Cargo container loaded with Doritos washes up on shore after nor'easter

You might think that this post is about the gorgeous 78 degree weather we had on the Outer Banks today on the last day of November. Or about our golden beaches glistening in the sunshine. Or even about our golden sunsets over the Sound. But no – today’s little bit of gold refers to a cargo container that washed up on the shore yesterday and, like a beached whale, regurgitated hundreds of bags of Doritos.

Local residents rush to pick up bags of chips from the beach

Apparently Frito Lay says that the word “Dorito” means “A Little Bit Of Gold” in Spanish, although I speak Spanish and that’s “a Little Bit Of A Stretch.” But judging by the hordes of people scurrying along the beach stuffing plastic grocery bags full of nacho, sour cream and onion, and jalapeno flavored chips, you would have thought they had struck gold. And maybe, in a way, they did.

Just a week ago we suffered through an angry nor’easter that damaged oceanfront homes and carried away more of our precious beach. A good friend of mine lost the ground floor of his place, his septic system, and the entire dune in front of his oceanfront cottage. Normally, a cargo container that falls off a ship plying the merchant lanes near our shores would have sunk to the bottom. But undoubtedly, the nor’easter’s thrashing waves are responsible for carrying that container from the deep water to the shallower sand bars near shore, where it inexorably inched toward the beach. The Universe giveth and the Universe taketh away. Not that I’m implying that a few bags of corn chips can make up for the devastation and destruction of the storm – but at least it’s “A Little Bit Of Gold.”

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