North Carolina, South Carolina, Georgia, and California - November, December 2007
Leaving the Chesapeake Bay, we traveled through the Virginia Cut route since the Dismal Swamp was closed. We entered the Albemarle sound in the afternoon and decided to cut up north to Elizabeth City rather than heading north down into the Alligator River. Our reasons for this were two-fold. Firstly, it was starting to cut up rough on the Albemarle and we were looking at a bit of a bouncy crossing and secondly, we really like Elizabeth City and were happy to spend a few days there waiting for the weather to settle down a bit.
We tied up, along with a few other boats, at the free town docks along the waterfront. There is a 'harborcam' in Elizabeth City and we checked to see if we could see our boat on it. Sure enough, we were quite visible - as you can see in the picture to the left below. Elizabeth City continues to be one of the most welcoming town along the Intra-Coastal Waterway. There's usually someone to help you tie up. The newly-elected mayor was there to help the afternoon that we arrived - but you are usually greeted by Sam, the self-appointed Elizabeth City dock-master. T There is a new Farm Fresh grocery store in town that will send someone out to get you and take you back to the docks when you're done shopping.
We woke up to this beautiful sunrise in Elizabeth City the day after we arrived.
Elizabeth City is a pretty town with some beautiful homes such as the one shown below. The rose garden that Fred Fearing planted near the dock was still going strong when we arrived. Even though Fred was no longer there to give me a rose (he passed away last year), I decided to pick one for myself in his honor.
Leaving Elizabeth City, we saw another American Tug - 'Higher Ground' is a 41-foot tug recently purchased by Kendall and Kay. We met them at the AT rendezvous in Chesapeake City the previous month.
Heading south through North Carolina, we stopped in Oriental for a few days. We love this town as well - and have always received a warm welcome here. The Bean is a local coffee and ice cream shop. It's the local gathering spot - either for a coffee and gossip about the news in the morning, or for an ice cream in the shade of the front porch on a hot afternoon. You never know who you're going to see in The Bean. We met Sen. Elizabeth Dole there one afternoon - she stopped by for a coffee and a chat with one of the local newspaper journalist's on her way home after participating in a Veteran's Day parade in New Bern. She's a very charming and beautiful lady.
Oriental has a free town dock opposite The Bean. We were lucky enough to get onto it once - but it's been full every other time we've come by. That's OK - there's a protected anchorage around the corner in Greens Creek. It's under a 43-foot bridge, which we easily fit under, and the holding is good. There's a town dingy dock where you can safely leave your dingy while you wander around town. Can't ask for more than that!
The picture to the right is of one of the prettiest houses in Oriental, in my humble opinion. I love the wide expanse of the front porch that winds around the house. "Rhett - that you?? Could you bring me another mint julep? I feel the vapors comin' on!"
Traveling farther south and heading into South Carolina, we were escorted for a while by this wonderful pod of dolphins. Three of them were swimming under our bow and escorting us through the waterway.
You really don't know what you're going to see along the way - so I supposed I shouldn't have been surprised to see this life-sized giraffe standing in someone's garden. I LOVE him!! I want one for us when we get a land-based home again
We stopped at Barefoot Landing - which is an outlet mall located along the Intra-Coastal Waterway in Myrtle Beach, South Carolina. This just happens to be the home town of Vanna White, don't ya know.
We stopped off in Charleston, SC - another wonderful city along the way. We met Tiller, a sailing cat, while we were there. He was keeping this beautifully flemished line on the dock from getting away. Doing a fine job, if you ask me. We wandered across town where we saw this sign showing that we are actually closer to Miami now than New York - a very good sign indeed.
Charleston has a really neat military museum over near the Ft. Sumter park dock (also near the Aquarium). We both liked the sign with the alternate names for the Confederate War - especially the 'Recent Unpleasantness'. It is still commonly referred to the War of Northern Aggression in the south - and for many, it isn't over. The museum had many small model soldiers which were all made by one of the museum's volunteers.
We saw this Nordic 32 up on a boat lift on the ICW between Charleston and Beaufort.
We had a wonderful Thanksgiving dinner in Beaufort, SC (pronounced 'BEW-fort' versus 'BOW-fort' which is the pronunciation for the town of the same name in North Carolina.) We had Thanksgiving here when we came through in our sailboat in 1992, and were delighted to see that they still have the tradition of a community Thanksgiving dinner. Back in 92, we, along with all of the boaters who were in town that day, were invited to join in the community Thanksgiving dinner. We were sitting in our sailboat on a very rainy Thanksgiving day, when someone from the town came out in a dingy and made the rounds to all of the anchored boats to invite us to join them for dinner. He said that "Everyone is welcome - the hungry, the lonely, and those that just plain don't feel like cookin'."
This year it was much more of a true community Thanksgiving - but all of the boaters were invited as always. I think everyone from town who could make it was there, and there were many deliveries to those that couldn't make it. Wonderful dinner with many friends - and they even gave us leftovers! What more could you ask for.
Taking a short break in the swing on the way back to the boat after dinner. Even met a cute kitty who also looked like he was resting after a big Thanksgiving dinner.
Saw this neat mermaid statue in town. We also saw a boater out for a spin on his electric scooter. They keep these aboard instead of bikes.
Tardis nest to Proud Mary III, a sister American Tug 34, in Brunswick Landing Marina. Lovers Oak is one of the largest oak trees in town. Great for climbing, I say!
I saw this neat model boat hanging on the front porch of a local house. Turns out the homeowner puts the boat out whenever he is in town. He's a 'snowbird' who spends summers up north and winters in Brunswick. One of the most striking buildings in town is the police headquarters.
We were in Brunswick when they had the annual Christmas parade. Lots of interesting characters including some Santa Bikers.
That's Erica and Me making friends with the Grinch - and the real Santa riding on the back of a fire truck at the end of the parade.
We took a drive over to nearby Jeckyll Island to see the Christmas lights.
I've been doing a bit of quilting this year - these are some of the projects that I've finished. I was into Mariner's compass designs this year. This is a pillow I made for our friends and fellow east-coast cruisers Roger and Erica on 'Tumbleweed 1'. The nautical flags spell out the name of the boat around the mariner's compass.
The quilt on the left is one I made for my good friends Amy and Chuck (on the left of the quilt). The nautical flags spell out Chuck and Amy's names as well as the name of their sailboat 'Kiyomi'. The small quilt on the right is one I made for a friend's baby - Kylee - born early in the new year to proud parents Lee and Melissa.
We left Tardis in Brunswick Landing while we flew back to California for Christmas and New Years. This was a picture from the girls lunch get-together in California. That's Karen, Pat, Amy, Janet, and Amy's niece Susan (L to R).
Sweet girl Sushi, our cat before Karen adopted her. Karen invited us to cat and house-sit for her while she went back to see her Mom over the holidays on the east coast She's such a neat cat - we always enjoy spending time with her.
