, we did get a chance to drive down to the southern tip of Hatteras Island and took the ferry to Ocracoke. It was in the list of “top 10 things to do in the OBX.” This tiny island is nicknamed "the Pearl of the Outer Banks" and was known as one of Blackbeard the Pirate's hangouts...YARRR! The beaches here were voted #1 beach of 2007 in America by Dr. Beach.

The town itself is very quaint, with a bunch of small shops and restaurants. It was definitely an interesting area, although not exactly what I was expecting. The streets were small and crowded with tourists…something I found very annoying. That’s what you get for being named #1 beach in America right? The beaches there were very beautiful, although I couldn’t tell the difference between them and the ones along Cape Hatteras...which was listed at #8 in 2008. I guess it’s the whole atmosphere that makes Ocracoke such an attraction, not really my cup of tea, but I can see why people would like it. Hey, atleast I can say I’ve been there!

We also took a trip to see the famous lighthouse in Buxton. The Cape Hatteras Lighthouse, built in 1870, measures 198.48 feet from the ground to the tip of its lightning rod. It's the tallest lighthouse in America and the tallest brick lighthouse in the world. I am by no means a lighthouse expert, but it was pretty impressive even to me. The lighthouse was in danger of being destroyed by the eroding shoreline, so they actually moved it inland to where it is now.

Hatteras Island, is known for world-class sport fishing, surfing, windsurfing and kiteboarding, and is called "the blue marlin capital of the world." I didn’t get a chance to do any of those things, but definitely, have something to look forward to when our daughters are a little older…yes, we are planning on going back!

The last night, Mike and I built a fire on the beach and reminisced of the good ol’ days. There’s something special about staring at the fire and just hanging out with family and friends that I can’t really describe.

The OBX is a far cry from the crowded beaches, expensive hotels and noisy boardwalks that we're used to. It offers the vacationer, looking for a remote getaway, exactly what they're looking for at a reasonable price. It's the perfect way to enjoy the "dog days" of summer and connect with your family.

The beaches are beautiful and for me that was the main attraction. While it's not a tropical paradise, they have a certain charm about them that you just can't get anywhere along the shores of NJ and MD. Although, some of the things, such as waitresses that barely speak English, Sunsations, and overpriced EVERYTHING will be the same at whatever beach you go to, it was worth the trek.

If you have never visited North Carolina's famous beaches, I highly recommend it for your next summer vacation! Do I sound like a commercial yet?

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Here's a great recipe for those busy nights where you don't want to spend money on take out but don't have much time to cook. This is an all in one meal that takes no more than 20 minutes to cook. It's delicious AND nutritious!

Just brown, boil, sautee and toss everything together. Serve with a glass of red wine if you want to be a little fancy!


Ingredients...
1lb italian sausage
1lb fresh spinach
1lb penne, I used whole wheat
4 or 5 cloves of garlic...more = better
1/4 cup EVOO
1/4 cup pecorino romano
chili pepper flakes
kosher salt



Prep...
Remove casing from the sausage.
Rough chop garlic or slice thinly if you don't like biting into chunks of it.
Fill pot with water and turn on the heat.


Cook...
Brown the sausage over med to med-high heat, breaking it up as you go.
Once water reaches a rapid boil, add a palmful of salt. Toss in your pasta. Cook for 10 to 11 minutes depending on your liking.
Remove the sausage when all pink is gone and let it drain on some paper towels.


In the same pan you browned your sausage, pour in the EVOO. Sautee the garlic and chili flakes until fragrant...no more than 20-30 secs. DON'T let the garlic brown!


Toss in all of the spinach...it may look like a lot, but spinach will cook down to almost nothing.


The secret for this step is not over cooking the spinach. Sautee over med-high heat until the point where most of the leaves have barely wilted.

Remove from the heat and set the spinach aside. The pasta should have been almost done by now. Mix the sausage back in with the spinach.

When the pasta is finished, drain the water and reserve about a cup of the pasta water. Pour the sausage and spinach into the pasta pot along with the penne. Add the romano cheese on top.

Pour the pasta water in and toss everything together. Serve immediately, topped with additional cheese and chili flakes if you desire.


And the most important final step...ENJOY!

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Every year, like many families in America, we take a trip to the beach. For us, it usually consists of an overpriced 3-night stay in Ocean City, MD. After a less than desirable experience at a crummy hotel with intermittent hot water and a shower that smelled of raw sewage, I decided that we'd try something a little different this year.

The initial plan was to rent a house in the Rehobeth area or Cape May with my in-laws...sounds like fun huh? However, my good buddy Mike, came to me out of the blue and asked if we'd like to vacation with his family at the Outerbanks in NC! The price was good and since I love visiting new places, I accepted the offer.

Mike is involved in an investment group that owns some vacation properties in New Jersey and North Carolina. We'll be staying at a gorgeous beach house in Avon, which is located on Hatteras Island, a 72 mile stretch of the Outer Banks from Nags Head to Ocracoke Island.

The vacation will last a full week, so there's a lot of preparation involved. For me, it's half the fun of going away! This will be our first trip ever to NC as a family. Our Google'd ETA is approximately 8.5 hours, but for us, it'll probably be closer to 10. The plan is to leave on Saturday night and arrive sometime Sunday morning.

My girls, ages 2 and 5 do not travel long distances very well. My 5 year old gets car sick before the car even starts moving and our 2 year old is, well, a 2 year old. Our longest drive we've done are the trips to OCMD, which takes us over 5 hours, with several stops. We're attempting to drive most of the time while they are asleep in the car, so hopefully that helps. I'm curious to see how this will pan out.

If anyone has any tips on how to survive a car trip with young children or "things-to-do" ideas for when we're down in the OBX, please comment. Well, I'd better get back to work. 3 more days until we hit the road!

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