Inlet View Bar & Grill, Shallotte Point, Shallotte, N.C. in Brunswick County

One of the first questions newcomers to Brunswick County, N.C. ask is where the best restaurants are, specifically seafood restaurants. In 2009 Inlet View Bar & Grill at the end of Village Point Road in Shallotte, N.C. reopened after a five-year hiatus. The results are astounding!
The décor is simple with lots of wood and huge windows that overlook the Intracoastal Waterway with all the splendor a seascape offers. Patrons can visit the upstairs bar and go out on the massive deck to enjoy the outdoors and the view. They can eat on the bar level if they wish, but the main dining room is one floor down. An elevator assists those who don’t want to tackle the steps.
The owners buy local seafood as often and as much as possible. Shrimp, soft shell crab, clams, oysters and flounder are the popular catches. The light breading on the generous portions of fried seafood is sweet and tender. The hush puppies have a special taste that makes them irresistible. One basket is never enough.
Start with bacon-wrapped scallops for $8.95. Other than the market priced items, the most expensive selection on the menu is crab legs at $18.95. A house salad is only $4.25 while a Caesar salad is $4.50, but top them with shrimp, tuna or mahi mahi and it jumps to $11.99.
Grilled chicken ($13.95), hamburger steak ($9.95) and ribeye steak ($15.95) are the only non-seafood dinners, but BLT, cheeseburger, ham & cheese, hamburger and grilled chicken breast are on the menu. The “kiddie” menu has the always popular grilled cheese, chicken fingers and hot dog. For the young seafood eaters there is fried shrimp.
I choose flounder, and it was yummy. My dinner companions chose shellfish in all its forms and said it was the best they had ever eaten. It could have been the view, the conversation or just the ambiance. We enjoyed every second of our time there.
Look for information at http://www.inletview.com/ or give the restaurant a call at 910-754-6233.

Ingram Planetarium, Sunset Beach, N.C.

Another unique attraction often overlooked when visiting Brunswick County, N.C. is Ingram Planetarium, a few miles south of Museum of Coastal Carolina just off Sunset Boulevard, aka Route 179, in Sunset Beach. Both facilities lie under the umbrella of Ocean Isle Museum Foundation, Inc., which supports them.

Ingram Planetarium enjoys the luxury of being one of the few planetariums around the world to have SciDome HD, a system that projects around three million pixels on the sky dome. With ImmersaVision from Spitz, Inc. visitors see 360 degrees of viewing. No matter where they sit, nothing is blocking their view. In addition, it contains 500 million objects and is updated on a regular basis. Technicians can show 88 constellations in various ways.

Mark Jankowski, senior technician at Ingram, said he can outline the stars six different ways, show the Big Dipper, connect the dots and display the overlay of a bear. He takes viewers into space and makes them feel as if they are really there. Want to go to Jupiter, Saturn or Mars? Just make the request.

Shows at the planetarium begin on the hour starting at 1 with “Astronaut.” At 2 the program is “Oasis in Space,” 3 is “Zula Patrol: Under the Weather” and 4 is “Seven Wonders.” Free family programs are also available through Aug. 19 in the Paul Dennis Science Hall. Tuesdays feature “Navigating the Seas.” Wednesdays have “Turtle Talk” and Thursdays offer “Sun Fun” in which families look through a solar telescope and discover sun and participate in sun-related activities.

The planetarium also offers musical laser shows at 5 and 6 p.m. through Aug. 19. On Tuesdays at 5, catch “Laser Beatles.” At 7 watch “Laser Arena Rock.” On Wednesdays at 5 see “Laser Metallica” and at 6 is “Pink Floyd: The Wall.” It is recommended that young children not see this one. On Thursdays at 5 “Laser Beatles” returns, and at 6 is “Laser Pink Floyd: Dark Side of the Moon.”

The planetarium is open Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Thursdays from 12:30- 7; on Fridays and Saturdays from 12:30 to 4. Cost per show is $8 for those 17-59 and $6 for those from 3-16 and those 60+. People can find more information at www.ingramplanetarium.org, e-mail personnel at infor@ingramplanetarium.org or call 910-575-0033.

sightseeing in Ocean Isle Beach, N.C.

I’m familiar with a vacation spot that thousands of people visit each year: Ocean Isle Beach, N.C. Visitors to this seaside paradise come primarily to lay on the beach for the perfect suntan, but this town offers much more. Right on the island is the Museum of Coastal Carolina. The museum has special programs throughout the week during the summer.

Each summer it varies, so now in 2010 on Mondays children and their families learn how to tie five different knots. They receive a knot-tying guide and rope to take home. On Tuesdays visitors learn to identify fish in the museum’s Ocean Reef Gallery. On Wednesdays children learn oceanfront safety. In addition, an Ocean Isle Beach fireman drives a fire truck to the museum, talks of fire safety, tells what firemen wear and what they do and gives visitors a tour of the truck. Wednesday evenings people walk to two haunted locations and learn about ghosts in the area. Thursdays children learn about sharks and dig for sharks’ teeth. On Thursday nights Matthew Bookout brings his reptiles and snakes and tells all about them. Fridays are Touch Tank feeding days. Visitors learn which fish swim in the tank and watch a docent feed the fish. They learn to identify shells and can bring their own shells to be identified.

These afternoon programs start at 3:30 while the evening programs are at 7. The museum opens at 10. The programs are free but require admission to the museum. Costs range from $8 for adults, $6 for seniors and students and $4 for those 3-5. The phone of the museum is 910-579-1016; e-mail is info@museumofcc.org and its Web site is www.museumofcc.org.

Friday nights are concert nights in the Museum parking lot beginning at 6:30. A different band plays each week. A full schedule is at www.brunswickcountync.gov. Under departments, choose Parks and Recreation. At that page choose Community Events. The entire Brunswick County schedule of concerts and movies is listed there. I will be highlighting a different attraction in the Ocean Isle Beach area throughout the summer.

The Devil in the White City, Part III

Besides the fascinating story of the development of the World Columbian Exposition in Chicago in 1893 and the corollary story of serial killer H.H. Holmes, aka Herman Mudgett, what impressed me the most about this book is the detail Eric Larson includes. His research extends beyond what most readers expect. An example of this is when he explains that the Exposition’s hospital treated 11,602 patients. He follows that declaration with the number of people treated for specific conditions, such as diarrhea, constipation, etc. He names a total of eight conditions. All dental problems are grouped together in one category separate from those mentioned above.

Another example of being specific is the details of the August 16, 1893, Midway Ball. He tells about the various people who attended and what they wore, about the dances and who led them. He lists the entire menu. Larson ties the story together at the end by explaining how the Exposition concludes and how Holmes meets his demise.

The unity of the story is complete when Larson finishes as he started—April 14, 1912—the sailing across the Atlantic of the Titanic coming to America and the Olympic going to England. Most of the architects and directors involved with the Exposition had passed on by then; however, Daniel Burnham was a passenger on the Olympic and Frank Millet, a painter from New York who was responsible for the “White City” and “Whitewash Gang” terms being applied to the Exposition’s buildings, was a passenger on the Titanic.

The reader can skip parts that include too many details yet get the core of the story. Those interested in writing nonfiction can learn how to mesh story and detail by reading this book.

The Devil in the White City, Part II

I'm almost halfway through the book, and I'm horrified by Dr. H.H. Holmes sadistic, cold-blooded killings. I still haven't learned what his motives are for killing women. Eric Larson's description of him is similar to the descriptions of Ted Bundy--a charmer who is irresistible to women but a serial killer nonetheless. So far Holmes has killed at least two women and a child. Another woman left Chicago abruptly, unwilling to say why except she didn't want to talk about Holmes. She went home to Iowa and died there. I suspect Holmes poisoned her. He was a trained physician and knew how to kill without using weapons.
The Columbian Exposition--actually, its proper title is World's Columbian Exposition--is progressing faster than I thought it could. The number of buildings and their detailed construction defies credibility, but Burnham pushed ahead, determined to show the world that America, specifically Chicago, could accomplish the established goals.
I am impressed with some of the names associated with the Exposition--Thomas Edison, Elias Disney and Frederick Law Olmstead, landscape designer of New York's Central Park and Biltmore Estate in Asheville, N.C.
This book contains biography, history, suspense, murder and intrigue. I've talked to some people who didn't want to read all the details of the developing Exposition, but as the story unfolds, I don't want to skip one word!

The Devil in the White City, Part I

I grew up in the Chicago area--Joliet, Ill. to be exact--and I learned that many innovations were introduced at the Columbian Exposition, which commemorated Christopher Columbus' discovery of America 400 years earlier. Erik Larson's "The Devil in the White City" casts a perspective on the Exposition that I never realized existed.
Larson starts with the Exposition Universelle of 1889 in Paris, which set the wheels in motion for the United States to top that World's Fair. Architect Daniel Burnham, who is credited with not only the design of Chicago but for preserving land throughout the Chicago area to be used for recreation--hiking, picnicking and other family activities, is at the core of this book as is his partner, John Wellborn Root. Another figure, Herman Mudgett aka Dr. H.H. Holmes, is a person whose name I never heard before. He's the antagonist in juxtaposition to Burnham, Root, et.al., the heroes in the story.
The book reads like a novel, but it's all true, and what truth Larson provides!
Be assured that Holmes, who copied his name presumably from Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's detective, Sherlock Holmes, is not in search of justice for the downtrodden or misunderstood.
He may be classified as a psychopath, but he is likable. He charms women and they fall under his spell. As I continue my journey through this book, I hope to uncover the reason for his behavior and how he managed to ignore the value of life.

Genes, environment and success

“The Help,” a novel by Kathryn Stockett, and “Outliers,” a nonfiction book by Malcolm Gladwell that he subtitled “the Story of Success,” strikes me as being based on the same premise. That is, genes and environment determine success.
“The Help” chronicles the plight of blacks in the South, specifically Jackson, Mississippi, during the 1960s. The only obstacle to a black’s success was skin color, which, of course, includes genetics and environment. Slavery had been abolished, but the majority of southern whites treated blacks as slaves. Blacks in the North didn’t have such severe restrictions as their southern counterparts although they experienced discrimination as well. Blacks were never given credit for their intelligence and never rated on the same scale. The courage of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., James Meredith, the first black student to enter University of Mississippi, Rosa Parks in Montgomery, Alabama, and the four men who sat at the Woolworth’s lunch counter in Greensboro, N.C. helped change blacks’ status in America. However, many whites believed blacks couldn’t achieve the success of whites—simply because their skin color was dark.
In “Outliers” Gladwell tells how children born into an environment with multiple opportunities have a better chance at success. If a child is associated with an accomplished musician, for example, that child has a greater chance of developing an interest in music and becoming a musician. If someone is surrounded by diplomats, that person learns the skills diplomats possess.
Gladwell also gives examples of how those born “at the right time” have a greater chance of success. Consider the cut-off dates for children’s sports’ teams and entrance into school. A child born Sept. 1 when the cut-off date is Aug. 30 has a full year ahead of anyone born Aug. 30. He or she will be bigger, stronger and probably more mature.
What bothers me about Gladwell’s theory is that he doesn’t give credit to people who achieve high goals when they are faced with several disadvantages. Anyone born in the projects, surrounded by poverty, gangs and illiteracy, must work harder to achieve commendable goals, but with dreams and goals in his or her heart, that person can achieve success. Those without supportive parents, teachers or friends, can ignore the negative and set their sights on high goals.
What is unfortunate about Stockett’s story is that it happened and discrimination still exists in America. What is unfortunate about Gladwell’s book is that people may believe him.