Depart: Fairfield Harbor, New Bern, NC 10:40
Arrive: Pungo River Anchorage 6:30
Distance: 66 nm
We thought about staying an extra night in New Bern but ultimately decided to carry on to allow more time to explore the Albemarle Loop. Today's trip was a very boring ride with the most excitement being watching pairs of sea gulls float on the water. We saw too many sea gull pairs to count.
4/12/2019
Depart: Pungo River Anchorage 8:15
Arrive: Edenton City Dock 5:30
Distance: 73 nm
We traveled the Alligator River / Pungo River Canal today and recognized the spot where we ran aground on the way traveling south in the fall. We even saw the misplaced warning sign that warned of the shoal after we hit the shoal!
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| Unforgiving edges to the canal |
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| Nasty submerged tree stumps to do plenty of damage |
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| of course we had to pass a tug in the narrow canal "Island Girl" Tug |
Crossing from the Alligator River into Albemarle Sound, we had a wild ride. The autopilot and stabilizers worked overtime to keep us on our route and as calm as possible. Even so, we did a lot of rock and rolling to get to our destination. We had 25 knot winds with gusts up to 40 knots at times.
Since walking around the boat was a bit of a challenge, I laid down on the sofa in the pilot house with a pillow and went to sleep. Clark turned on music to pass the time. With rock and roll music to go with the rock and roll of the boat, it felt like the boat danced across the sound.
I woke from my nap thinking we were under attack. One after another, every minute or so, a military jet would roar overhead. There seemed to be an endless number of them breaking the sound barrier as they passed over.
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| Military Jet |
When we arrived at the Edenton Town docks, I learned that, even though staff was still on hand, they are not allowed to assist people when docking. With the winds and the current, it appeared we had quite a challenge ahead of us. The dock master told Clark to "... go around to the right and tie up to the T-head". Unfortunately, Clark did not understand that we had to go left and make a U-turn around the bulkhead. He just went right. When we figured out that was wrong, he had to re-position the boat.
I stepped out into the cockpit to start setting up my lines. No sooner did I step out there then Clark put the boat in reverse with power to get us turned around. The water splashed high over the stern of the boat, and I got quite a shower. I squawked and ran into the cabin to hide while he got completed his turn.
Once we got behind the bulkhead, things settled down some. Wind pushed us into the dock, so I got my lines on with no difficulties. Phew! Glad to be tied up for the night.
View from the boat ...
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| Roanoke Lighthouse in Edenton, NC |
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| State and US Flags on the dock |
4/13/2019
No boat travel.
Since we have never visited Edenton, we used the full day to explore this historic town with houses dating back as far as the early 1700s.
We started our tour at the Welcome Center ...
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| Edenton, NC Welcome Center and Penelope Barker House Museum |
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| Palatial Birdhouse |
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| Replica of Painting of Historic Edenton |
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| Model of the Roanoke Lighthouse in town |
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| Chronometer at the museum |
The historical marker outside the museum included a walking-tour map of the town. I took a picture with my phone so we could follow the route provided. That led us down a side street past a confederate memorial and towards a park.
As we meandered down the street, we suddenly found ourselves in a rain storm. We saw other tourists up ahead go up on a porch, so we followed. We were invited in to tour an historic home built circa 1775. The couple that purchased this home relatively recently have put a lot of love and funds into making this house very special. Their interior decorator played magnificent music on their piano as people toured the home.
The rain stopped to allow us to continue our street tour of Edenton. We found the Tea Pot monument. The tea pot is the symbol of 51 American women who defied King George in 1774.
From there we moved on to the courthouse ...
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| Courthouse still used today on occasion Oldest courthouse in use in North Carolina |
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| Stocks and Pillory |
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| Dark and dreary cell |
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| Upstairs : used to hold female prisoners in 2 apartments - not divided into cells like downstairs portion |
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| Amazingly the key is still available for the jail door |
In total we walked about 6.5 miles today as we wove our way through the streets and toured the various historic buildings open for the Edenton Pilgrimage - an amazing event that happens once every other year. We were fortunate enough to stumble upon it totally by accident.
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| Another Tea Pot marking an historic home |
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| Tree in full blossom |
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| St. Paul's Episcopal Church |
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| Cupola house |
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| Doctor's office in Cupola House Amputation kit, Blood letting equipment, antique obstetrics instruments and more |
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| Medical scales and apothecary jars |
Clark climbed up the stairs into the cupola. I held his coat while he did so.
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| Stairs down from the Cupola (no thank you!) |
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| View from the Cupola |
The lighthouse at the docks was open as part of the historic tours. We decided to eat lunch on the boat and tour the lighthouse before heading back into town.
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| old stove in lighthouse |
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| ironing board and washboard |
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| old telephone |
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| view of docks from lighthouse |
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| original privy at lighthouse |
We passed the Josephine Napoleon Leary House in town
and the Queen Anne Creek Walkway
on our way to the cotton mill.
The mill museum had extended hours for the Pilgrimage, so we got to see inside. Their most interesting display, in my opinion, was the model train set up. A man won the display at an auction, decided he did not want it, and offered it to the town. It shows the area as it was when the mill was in operation.
We got caught once more in the rain on the way back into town from the old mill. A local nail salon was open to offer restrooms for the Pilgrimage. We stopped in and chatted with the owner until the rain stopped. Then we quickly crossed the street to see the oldest home in town.
When this home was purchased, the plan was to renovate. However, once work began, they discovered this was no ordinary house. It has become a research area to learn about building techniques of the past. The house has been dated to 1718. The staircase in this small home was moved 5 times that they know of. They can tell the places it used to be by the evidence left behind.
After a full day of touring historic houses and buildings, my feet hurt and my back ached. The only time I sat down the whole day was when I ate lunch. We still had a bit more walking to do, however, before the day concluded.
Tom and Mary Sheys, "Viator", drove to the marina to meet us to go to dinner together. We walked back into town one more time to eat at 309 Bistro on Broad Street. After a great dinner, they came back to the boat and we chatted until they decided they needed to get going. What a full and fun day today!
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