May 27, 2018 Top Sail, NC to Belhaven, NC

The weather has been sunny and warm as we moved up the ICW on the last month of our cruise.  We entered Onslow County and past by Marine Corps installations and waters that proved more than a bit interesting.  Even though I had lived here for about 10 years, I got to see and experience things new to me.  It's amazing what you see from water vs. land.  We actually had to call ahead to Marine Corps Base Camp Lejeune in Jacksonville, NC to make sure they were not doing bombing drills.  Mind you, they are practice bombing with life ammo.  Lucky for us this was a bomb free day, so we didn't have to wait it out till they were done.  Not that I wouldn't have minded waiting if they were.  :)

Marine Corps Air Station New River, Jacksonville NC - This was my Dad's last duty station before he retired as a helicopter pilot.

Camp Lejeune is a major area for amphibious assault training.  We saw lots of evidence of this with all the wreckage of tanks and other military vehicles.

Camp Lejeune - At either end of the training area are warnings.  It says "STOP DO NOT PROCEED.  Live firing in progress when flashing.  Tune to AM 530."

Camp Lejeune - All along the way were these signs. 

Above "DANGER - Unexploded ordinance. DO NOT ENTER"  

Needless to say we obeyed!!

Below "DANGER - Live fire range"

Once we made it through, we headed to Swansboro, NC to meet up with my childhood best friend, Mary and her husband, Wayne.  We don't see each other often but it is like we never skipped a beat.  Love me some Mary.  It was a great day of cruising, catching up and making more great memories.  

Our next stop in North Carolina was Beaufort.  A quaint town with lots of things to see.  There was even a pirate ship that made a mock attack on a ferry heading out of town (below left).  And in the local supermarket we came across this very clever advertisement for SINGLE bananas (below right).

From Beaufort we headed to New Bern where I took some time to fly to Florida to be with my Mom and Dad.  Ken and Roofus held down the fort while I was gone.  Well Roofus mainly slept and held down her mouse toy.  :)  Ken caught some beautiful sunrises.

Meanwhile, I caught some gorgeous sunsets from Mom and Dad's backyard.  That along with a little wine and being with my folks made for great times.

A week later we were on our way again.  We decided to make a side trip up the Pamlico River to Washington, NC, known as "The Original Washington 1776".  The trip up was calm but once we docked up a storm rolled in for the evening.  But lucky for us the next day dawned bright and warm.  We went on the historic walking tour and really enjoyed taking in the ambiance.

Pamlico River on the way to 'lil Washington

Pamlico River - Look at all the pine trees.  I know I'm back in North Carolina!!!

The storm that rolled in that evening and surrounded us.  A 360 from top left through bottom right.  The is pics don't do it justice.  It was really quite dark and ominous.

Next day dawned clear and we had visitors.

The first thing we saw as we started the walking tour was this huge magnolia tree.  Awesome.

One of our favorite stops was the Regional Library but not because of the books but rather what was on the second floor...The Old Beaufort County Courthouse.  It's the second oldest courthouse building in North Carolina.  The neat part was that the library staff gave us a real old fashion skeleton key to get in so we could explore.

Back at the boat Roofus was keeping watch over everything and enjoying the air conditioning.  She is just too cute.  Love the Foo...

As we headed back down the Pamlico River we stopped over at Bath, NC.  It's the oldest incorporated town in North Carolina, being established in 1705.  Today it's a quiet waterside village.  My main interest in stopping here was to find and see the sight of the Devil's Horse Hoof Prints.  This was a ghost story I grew up with.  The legend was that in 1813, Jesse Elliot and some       companions planned to race their horses but being a Sunday and church time, his wife warned him     against such blasphemy.  Jesse's response was to shout in his horse's ear " Take me in a winner or       take me to Hell".  The horse promptly dug in its hooves, throwing him against a tree and killing           him instantly.  Some believe that the horse was actually the devil himself.  The hoof prints are             said to still be there.  Turns out we could visit the site but it was more than 3 miles out of town and     without a car would remain just a legend for us.  :(

But our stay had other benefits.  Turns out Bath is not only the oldest incorporated town in North Carolina, it was the first port and had the first library.  And Edward Teach, known as Blackbeard the pirate lived briefly in Bath.  In fact, in Bath, there was a traveling exhibit commemorating the 300th anniversary of Blackbeard's adventures in North Carolina.  It was a fascinating exhibit including artifacts from Blackbeard's flagship, the Queen Anne's Revenge.

Surrounding Bath were fields of new corn.  When I was growing up most fields were tobacco.  Sign of the times.

View of Bath Creek and the Pamlico River in distant background.

But....the real treat was finding out that the Embers were performing in Bath, celebrating Memorial Day!  Ken and I love beach music.  And though my shagging days are behind me, we were up for some great music.  Fireworks followed the Embers performance.  A great day and evening!!!

With this great stop behind us headed back to the ICW to Belhaven and the Alligator River, on our way to Elizabeth City, where we plan to pick up Patsi, Ken's sister for the last leg of our loop.

PS from Roofus:

Life continues to be good.  Have my humans with me, my new toy "Baby Mouse" and lots of hugs and kisses.

And looking forward to Auntie Furr coming.  She's gives good hugs and scratches.

Yoohoo!