2019: Dowry Creek Marina Belhaven NC

23 October 2019

Depart: Alligator River Marina 9:00

Arrive: Dowry Creek Marina, Belhaven, NC 2:20

Distance: 43 nm

What a gorgeous day we had for travel today with clear, sunny skies and just-right temps! We had a relatively short trip to Dowry Creek where we needed to stop for Franklin to pick up a package he had delivered there.

Along the way, we saw nothing but nature …

and other boats! One in particular stuck out due to its size. A mega-yacht of 75 feet in length or more passed us towing a runabout behind him. He had a dinghy on top of the boat as well. I should have snapped a picture, but missed my chance, when the boat passed Franklin’s Mainship 34. It miniaturized the Mainship!

"Temptation" 

I remembered from the Rendezvous that Dowry Creek offered a courtesy car, and we decided to use it to drive into town and have a look around. It’s a 7-mile drive into town from the marina, so walking or even bike riding on the dangerous, high-speed highway was not going to happen. We inquired when we checked in and found we could have the car for the 4:30 to 6:00 time slot.

I decided that while we waited for the car to become available, I would do my laundry using the free services at the marina and grab a shower while I waited for the wash to complete. That plan would have been golden with a normal washing machine. However, the one I chose to use decided I had all day to wait for one load to complete. Every time I looked at it, the display showed the machine to be in the rinse cycle.

Eventually, when a “normal” washing machine came available, I pulled my sopping wet clothes out of the much newer machine and threw them into the more traditional machine for a spin. I could have completed my laundry before the trip into town. With the disastrous wait for the luxury washer, I only had a short time with the dryer before I had to pull them out, still quite damp, so we could be on our way into town.

In the Club House at the marina, I found a “Belhaven: Tour of History & Trivia” brochure that I thought would be a way to see the more notable parts of town. We just happened to park in front of the facility with the answers to questions 1 and 2 – the Riddick & Windley “Ace” Hardware Store. The clue said there would be a poster at the store showing Belhaven history. Since I could find no poster on the outside of the store, I went in and asked at the desk.

They dug behind some stuff on the counter and pulled out a laminated piece of plastic. I think my eyes bugged out and I said, “That’s a poster?!”  Most businesses were closed or closing since it was late in the day. Given that most of the trivia questions required visiting places and viewing more “posters”, I was so disillusioned that I gave up my quest for more trivia answers. 

Oh well! We walked around the small town to check it out.

Downtown Belhaven, NC

"Salty Dog" at Belhaven Town Docks

Bahama-like colors for the
Chamber of Commerce building complex

Historic City Hall

Now a museum

Mural in Town of Belhaven, NC

In 2009, the town in conjunction with the Arts of the Pamlico organization put up artistically decorated crabs around town. Here are a couple. We did not see them, but apparently, more can be seen in "Crab Park" in town.

The highlight of the trip into town was that we found a Dollar Tree in town. Franklin wanted to buy some over-sized clothes pegs for his boat railings. I bought mine there, and he was looking for the same for his boat. We found them in Dollar Tree! With his whopping great $2 purchase, we declared success and rushed back to the marina to get the car back for the 6:00 deadline.

Back at the marina, I finished drying my laundry and Clark snapped a couple of late-day pictures.

Night view of Dowry Creek Marina

Note: Dowry Creek Marina has changed owners multiple times since the first time we stayed here. The current owner has made some changes and improvements. For example, what used to be the club house is now the office and store, and the building that housed the office now contains the club house. The free laundry is now at ground level. Some additional improvements are planned for the future including an on-site restaurant.