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Alligator River Restaurant #180310 07/25/06 01:04 AM
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grandmaR Offline OP
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On Highway 64E going to the Outer Banks at the western end of the Alligator River Swing bridge





is a gas station/ souvenier /truck stop kind of place which is ALSO a marina. It's one of the cheapest docks on the ICW and also the fuel is a decent price.

The marina has a lighthouse sign at the entrance



This is the price of gasoline which is posted on the end of the fuel dock.





After the first time we went down the ICW, we have always stopped here on the way down and on the way back.







By itself, the lighthouse would be unremarkable as throughout NC and many other places, lighthouses are used as advertising signposts.

Re: Alligator River Restaurant #180311 07/25/06 01:21 AM
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grandmaR Offline OP
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The marina is just north of the swing bridge (this shows another boat heading into the marina with traffic stopped on the bridge)



Our boat at the fuel dock


Photo of the marina on the wall


Sunset over the marina


In addition to the marina and souvenier store (selling lighthouse artifacts), and fuel, there is a kind of grill type place which serves breakfast and lunch, and the grille cook is on duty until about 6 (so if you want dinner, you have to eat early). Sometimes the cook is a little grumpy.

You order, and go sit down and he brings your food out to you. Don't get the BBQ unless you like the NC vinegar based BBQ. I don't, and I keep forgetting that. They promise riverfront dining and actually did have tables that looked out toward the bridge so we could watch the river, and also the people coming in to the marina. Some of the docking maneuvers provided a lot of amusement for us.

Having a lighthouse as a sign/advertisement would be fairly unremarkable, as a lot of businesses in NC and elsewhere have these kinds of things. But on our last trip north (which was a good bit later than normal), there were a lot of boats in the marina, so the lady opened up Capt'n Charlie's.

This restaurant had tables decorated with lighthouses - in this picture it is holding up the wine menu.



Bob waiting for his dinner.




Re: Alligator River Restaurant #180312 07/25/06 01:29 AM
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I don't know anything about Harbour Lights, but I am assuming that these are not that kind of lighthouse. At least when I looked up Okracoke on the website it did not match this one.

But if you are going out to the OBX on highway 64, you might stop by this place. The food is reasonable whether the restaurant is open or not.

For my birthday (Nov 2003), I had the prime rib dinner special with 2 sides (applesauce and creamed potatoes which turned out to be creamy mashed potatoes - real potatoes and not flakes) and a roll for $10.99 (ordinary price is $11.99) and my husband Bob had the shrimp special for $9.99 (ordinarily $10.99). Bob said the shrimp were small, but I was happy with my prime rib.
On the way back, two dinners one of which was a rib eye dinner with 2 vegetables and corn sticks for $10.99 came to $23.28 including tip. They also sell real ice cream for cones.

Re: Alligator River Restaurant #180313 07/25/06 12:50 PM
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You are right, those are not Harbour Lights replicas. Absolutely love the marina sunset picture! All the shades of purple, deep to lavender! Seeing the name Alligator River sure brings back memories of going swimming in the river while visiting cousins in Carolina.

I really like good Carolina BBQ, must be lean and moist, and grew up eating it, and truly miss not being able to buy it in Colorado. (I did eat my fill while in VA for the Tidewater trip. laugh )

The best way to eat Carolina BBQ is to have the BBQ served on a toasted hamburger bun with coleslaw, enjoy with fries or chips. The sweetness of the coleslaw makes a nice contrast to the "tang" of the vinegar used to season the smoked pork. However if you prefer a non-sandwich, order a BBQ plate, then the BBQ is not served on a bun, but rather as a meat entree, with coleslaw and usually hushpuppies and fries. Wonderful Southern eating!


Melody
Re: Alligator River Restaurant #180314 07/25/06 02:04 PM
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There are some Carolina dishes that I really like, and some that I'm ambivalent about.

I didn't like the BBQ at Alligator River, but I did like this one that I got at Roanoke Island. It was pulled pork, served with mayonnaise-based coleslaw and hush puppies on the side.



Core Sound or Carolina clam chowder is good, but I like the New England style better.



(The Core Sound chowder is on the right)

My grandmother made corn pudding and a grated carrot recipe that I love.

I dont' care for sweet potato pie, but I love sweet potato muffins. I like grits

Re: Alligator River Restaurant #180315 07/26/06 02:42 PM
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Bill and Judy Offline
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Mel,

I just couldn't bring myself to swim in a river called "Aligator River"! Probably because I grew up too close to those critters!

Judy

Re: Alligator River Restaurant #180316 07/26/06 11:17 PM
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We were there in November and March so it was too cold to swim. I wouldn't have gone swimming anyway, but not because of Alligators.

Re: Alligator River Restaurant #180317 07/27/06 12:34 AM
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Quote:
The best way to eat Carolina BBQ is to have the BBQ served on a toasted hamburger bun with coleslaw, enjoy with fries or chips. The sweetness of the coleslaw makes a nice contrast to the "tang" of the vinegar used to season the smoked pork. However if you prefer a non-sandwich, order a BBQ plate, then the BBQ is not served on a bun, but rather as a meat entree, with coleslaw and usually hushpuppies and fries. Wonderful Southern eating!
You betcha, Melody. That's some good eatin!

Grandma Rosalie, we've eaten at some of the same places! I've 'dined' at Capt'n Charlie's and I think I recognize the barbecue plate you had at Roanoke Island. cool


Judy
Re: Alligator River Restaurant #180318 07/27/06 01:17 AM
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Love all those lighthouse decorations - they're not HL lights, but they're not supposed to be! smile

Y'all are making me hungry!

(Only eating critter we have in emoticons!)


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Re: Alligator River Restaurant #180319 07/27/06 01:23 AM
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Love those photographic travelogs, Rosalie!

Re: Alligator River Restaurant #180320 07/27/06 01:52 AM
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grandmaR Offline OP
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Quote:
Originally posted by Lighthouser:

Grandma Rosalie, we've eaten at some of the same places! I've 'dined' at Capt'n Charlie's and I think I recognize the barbecue plate you had at Roanoke Island. cool
You have really eaten at Capt'n Charlie's?? We were at the Alligator River Marina 5 times over 4 years, and only saw them open that room once.

We ate the BBQ at T.L's Country Kitchen on the highway in Manteo. Bob had a tuna salad sandwich and fries for $3.89, and I had an iced tea (99 cents), and a large BBQ sandwich with cole slaw on the side, and potato salad for $3.99.

If you name places you've been (especially in the smaller ones), I can probably find a restaurant that we've got in common.

Because we were there in December, a lot of the restaurants were closed (like Big Al's on the highway and Fisherman's Wharf in Wanchese). On other days, we had lunch at Darrell's and at the Full Moon Cafe.

Re: Alligator River Restaurant #180321 07/27/06 02:40 AM
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T.L's is one of my favorites on Roanoke Island. They have the best fried oysters anywhere! I'm down in that area so often, I know a lot of the eating hang outs that the locals like. If the locals go there, you know it's going to be good, plus, it helps contend with the off season problem of so many being closed.

Like you, I do not care for the Core Sound clam chowder. I was actually served that for breakfast - at Core Sound on Harkers Island. Yuck! It was good they also offered bisquits and gravy.

Here's a name of a smaller place in VA that I lived for awhile (surely not long enough)- Gloucester. My office was in Ordinary, and my home was in Hayes, which was not far from the Coleman bridge over the York River. My home faced on Sarah's Creek. I'm betting you know the area, Rosalie.


Judy
Re: Alligator River Restaurant #180322 07/27/06 10:50 AM
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Quote:
Originally posted by Lighthouser:
T.L's is one of my favorites on Roanoke Island. They have the best fried oysters anywhere! I'm down in that area so often, I know a lot of the eating hang outs that the locals like. If the locals go there, you know it's going to be good, plus, it helps contend with the off season problem of so many being closed.

Like you, I do not care for the Core Sound clam chowder. I was actually served that for breakfast - at Core Sound on Harkers Island. Yuck! It was good they also offered bisquits and gravy.
Unfortunately we didn't know about the fried oysters, which Bob loves, but he tends to be somewhat unadventurous when eating in restaurants for the first time.

I actually like Core Sound clam chowder OK - I just like the New England variety better. I had it twice - once on Roanoke Island, and once in Cedar Island after we got off the Ocracoke ferry.

We landed right after noon and right there at the ferry dock was a motel and restaurant.. I thought we should eat while we had the chance. Bob said he thought that we'd probably go around the corner and find a McDonalds.

But I prevailed. There seemed to me mostly local folks that were eating there. They didn't have much that was suitable for lunch (it wasn't expensive, it was just that everything was a full dinner type thing - no hamburgers or sandwiches), so I got Core Sound clam chowder and Bob had she crab soup ($2.50 each), and he got chicken bites (appetizer) for $4.95 and couldn't eat them all, and I had the all you can eat salad bar for $5.95. The clam chowder was like the one I got at Roanoke Island, except it had a lot more clams and no bacon. It was still a clear broth with potato cubes in it.



And I was right - there were no fast food places for the next 40 miles.

Quote:
Originally posted by Lighthouser:
Here's a name of a smaller place in VA that I lived for awhile (surely not long enough)- Gloucester. My office was in Ordinary, and my home was in Hayes, which was not far from the Coleman bridge over the York River. My home faced on Sarah's Creek. I'm betting you know the area, Rosalie.
Right. We've been to the area three times on the boat and in the 1960s I used to drive up Route 17 through Gloucester Courthouse. At that time, the road was one way on each side of a brick wall which enclosed the square the the courthouse and jail. The fact that the main US 17 has been routed elsewhere is probably good. We frequently saw evidence that not all the cars made the turn in good order.



In 1999, we went to Deltaville by boat, and friends of ours who lived there took us to the Blue Fin in Gloucester. Excellent dinner and not expensive. Good familiar service - the kind where the waitresses know the regulars. Kind of a diner type place. I had a broiled crab cake which was excellent (very lightly seasoned and mostly just crab meat) plus fried clams and crab legs, mac and cheese and stewed tomatoes and hush puppies for $13.95

In the fall of 2001 we went into the York River Yacht Haven and ate at the River's End restaurant Very popular locally, but way too expensive for what you get IMHO. Bob had she-crab soup and an appetizer, and I had the Blue Plate special, and we drank iced tea, and the bill was over $41.00.

In 2004, we went to the Severn River Marina off Mobjack Bay, and friends who have their boat in a private marina on Sarah Creek took us (via Ordinary) to Dolphin Cove Seafood & Oyster Bar. Paul (our friend) recommended that I get the scallops because they would be really fresh, and so I had the grilled sea scallops and jumbo shrimp in brown butter for $13.99. They were very good. I think Bob had steamed shrimp, and Paul or Barbara (his wife) had fried chicken and french fries.


Re: Alligator River Restaurant #180323 07/27/06 12:50 PM
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grandmaR Offline OP
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As you can see, I like to take pictures of both lighthouses and food

Re: Alligator River Restaurant #180324 07/27/06 01:46 PM
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We dirve past that place all the time heading to the OBX. So, I guess my question is, would you reccommoned eating there?


Stephen



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Re: Alligator River Restaurant #180325 07/27/06 02:52 PM
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grandmaR Offline OP
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Yes I would. It's not fancy. If Capt'n Charlie's is not open there are just a couple of tables in the corner. But the food is cheap and it isn't mass produced. A very simple menu. And there's really not a lot of places very near there are there?

Of course every time we've gone there has been a different cook so YMMV.


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