Under normal working-hours conditions, it's a lot louder / whiter / racister / drunker / cheesier. The key was being up when almost no one else was. Walked for an hour or two every morning on perfect beaches that went on forever. Woke every morning before 5:30 to watch the sunrise over the Atlantic. I tend to like my vacations Confederate-flag-clothing-free. Populated, it's got a certain Horribleness that's like Southern 'heritage' meets New Jersey. If you depopulated it completely: perfect. Nags Head (wheres the apostrophe!!!?) was lovely.

never in the NYT), though you do see it a lot on the rear windows of cars owned by people who want you to know where they've been on vacation. Just back from the OBX, which you don't see in puzzles very much (in fact.