It's dark at the end of the village

I drove to the Post Office last night well after dark, and as I headed that direction, I noticed something out of the ordinary: darkness on the left side of the road at the end of the village. It's usually not dark there, as that's where Howard's Pub is, and the pub is open every night of the year. Well, it used to be. That was even one of their advertising slogans: "open 365 and a quarter days a year". And for many years it was true. They were open every day, including Thanksgiving, Christmas, and other holidays. They were even open when everything else in the village was closed because of mandatory hurricane evacuations.

That changed last year, during the Highway 12 bridge replacement project (when the road was closed to all traffic and only 4 WD vehicles could access the village from the north (after riding the Hatteras ferry), as the detour involved driving on the beach). Pub management decided it would make sense to close while the road was closed, so they did. They used the time to thoroughly clean everything (not that the pub is not clean, but they took stuff down off the walls, cleaned the ceilings, etc.). I assume several employees also enjoyed the down time and took vacations.

Apparently having a month off during the winter is habit forming, as they decided to repeat it this year. So the Pub is once again closed, leaving an odd dark spot at that end of the village. Don't worry if you're planning a trip: Jason's is open for lunch and dinner. January is a great time to visit the island in my opinion - it's very quiet and there are often warm days, perfect for walking on the beach (it was 63 today). So come visit...just plan to eat at Jason's, or cook for yourself!