Let’s see, where were we? The a/c part arrived on Friday, and bless his heart, Asa the ‘A/C guy’ was right there when FedEx dropped it off---literally, he was sitting under a tree waiting to see if our part would be on the truck. Don’t hardly find guys like that anymore!
The weekend was predicted to be too windy to head out on the Neuss River, so instead, we took the Jeep to the Outer Banks. What a great weekend! Saturday was my birthday, and we arrived in Nag’s Head around 5 p.m. with no reservation. Had been told by the Visitor’s Center folks that we were in big trouble, but we are oh, so very lucky. Fred got us a 5th floor room at a Comfort Inn—overlooking the ocean! Dee-lish. I spent about an hour taking pix of a wedding that took place below us. What fun.
On Sunday we wandered around the Wright Brothers Memorial and museum. It is very neat to be able to walk up to the bronze plane—and bronze people who were there when that 12 second flight took place! After the Nat’l Park Service talk about the history of flight (Wilbur and Orville really took the matter to heart. Ignored all the conventional wisdom and built everything they needed themselves—even a wind tunnel to test wing adaptations), we drove south to Cape Hatteras.
Fred was very interested in learning how the tallest lighthouse in North America could be moved back ½ mile from the eroding beach. The thing is nearly 300 ft. high (196 steps to the landing near the top) and was moved intact. Never tilted more than ¼ inch. Those engineers.
Meanwhile I was panting my way up those steps, only to discover when I reached the top that I was scared to go out on the balcony. Finally did—used the boat adage: “One hand for the boat” and held on to the rail—as if that would save me should whatever unthinkable event occur. Really. Did ask a Park Employee to preserve the moment for posterity—and proof!
We took the ferry to Ocracoke Island, and after a quick drive around noting the quaint shops and parks, hopped the next ferry back to the mainland. It was an hour drive to the next ferry connection, and while we did the ride in an hour, because we were ‘last on and last off’ the Ocracoke ferry, we pulled up to the dock about 2.5 minutes after the boat left. Such a sad feeling, but all was not lost, we drove around the long way and were home before dark.
Monday morning we began a familiar trip up the east coast to the Chesapeake. Stopped at the Belhaven Waterway Marina, then at the Alligator River Maring—both places we’ve enjoyed before. On our walk around the marina, we discovered some gorgeous spider webs. How do they do that???
We arrived in Elizabeth City, NC around 1 p.m. on Wed. and decided to tie up for the night. The free dock is great, but our favorite restaurant/movie theater has sadly closed, and the water was really, really rough. Time for Plan B. We decided not to get beat up all night and instead motored up to the South Mills Lock and tied off to await the 8:30 a.m. opening of the lock, the entrance to the Dismal Swamp.
At 8:15 the Jeannie B, a 70 foot schooner manned by a group of camp kids pulled in behind us. They were taking a two week sail around the outer banks—what a great experience!
We transited the canal, had lunch at the Mexican Restaurant, and headed for Norfolk. Again spent the night at an old friend, the Hampton Roads City Dock, and we were up at the crack of dawn to head up the Bay to the Potomac.
The Bay was very,very nice to us. We had a smooth run to the Potomac, and by 6 p.m. were ready for a swim at White Point Marina. Very refreshing as the temps have been very close to 100 every day—here, there and everywhere. We’re extremely grateful for that A/C.
Saturday we did an 8 hour run up the Potomac to Aqula Harbor Marina where we were greeted by Barb and Randy Semper, who are cruisers, temporarily stopping to tie LAZY DOLPHIN to the pier outside their home, here. The Homeowners Assn. here has just re-done the Marina--all brand new, and beautiful!
Sunday was our day for the 6 hour drive (6 day boat trip translates to a 6 hour drive) back to Oriental to pick up the Big Red Jeep. On the return trip, a storm and stalled traffic on our old friend I-95 forced us into a Hampton Inn, where we slept from 8 p,m. to 2 a.m. In the wee small hours, we experienced clear weather and NO traffic (until the commuters joined us from 5:15-6 a.m.).
Lay day today—we’re cleaning and preparing to drive back to New York for a couple of weeks.
See you when we return!
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