The Tap Shack: Sand in Your Beer

Kill Devil Hills. A shack with taps. Converted oceanside building, deck facing the Atlantic, 30+ craft beers from North Carolina breweries. Dress code: shoes optional. Entertainment: the ocean is right there.

Sunburned families early, fishing guides and bartenders from other bars later. Outer Banks Brewing Station well-represented on tap. Food trucks rotating nightly — tacos, barbecue, whatever the proprietor felt like cooking. Acoustic acts on the deck playing with backs to the ocean and salt wind in their hair.

Go on a night with offshore wind. Bugs blow out to sea, air clears, and the stars over the ocean — undiminished by city light because there is no city — are the best show on the Banks. The Tap Shack stays open late enough that "late" loses its meaning.