Lookin' Birds

11x14
SOLD



Back in the Fifties and Sixties, the undeveloped and sparsely populated Outer Banks of North Carolina offered the freedom to roam its uncrowded coastlines as one pleased whether it be by foot, horseback, or by the relatively new off-road vehicle that would allow the then small number of surf-fishermen to cruise up and down the pristine beaches looking for gulls and other marine birds feeding on schools of fish. Whether fishing for bluefish or rock, "ridin' and lookin' birds" working near the breakers was half the fun before actually having to get out of the truck and cast to try and catch a fish.

During this post WWII time of little regulation and litigation as compared to today, this sort of recreation could be freely enjoyed with an "icebox" full of can beer requiring a "church key" to be opened accompanied by several packs of non-filtered and non-treated cigarettes that were lit with the famous metal "zippo" lighter.

One early Spring day, Duke Spruill and some others from Windsor took off to Oregon Inlet to try and catch some rock. They had a good day and after arriving back in town, they stopped off at Tom Hoggard's Service Center that not only served as a "filling station" for gasoline but also for the coldest beer in town. This small cinder block square building sat on the bank of the Cashie River and right beside the town's bridge on South King St. For many years this landmark was an afterhours makeshift pub for many of the male outdoorsmen in the area. After a few beers and a pull or two of brown whiskey, Spruill retrieved his surf rod, a stale loaf of bread and one of the thirty pound plus rockfish they had caught earlier that day in the ocean as he walked out on the bridge where he flopped the big fish on the sidewalk and cast his line over the railing. Traffic slowed down to a crawl from motorists rubberneckin' at the enormous catch and wanting to know what the "bridge angler" was using for bait. Spruill would tell them that he was catching them on balled up bread. Word spread throughout the town and county, and within the hour, cars were backed up all the way to the court house and the bridge and riverbanks were full of people with fishing rods as the local grocery ran out of bread and Hoggard's ran out of beer.