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| Our boat path indicates where we abruptly changed our minds on direction. |
We were here in 2019, so it looked familiar. The first thing to know about Plymouth is that it only comes alive on Thursday through Saturday. Since we arrived on a Monday, not much was open as we walked around. That did not matter so much to us, since we had been here before and mostly came here to hang out for a while to hide from the cold weather along the shore.
As we roamed the town, we saw many familiar sights including
some places we visited last time we were here like the Bear-ology Museum (see
Plymouth blog entry from 2019 for description). For most places we discovered
we would need to return later in the week if we wished to see them open.
We spied some interesting murals as we walked through town.
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| I found the bear cub staring in the window adorable! |
As we explored, we found quite a few markers in town describing the area including the one at Brick House Landing where we learned the town property was acquired in 1790.
We noted several places in town to see while visiting here, but they would be saved for another day.
One of the main reasons we chose Plymouth to visit dates
back to 2019 – the last time we came to town. As we struggled to dock our boat
perpendicular to a strong current pushing us downstream, a man rushed out of a
local building to come help us with our lines and get in a slip. He told us he
had recently bought a property and was doing major reconstruction to turn the
place into a combination artists area and café. He invited us to see the place
and meet his wife. They showed us around and told us of the work they had done
and still planned to do. He expected to open in a few weeks, but we would be
long gone by then.
We have often thought about him and his restaurant. I was
particularly concerned with how he made out during the pandemic. Well, we were
thrilled to see that not only did the Riverview Café survive the pandemic, but
it is a thriving place where folks come to sit, relax, chat with friends, and
enjoy great deli food with scrumptious baked goods for sale. In the front of
the business, as planned, sits an area where local folks have crafts for sale.
I believe it is not quite what the owner originally envisioned but close to the
same idea – a mix of art with good food.
We started our touring day today with lunch at the Riverview
Café.
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| Clark standing in front of restaurant Riverview Café |
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| Bears everywhere in town |
When we met the owner in 2019, he explained that he had torn apart the wall facing the water. It had no windows, and he wanted his patrons to have a good view of the river. He made a great decision.
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| View from the Riverview Café restaurant. |
After lunch, we walked to the Port O’ Plymouth Museum /
Civil War Museum as, unlike yesterday, the museum was open today.
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| Old train car outside the museum |
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| CSS Albemarle Ironclad vessel |
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| Outside Maritime Museum |
Inside the museum, we got to see many artifacts and learn about the Civil War battle fought here.
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| Model of CSS Albemarle |
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| Picture depicting battle |
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| 6.4" shell like the ones fired from CSS Albemarle |
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| Diagram of CSS Albemarle components |
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| Torpedo - typically anchored to the bottom of the river to explode upon contact with ship |
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| Torpedo Fuse |
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| Ammunition Shell, Canister Shot, and Grape Shot |
After we left the museum, I wanted to explore the area and enjoy the great weather. Clark wanted to return to the boat to read email. I won, and we got the bicycles out for a ride about town. We had seen the “Roanoke Trail” map by the museum including the location of Fort Compher / Fort Comfort, and I was interested to see it. Of all the forts and redoubts located here during the Civil War, only Fort “Comfort” still exists and at that only as a block of land with a rebuilt redoubt on it for show. Since it looked like nothing but a field, I did not bother taking a picture.
From there we followed the Roanoke Trail to see what else we might find.
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| Map of Trail through town |
The only building we saw of note as we rode the streets of Plymouth was the Ausbon House that still has bullet holes in the side of the house that were put there during the Civil War!
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| Small statue of soldier on roof |
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| Civil War bullet holes still in house |
Although we did not see much in the way of interesting buildings on the bike tour, we did pass by many friendly people in this town. Everyone had a smile and a wave to say hello. Everyone wanted to be helpful. One guy we met said he was on his way to the hardware store and would take us if we needed anything. Many folks asked us if it is our boat docked along the river, and when we said yes, they wanted to talk and talk and talk. It is a very friendly town. So nice here in fact, we had difficulty deciding when to leave.
The only down side to Plymouth that we found was the lack of good cell service. Although I wanted to keep current with the blog, I could not get enough umph out of the cell tower to let me do an update with or without pictures!
When we arrived at Plymouth, we had the understanding that the town dock was available at no charge for two nights. Given that, we thought we would need to leave today. However, we found out today that the limit that is poorly, if at all, enforced is 2 weeks. Every night I would ask Clark when we were leaving, and every night I got a shrug of the shoulders.
We were told at the equivalent of City Hall that a good place for breakfast was Stella’s. Clark decided we should check it out before we left, so we went there for breakfast this morning.
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| Stella’s Café sign |
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| Stella’s Restaurant Bear |
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| Cabinets with china for sale |
I had French Toast and Clark had eggs with toast. Actually, since I gave half of my French Toast to Clark, he had both! I am lucky to have him along to eat all the food I have no room in my stomach for!
The waitress in Stella’s was frazzled. People, like us, were coming in the door to grab a table for breakfast while they had someone who had called in a very large order and kept the kitchen busy overtime. She did her best and was pleasant as anything. I did have to remind her that I requested tea – she had left it in the microwave forgotten. We were in no hurry and found the relaxed atmosphere of the restaurant charming.
Unlike most restaurants, the patrons yelled across tables to each other talking about this and that. Soon Clark and I were pulled into a conversation with folks at a table near us wanting to know where we were from and all about our boat and our travels.
Every day since we arrived, we have stopped by the Visitor’s Center and the Maritime Museum to “check in”. Every day they were closed. Today, they were both open. We stopped in the Visitor’s Center first.
It seemed more like a gift shop than anything else. The volunteer there was excited to show us the sale items.
All I seem to hear about in North Carolina is the bear population. Apparently, there are about 4 bears in NC per square mile. Thankfully I have not come face to face with any while here. I did, however, fall in love with one in the gift shop and decided to take him home with me.
Other interesting things in the visitor’s center included
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| Bear in Canoe |
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| Bear in Kayak |
After we left the visitor center, we walked the 2 blocks (or less) to the Roanoke Maritime Museum. Finally this place was open as well.
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| Old stove |
Due to the limited space he had to wait, but Clark climbed to the top of the lighthouse stairs to see the view. I handed him my camera and told him to bring back a picture for the Blog.
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| View from top of Light House |
The volunteer at the museum was long-winded in his speeches. I could tell from body language that the non-attentive students wished to be anywhere but listening to him talk about lighthouse tenders. Honestly, I felt the same. Unlike the kids who politely stood and listened, I wandered around exploring the sights as he droned on in the background.
The museum had a few interesting boats. In reality, to me, it seemed to be more of an old outboard museum than anything else.
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| Clark talking to the volunteer about British Seagull outboards |
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| Very holey canoe |
We saw a power boat that looked like an overgrown rowboat with a motor. In the 1950s some guys decided to take the boat from North Carolina to Miami FL. Leaving at 1:00 a.m. the first day and traveling an average of 200 miles per day on the ICW, they arrived on the fourth day at their destination. This boat had no sleeping quarters, no head (toilet), no place to store food, and no comfortable seats. On the second day of travel, it rained the entire day. This ordeal sounded crazy and miserable to me. I do not know how they managed it.
Because we arrived in time to be joined up with the tour group, we ended up spending about two hours at the museum and left there around 1:00. As we walked back through town deciding what to do next, Lou, the owner of Riverview Café, saw us and said, “I’m glad I found you! I wanted to tell you we have live music at the café during lunch today. You don’t have to buy anything, just come in and listen!”
Since we had not eaten lunch, we decided to go in and get food while we listened to the music.
Besides the fact that Clark is easily recognized in his well-known / infamous hats, and I always wear my blue hat while in the sun, I believe we must stick out like sore thumbs as the only strangers in town. People we had never met came up to us and said, “Are you the ones with the boat at the town dock?” We got to meet and talk to more people than I would have thought possible. As we walked back into the restaurant for lunch, we passed through the artisan area yet again. The woman there was surprised to see us yet again. It was the third time in one day that we had been in the restaurant. The first time I came in to buy baked goods for the boat. The second time it was to buy clothes for the bear I bought at the visitor’s center, and the third time it was to buy lunch and listen to the pianist.
When I was in early to pick up some baked goods for the boat, I saw the owner, Lou. I told Lou that I was a bit disappointed since the baked goods I fell in love with yesterday were not being sold today. He immediately took me to his wife and said tell her what you want baked. I told her what I had come in for, and she said she would have them for me the next day. However, as we sat eating lunch, she came over and said, “Your cookies are ready. How many do you want?”
I also requested some scones be made for me. “Sadly”, that meant I would have to go in the next day to get them. I told the server at the restaurant that if I stayed in town too long I was sure to gain a bunch of weight!
Having seen all the museums in town and eaten our way down the main drag, we returned to the boat for the rest of the day. With such poor cell service, working on the blog was an impossibility other than writing the text in preparation for when I can add the pictures and publish.
After checking weather and travel conditions, Clark said that it made sense to stay here for two more days. What a disappointment! NOT!
