Oct. 12-14, 2017 - The Albemarle Loop - Columbia

Many small towns located on the Albemarle Sound got together to create the "Albemarle Loop" which provides free docks and other amenities to lure boaters to visit their towns.  One of the towns is Elizabeth City, where we had already spent 10 days.  We decided that since we had some time, we would travel to some of these small towns.  Our first stop after leaving Elizabeth City was to anchor across from the Albemarle Plantation.  We enjoyed an afternoon and evening of reading and catching up on TV shows. 

On Friday, we headed to the town docks at Columbia.  Tammy, from the municipal office, met us and offered any assistance we might need while we were there.  She and her husband came over to the boat later that night and we introduced them to "docktails."  Since our friend, June, is from Columbia, we had been there several times.  The big event for this weekend in Columbia was the 25th Annual Scuppernong River Festival (Columbia is on the Scuppernong River). Our first stop on Saturday morning was a pancake breakfast sponsored by the Rotary Club, followed by a parade (another Saturday, another small town parade).  The weather wasn't that great and we had light to mild sprinkles during the day, which was funny since the parade marshal was the weatherman from a local TV station.  After that, we wandered up and down the streets looking at all the vendors.  In the afternoon, there were several musical groups performing at various locations.  The big event Saturday night was a performance by the Rondels, a 1960's rock group.  They sang a wide variety of songs from the 60's on.  We had heard of them but weren't really familiar with their songs. The performance was a lot of fun, and a lot of people were up dancing during the performance.  The night was capped off with fireworks.  The day was a lot of fun and people from all around gathered in the town for the festivities.

Leaving a foggy Elizabeth City - that's the Coast Guard station 

in the background

Anchored across from Albemarle Plantation

(a beautiful housing/golf area)

Homes on the other side of our anchorage

The Rotary Club breakfast

Strange sign - I guess the town floods from time to time

(Houston might need some of these)

View of the town dock and the Main Street entrance

Here comes the parade

Columbia High School Band - I think some members also

double as football players

Smokey the Bear made an appearance

Nice touch

Columbia even has a winery - you can taste, buy, and have

a glass with your lunch

Ram Albemarle

(a one-third size replica of the CSS Albemarle, a steam-powered

Confederate Navy ship)

Getting ready for the show

A great, fun performance

(plus most people in the audience were our age!)

The night ended with fireworks

Oct. 8-11, 2017 - Elizabeth City

Sunday was a beautiful day, so after meeting Danny and June for breakfast, we took the group for an afternoon cruise up the Pasquotank River.  The water was calm and the scenery beautiful.  It was a nice, relaxing day.  Monday, the guys graduated up to an 18 hole golf course for the day.  The Pines was a very pretty course and it was a great day, other than a little shower in the afternoon.  Tuesday it was back to the 9 hole, par 3 course.  After that it was errand day - hair cuts, flu shots, and a trip to a local farmer's market.  We had dinner at the Sawyers that night and said goodbye to Buddy and Jan who were leaving town the next morning.  Wednesday. Danny, June, Jack and I piled back into the car and headed to Norfolk to visit Danny's Aunt Etta who is in a rehab facility there.  Jack and Danny used to spent weekends at Aunt Etta's house in Gum Neck when they were in the Navy.  Aunt Etta was famous for her cheese biscuits and it was a big deal in the little town when the "sailor boys" were there. 

On our way back from Norfolk, we stopped at the Dismal Swamp.  Hurricane Matthew caused a lot of silting and the Swamp has been closed since last year.  It was supposed to be open the end of September and we were looking forwarding to traveling through it.  However, the Corps of Engineers didn't get all the dredging done so it won't open until the end of October.  Wednesday night we fixed steaks for our farewell dinner with Danny and June.  We have had a great time with them (and Buddy and Jan).  We're only supposed to stay two-three nights at the free dock; we have been here 10!  Of course, we can't thank Danny enough for the use of his car the entire time we were here.

A little side note:  There is a picture below (3 up from the bottom) of a painted rock.  This is a trend spreading around Elizabeth City called Elizabeth City Rocks.  Rocks are painted and hidden around town for people to find and re-hide them.  This has been a real success in EC.  It gets people out and about, especially senior citizens.  An art gallery has provided a long table with paints for people to use.  The fire department has hidden four rocks and people finding those rocks are eligible for a prize. We saw a lot of people walking around the park by the boat.  I found the rock in the picture and then hid it again.

A beautiful day on the Pasquotank River

Off we go

The water was really calm

Danny and June in charge

Of course, no boat ride is complete without a feast

(I guess I could have waited until Danny was finished chewing

before I snapped the picture)

Today was the big course

Everybody is ready to begin

The girls drove the carts, the guys played

Another shot of the course

Jan is always ready with her ball retriever - I think she

found several today

All done - just a little wet from some showers

A complete rainbow over the river

Our farewell dinner with Buddy and Jan

Visiting Danny's Aunt Etta - we had visited her two

years ago when we were here

A stop at the Dismal Swamp on the way back from Norfolk

Nice green algae covers the water

My little white rock that I found and hid again

Our final sunset over Elizabeth City

Our farewell dinner with Danny and June

Oct. 6- 7, 2017 - Elizabeth City, Edenton

After another game of golf, Danny, June, Jack and I took off on another road trip, this time to the town of Edenton.  Edenton is a very pretty little town with fairly large, well maintained houses. It is popular as a retirement town and is filled with history.  It was the first permanent settlement in North Carolina and the second capital of the Provence of North Carolina.  It is also known for the Edenton Tea Party, the first known political action by women in the British American colonies.  The movement was headed by Penelope Barker, whose home still stands and is open to the public.  We took a boat ride around the waterfront going past many old, beautiful homes and the 1886 Roanoke River Lighthouse.  We ran out of time on Friday, so we decided to go back on Saturday.  First up on Saturday was a parade celebrating the Peanut Festival going on that weekend.  The small town parade was a lot of fun.  We later took a trolley ride touring all the historic parts of the city.  There are a lot of beautiful, old homes plus an old cotton mill and the small homes that were built close to the mill for the workers.

First stop lunch

The Penelope Barker House
(this is the back door - the front doors of all homes faced the water)

The 1886 Roanoke River Lighthouse

(which was relocated to this area)

One of the many beautiful homes along the waterfront

An interesting sculpture along the main street

The Cupola House built in 1758
(the oldest house in the town)

Getting ready for the parade

One of several old cars

This little boy was having a lot of fun

An interesting bowling shoe

The little boat we toured in

A quaint little coffee shop for lunch

This house was built around 1883

150 year old Magnolia tree