Shallowbay Bay, OBX 1995
Dateline: Summer 1995. I had just completed my first year of graduate school at Appalachian State University working toward my Master of Public Administration, and was beginning my summer internship with the Dare County, NC, Finance Department. My home for the season was a modest mobile trailer, tucked down a dirt path on a small peninsula jutting into Shallowbag Bay on Roanoke Island, North Carolina. At 24 years old, I was in heaven.
The internship paid and counted toward class credit, but more importantly, I spent nearly every afternoon windsurfing and surfing, with weekends devoted entirely to the water. My secluded hideaway on the bay was surrounded by marshland to the north and south, with open water stretching eastward—a quiet paradise. This was before iPhones, iPods, and even widespread internet. Back then, music came from the radio or a stack of CDs.
WVOD, The Sound, was the heartbeat of Roanoke Island, one of the first stations to embrace “alternative” music. Its studio sat in downtown Manteo, with big front windows looking out onto Main Street. You could stroll past, wave to the DJ, and even shout song requests through the glass. Manteo had the charm of Andy Griffith’s Mayberry—if Mayberry had been a beach town filled with surfers, fishermen, and boatbuilders. (As a fun fact, Andy Griffith himself was a local.)
Each morning, I tuned in to WVOD for the weather, surf report, local news, and the soundtrack of my summer. But in the 30 years since, Manteo has changed. My quiet retreat on the bay has been transformed into a luxury marina lined with condos, restaurants, and million-dollar boat slips. Where my little trailer once stood, Stripers Bar & Grille now welcomes diners.
To the best of my recollection, I created the Shallowbag Bay Playlist to take me back to that time—a summer of simplicity, salt air, and the perfect soundtrack.
Having lunch at Darrel’s Restaurant, Manteo, NC. Pictured is me with Jack Burrus. Jack started as my landlord of my little trailer and later a mentor in life and great friend. He is greatly missed. Also pictured is Ms. Jodey Bennett. More about my good friend Jack.