The Xmaskaties, Glowria, And Rosie Go To The Art Festival At The Whalehead Club Then Have Truly Mediocre To Bad, Overpriced Lunches At The Blue Point.

Here are Glowria and Xmaskatie,

last Wednesday,

at the entrance to

the 8th Annual Arts Festival,

"Under the Oaks,"

at Currituck Heritage Park

at the Historic Whalehead Club.

For 2 days (Wednesday and Thursday, June 23 and 24)

over 100 artists from all over the United States

displayed their artworks -

sculpture, ceramics, woodwork, jewelry,

enamel, watercolors, oils, acrylics, pastels, mixed media,

wrought iron, clay, wood, glass, basketry, photography.

Here are some random living history interpreters

strolling through the art festival.

Click on the picture to enlarge and notice

what ye gentlemanne on the lefte hath in his hande.

Didest they haveth bottled water backeth then?

Here's the Currituck Lighthouse.

Sadly, Glowria, Xmaskatie, and I were not up

for the 214 step, 162 foot climb to the top.

It was too hot.

The Whalehead Club is also home to the

Currituck Wildlife Museum

which showcases the wildlife heritage of this area -

the history of water fowl hunting and

the artistry of decoy makers.

You can go to Kathy's Reinventing A Boomer blog ,

and read about her January visit to the Museum, here.

Various critters in the wildlife museum.

Xmaskatie is sporting the baubles

she bought from one of the jewelry-makers

at the festival.

She was looking for earrings to match her necklace.

Here's our happy little party:

Glowria, Xmaskatie, Brother Xmaskatie,

Sister In Law Xmaskatie,

and Niece Xmaskatie.

This is the view of the Whalehead Club

from the Wildlife Museum.

Now, on to lunch.

Pfffft!

At Xmaskatie's suggestion,

we went to the Blue Point Bar and Grill in Duck.

I can never remember the name of this restaurant.

And I always come up with Blue Oyster Cult instead,

which takes me to this:

"I got a fever and the only prescription is MORE COWBELL!"

When Xmaskatie worked up in Duck,

she had numerous good meals at the Blue Point

and was looking forward to another one.

Sadly, this wasn't it.

The last time I went to the Blue Point,

Mr. Hawthorne and I ordered

the oyster bisque and told the waitress

to bring us an extra spoon since we were going to share.

She gave us a funny look when she came back and I asked

her for a knife, so we could cut the ONE oyster in the bisque.

(We were sharing, remember?)

We placed our orders,

got our drinks promptly,

and waited.

And waited ...

And waited ...

For 45 minutes until we were served.

With no crackers.

Nothing to munch on.

Just refills of our drinks.

I decided to go out of my comfort zone today

and order something I normally wouldn't order.

Normally, I would order the crab soup and a Caesar salad

since that's one of my benchmarks for judging a restaurant.

But today,

I opted for 2 of the specials recited by our waiter.

The first was a cold tomato soup

slightly flavored by some basil

with crabmeat and one sad little cracker.

Now I was looking forward to the crabmeat

so you can see why I might be a tad disappointed

when I was served this.

For $4.95.

If you remember my previous post

about the different grades of crabmeat

and when to use what for which recipes,

this would be a case for using Jumbo Lump or Lump,

because you want to showcase the crab meat.

This is definitely NOT lump.

It's tiny little flavorless pieces of crab.

Plus, if you look at the crab meat,

you'll notice it's not even white.

That's because there's a pool

of overpowering olive oil on top of the crab meat.

I am not happy with the soup.

Sister In Law Xmaskatie

ordered the She Crab Soup "a la minute," which was apparently "a la 45 minutes."

I might have ordered this,

but it was $9.95 for a bowl,

and I had a $9.00/pound container of crab meat

sitting in my fridge, so I just couldn't justify that expenditure.

At least she got 2 crackers,

a sprinkling of Old Bay Seasoning,

some chives, and a splash of Spanish Sherry.

Brother Xmaskatie ordered the fresh Carolina shrimp

and Edwards smoked surry sausage with

a cheddar grit "cake," tomatoes, scallions, and Creole spice

and I believe it was $11.50.

Six tiny shrimp were stuck heads-down in the grits

with their little tails sticking out.

And when I say tiny I mean tiny.

Compare them to the slice of lemon.

Hell, compare the whole plate to the slice of lemon.

I tasted the grits and the sauce

and it was mediocre.

I don't know how the shrimp were

since I wasn't going to take away from what little he had.

I am not impressed.

Glowria ordered the $8.50 meatloaf with garlic mashed potatoes

(I'm a mashed potato purist. No garlic in mine, please.)

and big chunks of squash and zucchini.

I had a bite of the meatloaf and it was

spicy and smoky flavored.

Not bad.

But I prefer my own.

Here's what Glowria had to say about her meatloaf:

From Glowria:

Today my group of art aficionados decided to stop at the Blue Point Restaurant in Duck for what was expected to be an outstanding lunch after a long day of browsing the art stalls at the art show at the Whalehead club. We all ordered and patiently waited for our meals to be served. My $9 meatloaf with spicy ketchup, "hint of garlic" mashers and crunchy squash were all a pleasant- tasting burst of flavors that I will enjoy as leftovers tonight. I'm really glad I decided not to get the Asian salad.

Niece Xmaskatie ordered the pasta and vegetable dish for $6.95.

I didn't even bother taking a picture of that blandness.

Besides, the poor child had been dragged all over to,

what had to be for her, boring exhibits all morning,

then she had to wait a looooooooong time at the restaurant to be served

and was extremely well-behaved and a delight to be around the entire time.

She actually looked at me when she was served and said,

"You don't want to take a picture of mine do you?"

I later asked Xmaskatie about the vegetables supposedly in the pasta,

since I didn't detect any from my vantage point across the table.

She just said they were "the same color as the pasta."

What? Did she have turnips, potatoes, and parsnips in her pasta?

Please, Sir. May I have some more?

NOT!

Xmaskatie and I both ordered the "Asian" salad,

for $8.95,

described as brined chicken over salad greens with

an Asian dressing and we could have sworn he said

peanuts sprinkled on top.

And here's my "Asian" salad.

There were no peanuts.

There were some strips of red pepper and carrot.

The "brined" chicken was slimy

and some of the pieces seemed undercooked.

I could taste some sesame oil.

The lettuce was limp.

That was it.

There was no crunch. No flavor. No texture.

Well, I guess you could consider "slimy" a texture,

but it's not one that I actively pursue.

I couldn't eat this hot mess.

Total damage: $84.00.

Here's what Xmaskatie had to say about it:

From Xmaskatie:

I was really looking forward to our lunch today at The Blue Point in Duck. I've never been disappointed with the food or service, and would often walk there from my office when I worked in Duck 7 years ago. So I suggested to our hungry group of 6 (which included a very patient and well behaved 7 year old) that we stop there after visiting the art show in Corolla, since I usually don't venture that far north anymore. The restaurant is huge now (I think it used to seat 30, including the porch area, now seats maybe 100+), and it still looked very nice, still had the great water view, and I was hoping it still had the type of food I look forward to eating. I remember the green goddess dressing was so perfect I asked the chef for the recipe. I still make that dressing today.

But, after we were promptly seated, and promptly served our drinks, and our order was taken, we waited for a good 45 minutes for our food. We arrived just after noon, and there were less than a dozen diners already seated, so the wait seemed excessive. I ordered the daily special, which was an Asian Salad with brined chicken, julienned romaine lettuce, cilantro, and a peanut dressing (or something with peanuts). It was very average. But for $9, it was well below average. The chicken was flavorless and some pieces looked undercooked (although that could have been the lighting), and a few red peppers & carrot strips sat sadly on the soggy romaine. I barely tasted any peanut, and just felt that the old Blue Point would have done it better. Adding some red onion, some cucumber strips, or water chestnuts, or snow peas, and using a mesclun mix of greens and crispy chinese noodles would have greatly improved this salad. The portion was small especially when for the same price you can get a delicious salad at Tortuga's Lie in Nags Head. In fact, I was still hungry after lunch, so came home and had a tuna salad sandwich and some pineapple for my 2nd lunch.

Really disappointing meal, only upsides were the attentive service (wasn't the waiter's fault how long it took to get to the table), and the wonderful company and stimulating conversation.

I still don't know what was "Asian" about it.

Oh!!!

Yes!!!! I do now!

It's got CHOPSTICKS on the plate!!!!

That makes it Asian! I brought the chopsticks home with me. Next time I wok something, I will be culturally insensitive, a la Sandra Lee, and stick them in my hair.

Culinarily speaking,

this day blew chunks.

Big ones.

After not eating this "meal" Wednesday afternoon,

I didn't eat this meal Wednesday evening.

And that sucked big time.

Mr. And Mrs. Hawthorne Visit The Whalehead Club For A Lecture, Culturefication, And Edumacation.

The other day, I was reading an article in one of our local newspapers, The Coastland Times, or as I like to call it, The Coastland Crimes. A gentleman named Gary Baker, a Tiffany glass expert, was scheduled to lecture at the Whalehead Club in Corolla, NC. Mr. Baker (His website is here.) is internationally known for his expertise in the area of glass. He holds a Bachelor's degree with a double major in fine arts and history from William & Mary and a Master's degree from the University of Delaware. At age 22, he began his museum career as the curator of a historic house museum where he had collections of fine and decorative arts and historic materials in his keeping. To quote from the Coastland Times: From 1982 through his retirement in 2007, he held curatorial positions at the Chrysler Museum of Art, in Norfolk, Va., beginning as assistant curator of glass and becoming curator of glass in 1990. Baker installed the Chrysler's glass galleries, planned and implemented the Norfolk History Museum (opened September 2005), and oversaw the Chrysler's restoration of the interior of the circa 1797 Moses Myers House in Norfolk. Now in the private sector, Baker specializes in appraisals of fine art collections. The newspaper article mentioned that following the presentation and lunch, Mr. Baker would be available to help identify pieces of personal glass and silver collections and for attendants to bring along some of their favorite glass and silver treasures for review and discussion. I thought this would be enlightening and fun, so Mr. Hawthorne and I scurried to find some items for presentation.

We were treated to a very informative and interesting slide show and lecture on Louis Comfort Tiffany, the innovative techniques he employed in his artistic glass-making, Tiffany's contribution to the Art Nouveau Movement, and examples of Tiffany's stained glass and blown glass creations. Oh, and that picture up there is actually of Mr. Baker after the slide show. I know it looks like a slide.

After the lecture, we had lunch at the Whalehead Club on the back porch. Nice view looking out over the sound.

Catered by some some forgettable place, we had half a turkey sandwich, with cheese, bacon, and apple slices, (And I noticed some sandwiches had a lot more cheese and bacon than mine did.) a pickle, and a bag of potato chip air. On big fancy china. After we finished lunch, I took a little stroll through the rooms in the Whalehead Club.

Over the fireplace is a painting of the southern exposure of the Whalehead Club.

Across from the fireplace was surveying apparatus. Because of the ropes, I couldn't see what was inside the cabinets.

The dining room.

Complete with duck press.

This is the library. And the piano which Ticky's father played when he sneaked in one night. Ticky has blogged about this on Reinventing A Boomer, but since she DOESN'T DO LABELS AND TAGS for her posts, it may be hard to find. Just go back and find it.

This is the view looking out to the sound from the library.

The library. Piano is to the right. Windows and sound to the left. At this point, one of the volunteers came over and told me that no photos were allowed because of security reasons. So I put my camera away ...

... until I got up to one of the upstairs bedrooms and no one was around.

After lunch, Mr. Baker met with us all upstairs to discuss our personal glass and silver treasures.

Mr. Baker started at the end table. I guess he's saving the best for last, since Mr. Hawthorne's lamp is on the front table along with my glass thingie which actually stumped Mr. Baker.

Here's Mr. Hawthorne's lamp.

Mr. Hawthorne's father bought the lamp in the 1950's for $25.

Here's my little treasure. It has it's own velvet-lined case with the initials "A P" on the outside.

On the inside of the case, It has Maquet 40 Rue de la Paix. And this is the only information I can find on Maquet, but that only involved a cursory Google search.

Now, here it is. Side A. The next pictures are closeups from left to right so you can see the intricate engraving.

Here's Side B. Please check out the videos: Here's my glass "treasure" and the video I shot, and if anyone out there has any idea what this is, please let me know because even the expert didn't know what it was but he seemed to like it. Here's the video about Mr. Hawthorne's lamp. Mr. Hawthorne is still licking his wounds about the fact that his cathedral lamp with Art Nouveau base was considered "middle class" whereas my unexplainable glass piece was considered to be "an object of luxury definitely intended for the upper class client." Whoot!

Here are views from outside the Whalehead Club.

I must say, it was pouring down raining, and I'm walking along, shooting pictures, hiding my camera inside my sweatshirt, and Mr. Hawthorne is following along in his truck. He's such a wussy.

Now, a bit of history about the Whalehead Club: This elegant 21,000 square foot home on the Currituck Sound was built for industrialist Edward Collings Knight and his wife, Marie Louise LeBel, an accomplished hunter, both of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, between 1922-1925 at a cost of $383,000. Knight was an executive with the Pennsylvania Railroad and American Sugar Refinery. His wife, Marie, convinced him to purchase the Lighthouse Club property and construct the most opulent hunt club ever built on the Currituck Sound. Materials used in construction were shipped from Norfolk, Virginia, by barge. They named it Corolla Island. Because most hunt clubs forbade women members, Knight built the house, on the Atlantic flyway, for his wife who enjoyed horseback riding, hunting, and other outdoor activities. Of all the shooting clubs, this "mansion by the sea"/"cottage" is the most unique and exotic. Built in the art nouveau style which was popular at that time, design elements would draw upon nature. This can be seen in details such as flowering wainscoting and sconces (Check out the picture of the dining room walls.) and door handles molded in the shape of ducks' heads, corduroy walls, cork flooring, and rooms carved with water lilies and morning glories with hardware to match the floral motif. Numbered and signed Tiffany lighting fixtures hung in the dining room and greet room. The custom made dining room table and chairs were carved with a waterlily design and the hinges and handles on the doors and windows were molded in the shape of waterlily buds. "Corolla Island" was the first home on the Outer Banks to have a basement, a swimming pool, and an elevator. Mr. Hawthorne tells the story from the Corolla locals: The locals were prepping the house for the Knights and their guests to come down and visit for the season. They received many provisions, one of which was a huge round of blue cheese. The local caretakers explained to the Knights that they threw out the blue cheese since it was bad. It had mold all over it. Throughout the years, the building changed hands numerous times. In 1940, Ray T. Adams, a wealthy meat packer, purchased the property for $25,000. He renamed it Whalehead Club and used it in the winter as a hunting club and during the summer as a retreat, especially for Congressmen and Washington, DC society. During World War II, the property was leased by Mr. Adams to the United States Coast Guard which used it as a recreational and training site. In 1958, it was purchased by George T. McLean & William Witt. In 1959-1962, the club was leased to a private educational foundation and served as a boy's school, The Corolla Academy. It was leased by Atlantic Research Corporation in 1962 to be used as a solid rocket fuel-testing base, to test Poseidon rockets. ARC bought the property in 1964. In 1970, it was sold to J. Kenyon Wilson, Carl White, and Stuart Hume for property development. In 1971, the property was purchased by Whalehead Partners. In the late 1980's it was sold to 111 West Company. By 1992, the property had fallen into a such a neglected state that community leaders and preservationists knew the structure needed to be protected. In 1992, Currituck County purchased the property and adjoining 28 acres of land, and the Whalehead Trust was formed to ensure that this architectural treasure would be restored. The massive restoration project began in the spring of 1999. It is now listed on the National Register of Historic Places.

Now here's the Currituck Lighthouse.

The Currituck Lighthouse as seen from the Whalehead Club.