It was a really long day getting to Elizabeth City from Belhaven, but we did get to spend a nice morning seeing some of the sights.
Along the way, we saw what looked like trucks on the water. As we got closer and checked the charts, we discovered that they were duck blinds. Closer to our destination, we saw a blimp hanger and a blimp/balloon. Steve said they had something like that at Tyndall AFB. The bulge at the bottom is electronic equipment. The thing was huge! Just before Elizabeth City, there is a large Coast Guard installation. Note the C-130 on the tarmac.
Elizabeth City has a transient dock that is free for 48 hours. There wasn't a good space for us there, so we tied up along a wall next to a park nearby. Getting on and off the boat was an adventure for me - onto a low piling, then the sea wall, and either over or through the fence. The little dock pieces that would serve a larger boat were between me and any gates. I did crawl under one once, but that seemed a little undignified.
We had breakfast at a neat little place with lots of roosters, then walked around some. The Visitor's Center was great and gave us lots of information. One really cool thing about Elizabeth City is the "Rose Buddies". There were two men who decided to make the city hospitable to transient boaters by giving the first mates roses from one of their gardens and hosting a wine and cheese if there were more than 6 boats at the free docks. The man with the rose bushes died, and they moved the roses to a garden near the docks. The "buddies" continue the tradition. We missed that since we didn't stay at those docks, but we saw the rose bushes and commemorative marker.
There is a museum across the street from our park, so that was our last stop before leaving. It was great! The museum has interesting artifacts from the Albemarle area, taking you from pre-Colombian times to modern day. Hanging in the lobby is a "shad boat", the official boat of North Carolina.
We left Elizabeth City headed for the Great Dismal Swamp... but that's another story.
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| This looked like a convoy on the water. |
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| They were actually duck blinds |
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| The blimp hangar |
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| Aerostat (tether balloon) |
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| Coast Guard Station Elizabeth City |
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| A misty morning from our dock |
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| Very interesting getting on and off |
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| This one is for Rebecca |
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| There were roosters everywhere |
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| Christ Episcopal Church |
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| St. Philip's Chapel across the street |
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