There may not be any such thing as a free lunch, as the cliche says. But there is such a thing as free Internet access -- literally with no strings attached -- at least in downtown Southern Pines.

The free service, which is brought to you by The Pilot, soon will be expanded to West Southern Pines as well as downtown Pinehurst and Aberdeen.

We urge you to make use of it.

The free service has been up and running for a month now along the Broad Street corridor in downtown Southern Pines. All you need to access it is a laptop computer with a wireless (WiFi) card in it. If you have that equipment installed on your machine -- and most current models do -- then just fire up that computer, cell phone or portable digital assistant and start surfing.

To the uninitiated, WiFi is the unplugged and untethered Internet. It allows you to access the World Wide Web everywhere, not just in your home or office. So, get outdoors and make your way to downtown Southern Pines. Sit on a park bench and take in these glorious fall days, all the while checking your e-mailing or surfing your favorite Web sites.

When you're finished, do yourself a favor and pop into one of the area's quaint shops or grab a bite to eat at one of the many restaurants. While the lunch may not be free, the marvelous ambience and Internet access will be.