The winner of the “Worst Picnic Table Award in a Public Area” for the month of April goes to the Cape Hatteras National Seashore in the Outer Banks of North Carolina.
Just picture yourself dining here with the family assuming you can even get to your backside seat in the bushes sans shade. While munching on your sandwich and chips that are inching their way downhill, do you gaze at the construction materials, the parking lot, or the back of the bathroom? Before you taste that first brownie bite, a stranger heads to the loo and there you are left behind later as he hops on his bike and pedals away.
Don’t get me wrong. Cape Hatteras National Seashore is peaceful and picturesque—long, wide views of the Atlantic Ocean without obstruction from hotels and restaurants give a sense of how the seashore is in its natural state. Pelicans and shorebirds frequent the water and dunes are soft and unpretentious. I would go there again tomorrow if possible.
Still, one can’t help but wonder what is going on here with this picnic table placement. Was the table used by construction workers? Moved out of the way to make room for the necessary? Rearranged by a recent hurricane?
Perhaps what goes around, comes around is the reality here. Still, I think I had rather see the sea while I eat.