Thanksgiving out of town worked wonderfully! I know Wayne asked for a
report on the precooked dinner in a cooler concept, so here's the
details.

My daughter was with her Dad, so we enjoyed sleeping in on Thursday.
Woke up around 11,made a thermos full of coffee, packed the coolers,
and headed for the Outer Banks. No T-day stress; what a nice start!

Arrived around 2 PM to discover that out budget-priced courtyard view
room actually had a nice view of the water from one side, as well as
being the room closest to the Hot Tub. So we left the cheese platter
out to soften and began our day with a stroll. Enjoyed the view from
the pier and explored the Inn a little bit.

When we got back to the room, we opened the wine, put on the football
game, and began on the hors d'ouevres. Cheese and fruit platter with 5
types of cheeses, fruits, veggies, crostini, and roasted garlic;
artichoke-crab dip; and smoked salmon devilied eggs. Enjoyed snacks and
wine for several hours. Plenty of cheese and fruit left - it was our
lunch on Friday.

Had the Spinach-Watercress Soup course around 5 or 5:30. Pretty full by
then, so we took a nice long walk to enjoy the sunset over Currituck
Sound. Refilled the wine glasses and watched the tail end of the
football game when we returned.

Since it was just the 2 of us, we took a break here for the Grown-Ups
Course. No food involved, but a nice expression of how thankful we are
to be together.

Opened the second bottle of wine. Put on "It's A Wonderful Life" and
started to heat the dinner. Everything worked wonderfully, even with
being cooked on Weds, traveling 100+ miles and being nuked, it was
perfect. Turkey, dressing, gravy, wild rice with mushrooms, mashed
potatoes, fantastic butternut squash, green bean casserole, cranberry
relish, green chile-cheese cornbread.

After the movie, we took a soak in the hot tub with a couple glasses of
champagne with fresh raspbnerries garnishing our glasses. As we were
sitting, we were joined on the patio by a red fox, who was snuffling
around the area, drinking water from the edges of the swimming pool
cover where it had pooled. He didn't seem to mind us although he
checked us out a little.

Settled in for dessert by the fire around 10. Blueberry lemon pound
cake, and chocolate pecan pie with fresh whipped cream. Coffee with
Godiva chocolate liquor. Sat gazing into the flickering flames of the
gas fire for an hour or so.

Left all the dishes in the sink, and the Inn's housekeepers washed them
for us while we were out seeing the wild horses on the beach the next
day!

We didn't forget anything at home, everything tasted delicious, and it
was a very romatic weekend without any company. I coudn't have asked
for anything more!

I may have trouble committing to a family dinner next year.........

"Jude" > wrote in message
oups.com...


Jude, sounds like an awesome weekend! Everything you had sounded wonderful.
Where did you stay on the Outer Banks?

we stayed at the Inn at Corolla Light. Can't afford it in-season, but
it's perfect this time of year!

On Sun 27 Nov 2005 09:54:22a, Thus Spake Zarathustra, or was it Jude?

> Thanksgiving out of town worked wonderfully! I know Wayne asked for a
> report on the precooked dinner in a cooler concept, so here's the
> details.

Jude, it sounds like the perfect holiday! Relaxed, romantic, great food!
What more could one want. You obviously planned very well for this and the
planning was worth it. It's easy to see why you would want to repeat this
next year. :-)

Thanks for posting your account. It was nice reading.

--
Wayne Boatwright *¿*
_____________________________________________

A chicken in every pot is a *LOT* of chicken!

"Jude" > wrote in message
oups.com...
> we stayed at the Inn at Corolla Light. Can't afford it in-season, but
> it's perfect this time of year!
>
Aha! I thought that might be it. :-) Thanks for sharing your story, it
sounds like a dream come true!

C

Chris wrote:
> "Jude" > wrote in message
> oups.com...
> > we stayed at the Inn at Corolla Light. Can't afford it in-season, but
> > it's perfect this time of year!
> >
> Aha! I thought that might be it. :-) Thanks for sharing your story, it
> sounds like a dream come true!
>
> C

Indeed it was. Definitely a new favorite!

Are you around this area somewhere? How do you know the Inn?

"Jude" > wrote in message
oups.com...
the Inn at Corolla Light
> Indeed it was. Definitely a new favorite!
>
> Are you around this area somewhere? How do you know the Inn?
>
I'm farther away than you...I live in northern VA, but have vacationed in
the Outer Banks several times. The past two years, we've rented homes in
Corolla Light. I've never been inside the Inn, just driven past it lots of
times. It sounds like a good place to remember for the future, when our
little ones grow out of vacationing with us.

Here's hoping it's still there in 15-20 years...and us, too!

Chris

On 27 Nov 2005 08:54:22 -0800, "Jude" > wrote:

>Thanksgiving out of town worked wonderfully! I know Wayne asked for a
>report on the precooked dinner in a cooler concept, so here's the
>details.

(snip)

>We didn't forget anything at home, everything tasted delicious, and it
>was a very romatic weekend without any company. I coudn't have asked
>for anything more!
>
>I may have trouble committing to a family dinner next year.........

Sounds like you had a WONDERFUL thanksgiving!

--
~Karen aka Kajikit
Crafts, cats, and chocolate - the three essentials of life
http://www.kajikitscorner.com
Online photo album - http://community.webshots.com/user/kajikit