Hanging at Morehead City Yacht Basin.
Ducks in the neighborhood.
We had an uneventful night at Hampstead and arrived at Morehead City in the afternoon. There was some current and winds while we were docking but Captain Hal is a master and got us to the dock without any worries. We left early to get to Whittaker Point Marina in Oriental so that we could use the loaner car to get a rental car in New Bern. Matt the dock master is super helpful and all of the people at the marina are very friendly. We picked up the loaner car and got he boat ready to be left while we traveled home.
We drove from Oriental,NC to Rockville Centre, NY on Thursday 4/13/23 so that we could surprise our son for his 30th birthday. We stayed at our daughter, Sydney 's apartment and she set up dinner for her and Evan for Friday night. We did some errands on Friday, hair cut for me and grooming for Izzy.
Friday night we waited at the steakhouse with Sydney's boyfriend, Spencer, Evan's girlfriend Leah, and my cousins Greg and Anne. We couldn't wait for him to walk in. They entered and he was surprised to see us. We enjoyed a great meal with everyone and then spent the weekend with the kids.
Sunset at Oriental.
In the car to NY
After returning to Oriental we made the push to get up to Norfolk. We stopped at Dowry Creek Marina where we ran into Steve and Dodie on Chipmunk, originally we met at Fernandina, and Ed and MariEtta on Sweet Dreams. Sweet Dreams is an N37, so we met them in Gainesville at the rendezvous. It was nice to see them and tour their boat. We also met Paul and Mary Viscount from CT on Into the Mystic. They were basically traveling quickly back to CT. They were also super nice.
From the bow at Alligator River Marina.
From Dowry Creek Marina we headed to Alligator River Marina, which we stopped at on the way down. It is a good place since the anchorages aren't dog friendly along the way. Chipmunk was also there but they were headed to the Dismal Swamp Route and we went to Coinjock.
My tomahawk steak at Coinjock.
At Coinjock, Pam and her friend Drew came to have dinner with us. They drove down from Norfolk. I got a huge tomahawk steak, although I had reserved the prime rib which they are known for, but couldn't pass us the tomahawk. Getting up early, we left the dock at 6:15 to make the locks and bridges before the bad weather was coming. There was supposed to be a storm with strong winds and lightening. The Great Bridge Lock is opening on a schedule since it is having electrical issues so we had to time the bridges and that lock. We arrived at the Great Bridge Lock Bridge for the 11:00 opening along with two other boats. Since we had to wait for the 12:00 lock we thought we would go through the bridge and tie up to the free dock between the lock and bridge. However, one of the boats ahead of us called us on the radio and let us know that there might not be room at that free dock. We ended up tying up to the free dock before the bridge. It is a great fixed dock next to a museum and park. In the future traversing this waterway I would love to spend more time here. If we hadn't been trying to beat the weather we would have stayed for an hour or two.
We got to Waterside but had to wait while another got situated. It took so long that the security patrol boat for the Navy asked us our intentions. 😂 We were tied up before the storm thankfully. At the marina we met another boat named Gemini with Don and Dusty Pickering. Another nice couple on the loop. That night the lightening and thunder arrived later after the rain and wind started at 6:00 p.m. We stayed in and relaxed after our long day of travel.
The war ship on the right, #96, was the boat that rescued Captain Phillips.
Glassmaking demo
On Sunday, at Norfolk we went to the Chrysler Art Studio and watched a glassmaking demo with Pam. What a great experience. Afterwards we went to one of my favorite restaurants, Mr. Shawarma and had a delicious lunch. That afternoon, I sat chatting with Dodie and Steve who arrived at the marina, along with Mark Ervin on his kayak. It was to see them again. For dinner we went back to AW Shucks with Pam and Drew, which is another great restaurant. (All about the food, 😂)
Our morning walk along the riverfront.
The beautiful flowers and koi ponds at the Oriental Garden.
We climbed back and forth through this passageway. Those are not mirrors, each is a passageway.
Monday we visited the Nauticus museum and spent hours crawling in and out of the SS Wisconsin. That was the best part of the museum. It is incredible how many bunks they have and how many people they carried. After provisioning we went back to the boat to get some chores done. For dinner we had another favorite of sushi and said goodbye to Pam who will see her again in June.