Tiny Rabbit Holes: Biscuits and, I'm sorry, what now

A roundup of the random in North Carolina, including the Cook Out state flag, a very specific Hornets fit, and Wright Brothers beef.

Hey! So, I’m going to give this a try: A collection of thoughts, links, tweets and followups that I think you’ll all enjoy. Try it on. See how you like it. I’ll be back with a more formal post in a few days. In the meantime, tell your friends, and subscribe!

A Trip To The Very Soul of the Outer Banks

A reader was upset about my besmirching of Manteo in my last newsletter:

RockStorePhotos @RockStorePhotos

@chriscooperwcu @ncrabbithole A stones throw away from the Outer Banks? Really? Friend, Manteo is the capital of the OBX... county seat of Dare County and home to more locals than any other OBX community.

All of this is correct, although I countered with the fact that the spiritual capital of the Outer Banks is actually a small biscuit kitchen located inside a Citgo station on the border between Kill Devil Hills and Nags Head. That place is named Biscuits ‘n’ Porn.

I went there five years ago on the advice of the little old lady at my motel in Manteo. She said, with a straight face, to go there for the best breakfast on the Outer Banks, and she wasn’t wrong.

Kathy, I’m sorry, KATHLEEN Purvis has a great writeup on the place if you want to know more. Also, know that I did pitch a story on this while I was at Our State. They passed.

• Bonus! Apparently people used to say “Manteo to Murphy,” but according to Rabbit Hole reader Lew Powell, that doesn’t happen much anymore.

If Puns Are Wrong I Don’t Wanna Be Wright

Rabbit Hole reader Hunter Baughman asked if I had seen this SPICY WRIGHT BROTHERS MEATBALL:

NCDOT @NCDOT

Y'all leave Ohio alone. They wouldn't know. They weren't there. #FirstInFlight ✈️

news5cleveland.comFrom wrong to Wright — BMV fixes plane facing wrong direction on new Ohio license plateGov. DeWine unveiled the new standard Ohio license plate at a news conference Thursday morning, and observant Ohioans quickly pointed out that the “Birthplace of Aviation” banner streaming from the Wright Brothers’ plane flying atop the new design is attached to the front of the plane, not the back.

Apparently Ohio made about 35,000 of these plates before realizing the error, making them the DMV collectable equivalent of the Billy Ripken card.

Cook Out News

This exists, and it’s glorious.

Michael Taylor @MichaelDanger19

You what also exists? These Cook Out football and basketball jerseys:

Cook Out @CookOut

College. Football. Is. Back. 🙌 In honor of today, we're giving away a rare Cook Out football jersey! ♨️🏈💯 Follow & RT for a chance to win!

They were giving them away a few years ago, but stopped, and I cannot find one for sale online. I am being quite honest when I say that I HAVE NEVER WANTED AN ARTICLE OF CLOTHING MORE.

If you have one, or know where I can get one, please get in touch. Until then, please enjoy the replies to this tweet, where Cook Out enthusiasts tell on themselves.

Well, That’s Something

Here’s some Duval-adjacent news that does not include the home of the Jacksonville Jaguars nor the once-famous golfer. From NBC News:

A man who alleged in a lawsuit that he was fired from a hospital system because he is a white man has been awarded a $10 million verdict by a North Carolina jury, according to court documents.

David Duvall of Michigan sued Novant Health, Inc. in 2019 after he was fired as senior vice president of marketing and communications the previous year.

The Animals Are Vaxxed Up

Last week, the North Carolina Zoo announced that it had started to vaccinate some of its animals for COVID-19. Like humans, they’ll get two doses. Unlike humans, they’ll get a specially formulated vaccine. Like humans, they’ll probably talk incessantly about the brand of vaccine they got. Oh, you got the Purina shot? Well, I got Fancy Feast.

Also, there’s an order to these things:

The zoo will vaccinate primates first, followed by all big cats, bears, wolves and otters.

Otters: low-risk, highly adorbs!

Don’t Jinx It Roy

Great, the governor just put the hex on the Hornets and the Canes.

Roy Cooper @RoyCooperNC

The @hornets with a fetching 4-1 start with only loss in OT. Great for Charlotte. Ball can ball, and this is a fun, exciting team with multiple weapons.

Roy’s trying to make fetch and Svetch happen in the same thread:

Roy Cooper @RoyCooperNC

When will the 5-0-0 @Canes lose? Thursday win would be the best start ever. Lord Stanley material here. So early. But yes, I said it.

Thankfully, he didn’t curse the best football team in North Carolina, the 8-0 Wake Forest Demon Deacons.

Smaller, more manageable rabbit holes

• I did not know that the city of Chapel Hill doesn’t actually control Franklin Street.

• A kid came to our door on Halloween night and asked for bottled water.

• From out of state: Kinda obsessed with this New York magazine story about an empty, steel-lined grave that keeps showing up in TV shows and movies.

• Rubbin, son, is renovatin’: Bowman Gray Stadium, the joint racetrack/football facility, is getting fixed up since Winston-Salem State’s not playing this fall.

• I said Burr, it’s cold in here.

• (Dukes of Hazzard theme intensifies)

• Tommy Tomlinson’s conversation with Shea Serrano is great.

• Two former WCNC-TV sports reporters, Hannah Storm and Kelsey Riggs, anchored SportsCenter together.

• Saw a Charlotte Bobcats logo flash up during a Hornets game and for once it wasn’t a mistake:

  Timothy Burke @bubbaprog

  Since @deftlyinane asked about it: yes, ESPN is doing a blink-and-you-miss-it animation with their score box showing the different franchises and logos that represented those cities

  

  

  

• It’s Always Sunny’s Rob McElhenny nailed a very specific look a few weeks back. His TikTok is better, but here’s the tweet:

Rob McElhenney @RMcElhenney

You can smell the Newports from there can’t you?

Enjoy the week, everyone. Send me down your own personal rabbit hole by leaving me a comment about what you’re interested in: