Metropolis (OBX) Review

A week ago Wednesday we had a great meal with great company on adults night out at the beach. Mom and her grandsons had a date too with pizza (thanks Jessica for the Pizzazz recommendation) and then a walk down the beach to Dairy Queen for dessert.

We chose the restaurant because it was close, and because with the word martini in the title we figured it would not be filled with children! Metropolis Martini and Tapas turned out to be a great decision.

After being seated and told the drink specials, the chef came to our table to tell us about the food specials. They all sounded so great that we put ourselves in his hands and let him craft our dinner. Great decision #2. Here is a recap of most but not all of our meal:

We started with an Artisanal Cheese (Mano from Wisconsin and Maytag Blue) Plate with Fresh Fruit (apples, strawberries and blueberries) & Dried Fruit (brandy-soaked golden raisins), Nuts (curried pecans) & Crackers and Charcuterie

yum, bleu cheese!

Next we had bowls of the soup of the day, Cream of Asparagus, which had super sweet lump crab in the center of the bowl, sprinkled with garlic bread crumbs and finished with truffle oil: 

Amazing

Next up, fresh porcini mushroom with goat cheese pizza.

Black and white sesame seated tuna with sushi set up (soy sauce, wasabi, and pickled ginger). The wasabi was Extra Hot!

Tartar of Columbia River King Salmon. So delish!!

Duckleg Confit w/ House BBQ Sauce, Toasted Corn Pudding & Local Peach Chutney.

Seared Wild Alaskan Halibut with Fennel Salad and North Carolina Blueberry Gastrique

"Carolina Creole", Shrimp, VA Country Ham and Mussel on Carolina Rice w/ Zucchini, Tomato & Onion in a Broth of White Wine, Butter & Cajun Spices. Christian's favorite. 

Seared Columbia River King Salmon with Cucumber Salad and Yogurt. Gayle and I loved this, so much in fact that we practically ate the whole thing before we remembered to take its picture!

A testament to how good everything was - tons of empty plates! 

Great decision #3 was to have dessert! 

 Vanilla panna cotta with fresh fruit. Creamier than I expected. Yum!

 Chocolate. Need I say more? 

Local peach bread pudding (that was so light it was more like a souffle) with a fried peach (with funnel cake batter) and bourbon vanilla cream. Chocoholic Gayle said this was better than chocolate. High praise! (The peaches were perfect, fresh, sweet, juicy; I had a peach martini with fresh local fruit that was stellar.) 

Altogether it was a great evening!

Metropolis

520 Old Stoney Road

Corolla, NC 27927

metropolisobx.com

http://www.facebook.com/pages/METROPOLIS/20014204998

Currituck Beach Lighthouse

Continuing the recap of our week at the beach:
After attempting to visit the local lighthouse, Currituck Beach Lighthouse, on Wednesday afternoon and turning around due to the line, we went back on Thursday morning and really enjoyed the visit and the climb (216 steps) to the top!

 The exterior walls are very thick - from about 3 1/2 feet to over 5 feet at the base.

view from the bottom looking up the stairs (hello John and Gayle!)

 J&G at the top!

Mom, Chrissy and the boys at the top

view of the marsh

Other lighthouses in North Carolina

close up of the top (from ground level)

The keepers house (now a gift shop)

Currituck Beach Light Station

1101 Corolla Village Road

Corolla, NC 27927

Open daily 9am-5pm in season, til 8pm on Thursday

$7 to climb, free for kids 7 and under.

We recommend you go before 10am - last Wednesday they had 1400 visitors!

Corolla Village on Dwellable

Wild Horses in North Carolina?

It's true, there are wild horses up at the end of the Outer Banks, past where the road runs out. Frankly, one of the best parts about looking for them is getting to drive on the beach! We first went out around 2 in the afternoon and had no luck, but there were so many cars and people on the beach that we weren't surprised. Our second trip out was at 6:30am. More fun than the first - no traffic to contend with - and we saw a few horses!

John's 4-wheel-drive Jeep Cherokee, on the beach. I wish we had gotten some action shots! Thanks, John, for letting us use your car!

grazing on the dunes

one of them is definitely a youngster

a far shot to show how close the horses were to people - there was a man sitting in the gazebo there on the left!

We did the self-tour but you can also book tours with guides. My friend Leslie recommends Wild Horse Adventure Tours. Learn more about the wild horses at http://www.currituckwildhorses.com/

Corolla Village on Dwellable

Beach Fun - Sand Structure 2011

My brother John called this "The Wall of Invincibility" surrounded by "The Moat of Invincibility" All the guys had fun building and protecting the fortress from what I called "The Tide of Inevitability" =D

digging the moat

 side view of the structure and front of moat

view from ocean side of Thom and John protected inside the fortress 

hole dug closer to shoreline as a first line of defense against the tide

Elliot building a deep side chamber to the moat

Tide reaches first line of defense

boys attempt to bail water to protect first line of defense

women safe behind castle wall. safe but chilly - only 75 this day

water rises up into the moat. Ethan races to make repairs.

We didn't tell him it was a lost cause... but we did take a break for dinner! 

Here's how it looked when we came back 

not completely destroyed yet...

some sections are even dry still!

view from the ocean side of water washing over what's left of the wall.

It was fun while it lasted!!

Beach Fun at the Outer Banks

All the ingredients for fun at the beach:

obviously, you need beach

a lifeguard helps

a pool adds to the fun (sorry about the funny angle, blogger is not cooperating)

as does the hot tub

meat must be grilled

 cornhole must be played

T did a great job!

kites are an added bonus

sunrises must be viewed (click to see)

sand structures must be built - coming Tuesday

adventures must be had - coming Wednesday

lighthouses must be explored - coming Thursday

adults night out is a nice bonus - coming Friday

books must be read - next Monday