Oh, crap! They've idiotised the blogs now, too!

This is *not* good. I hate this interface, it looks like crap and is slow.

Way to kick it off, Lissa ;-)

I've a feeling this topic will get more than two responses now.

What an ugly grey color background. Depressing, even.

Hmmm... seems to have gone back to normal for me. It was a bit... disconcerting at first.

Why does this new frou-frou make me feel that the Sun is becoming all form and no substance?

Small-town 4th of July celebrations are good for the soul. Have fun, Ms. Large.

I'm glad someone understands. :-) EL

I'll be heading to the Outer Banks (around Buxton or Frisco, I think) next week; I'd welcome any dining suggestions from those who are familiar with the area!

Wait! Wait! Over on Entertainment/Fun Stuff, jl's Shallow Thoughts have their own promotion. AND(1) his gas station food has a separate link. Right near Horoscopes. Wow.

And my link doesn't seem to be working. Hmmph. I'm going to swear it's the software.

They fired jl, and now they are promoting him?

I don't see anything Eve and your link doesn't work

guest bloggers are basically unpaid labor, the most profitable kind

And...er...you think we're making a profit how? EL

Yuk.

And, flying nanando there's a place we went to twice the last time we were in the outer banks. It's called Fishbones and I think it may be in Duck. It was very nice and had great food.

I haven't been to the Banks in more than 5 years, but we used to go to Kelly's on our first night there. I don't remember anything at all about the food except that we enjoyed it. Of course, I was always so glad to be out of the blasted car that I'd've thought anything was wonderful.

Oh! Wait! Don't order the creme broulee. The time I ordered it at Kelly's, the waitress showed up with, like, a welding torch instead of the little lighter-sized torch. It was about a foot from my face, so it took awhile to see things as funny as everyone else at the table found it. Of course, we did giggle over that torch for the rest of the week, so what the hey, order the creme brulee.

It makes me dizzy. I feel as if I'm looking through the wrong end of a telescope. The font is different. It lost my cartouche. Boo!

everything looks exactly the same to me

It doesn't seem to remember my name. The Email address is there but the name is blank. We'll see if it really "remembers" me.

If Julia Child can use a blowtorch, the staff at Kelly's can too.

Nope. I doesn't. went elsewhere and came back to a blank name. Luckily Firefox prompts me when I type the first letter.

This blog software is still better than the one running Prof. McIntyre's new blog. Can't even cut and paste there, let alone use html coding.

I hate the new look. And it's Monday, too.

Elizabeth - I work with someone whose son is a student at the U of the South. She informs me that they opened a Sonic recently. (I think in...Mount Eagle?)

mmmm...a Route 44 Limeade. The perfect drink for watching the 4th of July parade.

OK, I'll try to find it. EL

Well there are a lot of sandboxers out there with attitudes I guess. Oh well.

While I won't be going on vacation until late July it is a cruise on Princess line to Alaska and would love to hear from anyone who has gone on the cruise and has eating suggestions, etc.

EL have a great time. One of our great vacations was in a little Vermont town on the Fourth of July with the town parade picnic!

Thanks! EL

Everyone has an attitude, Earl. It's just a question of what kind of attitude.

I hope you have a great vacation.

We went to Cape Cod last fall and had fantastic fried clams at a little place that looked liked a Dairy Queen in West Yarmouth near the Bass River on Route 28. These weren't your Howard Johnson style clam strips these were the real deal. I don't know what would go better right now, some fried clams or a crab cake.

The fried clams in New England are indeed quite fine!

If you go as far north as Maine, one seemingly unsung treat is the little Maine shrimp, usually served fried. They're incredibly sweet and tasty! The first time I ever had them was at a waterside restaurant in Belfast, Maine, as part of a platter with fried smelts. It was wonderfully tasty! While I was eating the shrimp and smelts, my wife was enjoying lobster, as she did close to every day on that trip.

Shill alert just above.

During our week in Myrtle Beach every summer, we never miss Murphy's Law Sports Bar on S. KIngs Highway. It's a locals hangout that doesn't look like much on the exterior, but the food certainly makes up for it. Very kid friendly with a pool table and video games, and some of the best wings I've had, south of Buffalo. If you get over the fact that the owner is from Pittsburgh, and the place is practically a shrine to the Steelers, you'll enjoy yourself.

Dahlink is right. The 11:38 post is just link spam.

And...er...you think we're making a profit how? EL

Pazo and Cinghale ain't gettin' that banner ad for free! Verizon must be paying something for that box under MRC.

Unfortunately, newspapers haven't figured out a way to make money on their Web sites yet. (I'm not saying there aren't any ads.) Or rather not without the free content the print reporters provide. This is why we're a bankrupt company, among other things. EL

Regarding the OBX question, here are a few of our favorites, and we vacation there every year so we have tried most everything:

Kill Devil Grille (Beach Rd, KDH) great food served by nice people...the desserts are off the hook too, especially the key lime pie.

Outer Banks Brewing Station (Main drag, KDH) has yummy food and their own brews...the country's 1st wind powered brew pub!

Black Pelican (Beach Road, Kitty Hawk) Great pizza, locals joint.

Lucky 12 Tavern (Beach Road, Nags Head) More great pizza, and gotta love a good biker bar.

All of the above are totally casual places (trust me, getting my hubby to dress up on vacation would be sheer torture), and are consistently good, IMHO.

My mouth waters at the mere mention of Eastern Carolina BBQ. The best places are local dives in the middle of nowhere, but Ralph's in Weldon, NC is easily accessible from I 95. Their Q is pretty tasty, and the greens are some of the best I've ever eaten.