When I made the reservations here, it didn't occur to me that the hotel had no elevator. With Linda's arthritic knees, climbing the stairs to the second floor (and back down again), is painful -- for her to do, for me to watch.
I stopped at the desk Monday morning, and discussed it with the manager. They were very accommodating, and had us a new room within a few hours. They even offered help to move the luggage. OK, it was after I had lugged it all back down again, but it's the thought that counts, isn't it?
By the time we got settled in, it was time for lunch. Still raining, we donned our rain coats and walked to the Diamond Shoals Restaurant, just down the road. Nice place, the food was delicious. Linda said her grilled grouper was excellent, and the fried clam strips I decided on were perfectly done. I had to have a cup of their "Award Winning" clam chowder. Creamy, loaded with clam, delicious! I had a few of Weeping Radish's Black Radish beer. Dark and tasty, very smooth. We sat next to a couple from New York that were staying at the hotel. They drove over (remember, within easy walking distance) in their 2014 Camaro convertible.
Back to the room for a quick nap, and when we looked out, the rain had stopped. We suited up (the bikes were still wet) and headed down the road on the trike to Conner's, what appears to be the only supermarket on the island. It looks like they just put the groceries up wherever they chose, with no rhyme or reason. Groceries in the trunk, we continued south on Highway 12 for a few miles, just happy to be riding. The maps showed some nasty showers coming back in, so we didn't go far.
The Hatteras Island Inn claims to have "WiFi in the lobby." They're not kidding. While we were on the second floor we were able to hijack the neighbor's wifi, but it was very slow. Now, on the other side of the hotel, there isn't any connection available. I'm using my iPhone hotspot when I need to (and I needed it for work yesterday, so I'm really glad I have it).
I've been working with Garmin's Base Camp mapping software, and since its base map doesn't have much detail for Hatteras Island, every route I try to calculate shows a straight line, "as the crow flies." I did learn how to import tracks from Google Maps, but when I convert them, they straighten right out. Frustrating.
We're heading out soon while the weather holds. The weather calls for Scattered and/or Isolated storms today, so we won't go too far, and we'll carry the suits. There's a place called Island Choppers, where I want to look for new riding gloves (the rain destroyed my other ones), and new glasses (lost a nose guard). The Lighthouse is just down the road, so we're probably going there as well. The picture is from the observation tower in the hotel.
Tomorrow's weather is our best shot for a ride up to Corona. Fingers crossed!
I found this Buxton Visitor's Guide this morning, thought I'd give it a link.
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