Weekend trip, fun time, and disappointment

I am debating whether or not to make separate posts instead of this one long one. There are several topics on my mind, but maybe I will just keep going.

Teresa and I finally got away for a weekend together. I did not have a day off for about two months. When I finally got the opportunity, I promised Teresa a weekend away. She picked Beaufort and Atlantic Beach. She wanted to see the Maritime Museum in Beaufort and I was agreeable to that. I wanted to see Fort Macon while there, as well. We took our time at the museum, Teresa got to take a lot of pictures, and we got to walk along the waterfront.

There was a fuel spill at the docks in Beaufort. The fire department blocked much of the main street for hours. It was unnecessary to do so. I was greatly disappointed in how they seemed to be handling that incident. I would not have tolerated that should I have been the commander on scene. For actual emergencies, that is one thing. For something like this, it was another.

We did not get to take a boat tour this time, as we had hoped. It was off season, so no tours were running, apparently. We did get to pick up a backpack and a hat as souvenirs of our trip. We also found a few books in Beaufort and at Fort Macon that we wanted.

We had a decent dinner at The Channel Marker restaurant in Atlantic Beach. I am still baffled how a nice restaurant right on the sound like that pretty much offers just flounder for a main fish entree. Flounder? Even the Shriners serve flounder. Gimme a break! They did have tuna and mahi as the catch of the day, but only grilled or blackened. I prefer mahi fried, but they didn't offer it that way. None the less, we did still have some good food. Great oysters.

We found a hotel online. The Sea Hawk Motel seemed nice enough on the internet. It was only $45 a night and had ocean front views for every room. We got there, verified the room rate, and was offered a room with two double beds. That is fine, since we don't mind separate beds when we are in hotels. The problem was that when requesting a non-smoking room, we were informed that they do not have any. All rooms allow smoking. I inquired as to the reason for that, and I was simply told that they have been there for 43 years. They did not have any rooms set aside as non-smoking and were not required to do so. I paused, looked at my watch, and said, "Gee, I though this was the 21st Century. OK, thanks. I will go find somewhere else to stay" and left.

We ended up at the AmeriSuites hotel just up the road. AmeriSuites had rates online that were $65 to $95 online. We got a room for $75. They serve a decent breakfast, so I figure that we can consider that a savings. On the trip down there, we paid $13 for breakfast. At the Sea Hawk, we would have needed to buy breakfast. That brought the price differential down some. Also, we got a nice room with a living room area, kitchenette, and two beds. We also got full cable TV, so I got to see some of the ads that we run on Time Warner Cable.

Fort Macon was great, as well. Some renovations were completed recently that added more restored areas, recreated items, uniforms, artifacts, maps, etc. We walked all over the fort, took a lot of pictures, and enjoyed the history behind the park. I decided to join Friends of Fort Macon and support the organization's efforts to renovate and keep the fort operational.

On the way home, I decided to stop by a small gun show in Kinston. I saw the show advertised on banners along the highway on the trip down to the beach. We came back on Sunday in time to be able to go by the show. The wife wanted to stay in the car and take a nap. She was wiped out after a busy weekend. I am glad she did so that I didn't have to waste my money on admission for her, too. It is bad enough I wasted my $5.

There was ONE gun dealer there. ONE. There was an accessory dealer who had a few rifles, including two nice Mosins. I thought about the M38, which was beautiful. The problem is that they were way overpriced. I don't have an M38 yet and really liked what I saw. Other than that, everything else there consisted of airsoft, knife dealers, leather wallets, gun carry cases, a few boxes of ammo, some mil surp backpacks and helmets, glass cleaners, and accessories.

I have been to several shows by this same promoter in the past. I have seen only one good show by these guys (S & D Gun Shows) in the past few years. I really enjoyed the good one, but every other one has totally blown chunks. The large shows have been lame, but lately have been getting better. The small shows that were good are getting horrible. What is that all about?????