DATE: Sunday, July 6, 1997                  TAG: 9707060082

SECTION: LOCAL                   PAGE: B1   EDITION: NORTH CAROLINA 

SOURCE: BY JENNIFER LANGSTON, STAFF WRITER 

                                            LENGTH:   84 lines

OUTER BANKS HAVING BANNER WEEKEND ROOMS, RESTAURANTS AND BEACHES ARE FULL OF TOURISTS.

The sun scorched the beaches, fireworks exploded and businesses from Ocracoke to Corolla were booming over the Fourth of July weekend.

Beaches were full of tourists toting umbrellas, towels, boogie boards and video cameras. Beautiful weather kicked off the area's busiest weekend, with high temperatures that drew people into the refreshing water.

``We've probably had more inquiries about surfboard and body board rentals this weekend than we have since we opened,'' said Jason Mailand, manager of the Corolla Surf Shop. ``A lot of people are wanting to get out there and try the waves themselves.''

Hotels and motels on the Outer Banks were booked for two nights of the long weekend, and rooms were scarce for the others, according to Angie Daniels, spokeswoman for the Outer Banks Chamber of Commerce.

``There's really nothing left,'' she said. ``All of our figures show that everything is doing great.''

That was welcome news for business owners, many of whom said the cold spring season was less than spectacular.

``We didn't do anything in April and May,'' said Joseph ``Mac'' Midgett, owner of Island Convenience in Rodanthe. But Saturday, cars were creeping along the two lanes of N.C. 12 and stopping in for supplies.

``We can't keep enough ice,'' Midgett said. ``I think everybody's having that problem.''

Farther north, other businesses reaped the benefits of traffic idling to and from the sunny beaches.

``We are swamped this morning,'' said Margaret Newbern, owner of Hilltop Market, a produce stand on Route 158 in Currituck County. Throngs of tourists found the allure of fresh tomatoes, corn and peaches too good to pass up.

``The traffic is heavy and the business is good,'' she said. ``They started stopping just as soon as I opened up my windows.''

Crowds didn't bother George Spivey, who was cleaning fish on the Avalon Pier in Kill Devil Hills on Saturday. The 78-year-old spent the week eating, shopping, ``girl watching'' and catching a cooler full of tiny spot with his grandson Aaron Cohen, 7.

Even with hundreds of thousands of other tourists on the Outer Banks, Spivey's experience proved that busy is a relative term.

``You get down here and you get out of the hustle and bustle. It's more open and free,'' he said. ``It's relaxation.''

Mark Rom was one of the visitors who packed the parking lot of the Wright Brothers Memorial this weekend. Vacationing from Washington, D.C., with his wife and sons, Chris, 3, and Kitteridge, 10 months, he spent the week swimming and watching fireworks that transfixed his children.

``We like to take the kids exploring,'' he said, contemplating pushing a double-wide baby stroller up the 90-foot sand dune to the Wright Brothers Memorial. ``I came here once as a child, and I'm delighted to take my children.''

The lure of the pristine beaches and patriotic festivities over the weekend also drew record numbers of people down to the usually sedate island of Ocracoke.

``We're slammed,'' said Buffy Warner, owner of Howard's Pub. ``From everything I've heard, we're headed for a record season on Ocracoke - as long as we can keep the Weather Channel interested in something else.

``You couldn't have asked for better weather. I know it got a little hot and sticky, but it is the Fourth of July.''

But for businesses in downtown Manteo, the holiday ended abruptly. A power outage due to an underground cable failure left the entire waterfront dark and restaurants crippled Friday night just before the dinner rush.

The lights came back on just in time for the fireworks display but too late to save the evening for 1587, the restaurant in the Tranquil House Inn.

``We closed. Totally closed,'' said Donnie Just, general manager of 1587. ``I lost the whole night. It probably would have been the biggest Fourth of July we had ever had.''

Before the restaurant lost power, business had been excellent, Just said. It will take several days to estimate how much money was lost.

``It was definitely a nightmare,'' he said. ``The Fourth is the pinnacle of the beginning of the busiest part of the season. To have it swiped away like that is almost surreal.''

Other restaurants reported record numbers of people eager for a taste of the local seafood.

``They are eating so much shrimp,'' said Amy Pollard Huggins, manager of the Flying Fish Cafe in Kill Devil Hills. On Thursday night, the restaurant sold 123 more dinners than on the same night last year.

After a spring that was ``touch and go,'' Huggins said, she thinks the holiday weekend bodes well for a successful summer season.

``We're using this weekend as our marker, hoping that next week is when it's really going to start booming.''

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