Alligator Creek? Where's the Gators???

Alligator Creek Marina Alligator River, NC           May 31 - June 1, 2016

It was with a bit of sadness we left Dowry Creek in a light fog this AM. I will miss all the lovely birds; redwing blackbirds, cardinals, hummingbirds, terns, seagulls and many others that I couldn’t identify…not to mention the loud frogs! 

Now, we are on the Pungo River /Alligator River canal. Dad & mom are trying to keep to the absolute middle because you can see all the old logs, stumps, rocks and buildup along both shores… It’s so incredibly lush with forests, marshes, kudzu and the like…no sounds except our motor and the bird calls…Chariots on Fire seemed like a good music choice through here… Don’t know what got into M & D this AM when they aren’t driving, they’re cleaning…NUTS!

Fortunately, we watched the storms forming all around us but we didn’t encounter rain on our trip today! YEAH! Half way across the Alligator River we finally got cell reception back a little bit at a time…

Made it to Alligator Creek Marina a bit before 3, thanks to the fastest swing bridge opening ever! Wow! Dad actually was able to steam on through full speed ahead…LOL! A blazing 8 knots!!!

Arrived to discover that the grill is suppose to have the Best Cheeseburger Ever!…Hope they get me one!!! 

Not much to see today but lush forests & lowlands...not many boats even

These markers to Norfolk amuse us...

Keeping our eyes on the storms all around us

Alligator Creek is just as described...very basic but it gets the job done

Part Marina, Shell station, Quick Mart, Boat Launch, Ms Wanda and Logan have you covered!

Watching the Indy 500 when Dad isn't Watching the Monaco Grand Prix

M & D went to Happy Hour here and discovered like Dad said, “We are in the boater’s version of “The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel”,,,everyone is helping one another…but they are all here for various reasons…some seem to be here for the rest of their life including the owner Mary (or until she can sell this place)…It was her husband’s dream not hers, but she is still hanging in here 10 years after his death. Thankfully, she has a new partner Nick who is wonderful, as are her many loyal friends who continue to support her and her business. 

Met one younger couple, Ana and Mike who are between jobs living on their catamaran with their two dogs & two cars. When they decide to move on… They have to drive two cars ahead to the next stop, return in the one car to the boat, move the boat, then go back to get the other car and move it to their next location… Right now, due to boat insurance they need to be north of Hatteras from May 1 - November 1. So, they are slowly moving their way up north…They have been living like this for 2 years. M & D are guessing they are in their 40’s.  Amazing! 

Another couple of women from CT crew their own 37’ sailboat. They both have commitments in their separate towns, so they travel on the boat 10-14 days or so. They leave the boat somewhere and drive or fly home. Then come back and get it and move on…until they get their boat back to its CT  homeport…Love them! Kitty is a realtor and Chris a retired middle school art teacher who is volunteering/heading an art gallery back home. 

Another late 70’s - 80’s couple, Bob and Ann live in a Durham retirement community,  but have a home in the woods close by and a sailboat here. She was complaining that they wanted to be sailing yesterday, but had to clean the soot off their home yesterday instead…peat fires in the area had created the soot. A number of the other people we met either live on boats here or nearby like Ann & Bob and just come in for Happy Hour…It seems the new Transients are the “fresh meat”, of this place as we bring our own stories/experiences to share with the daily regulars…

 I can actually jump on and off the boat for a change rather than having M & D help me. Except sometimes like this morning I misjudge the distance…Dad’s quick reflexes and my new harness saved me going in. Mom would not have been pleased since she bathed me yesterday!

Wish Mom would have taken a photo of our sunrise this AM it was gorgeous! Now, we are in between storms which I love since M & D are inside with me. Very relaxing! I’m hoping mom will cook some breakfast and make a bit extra eggs for me… Yeah! She read my mind once again...funny how that works! 

I know they are leaving me for the afternoon to go watch the Indy 500 on the DISH TV in the Clubhouse...Mom is getting her last batch of laundry to take to the big house to finish in between the showers...She says it looks like a Pointillist painting this AM with all the showers... They were talking about how much they are missing being at the race with everyone today...watching the race brings back so many great memories...

I keep finding funky stuff everywhere I look here...love those kind of funky surprises!

"Rain, rain, go away"...think it's with us today and this next week...thankfully we won't melt!

Mike having fun clicking between the Indy 500 & the Monaco Grand Prix

Playing with various filters on Camera +...Pinhole

Nostalgia...look closely and you can see the raindrops...

Down Dowry Creek

Dowry Creek Marina                                              Belhaven, NC                             May 27 - 30, 2016

After mom and dad finished their spaghetti dinner and had cleaned up…I got a little bit! :-)

They started watching Downton Abbey on the DVDs they had gotten for their anniversary. So good, we all can’t wait to see the next episode!

The day started out with a POP which Dad figured out was our inverter shutting off…NOT GOOD! He wasn’t happy as he tried to figure out what had happened. He disconnected shore power, started our engines and generator and was able to get the inverter running again. Mom went around and reset all the ground fault interrupters to get other power working. We are hoping it was bad shore power, but it is something we will definitely have to watch. The inverter keeps our freezer, refrigerator and all electrical items running.

Mom was thrilled to realize our weeks old grocery bread was still good…they haven’t been eating much of it. She is keeping it inside one of the Publix freezer bags with as much air squeezed out as possible, inside a dark cabinet. Yeah! 

Pamlico Sound really is the perfect place for sailboats… Today has been calm with gentle SSW winds, lots of sun and blue skies. Once again the coastal landscape is changing, different marsh grasses and more variety of trees and shrubbery. Very quiet and serene with little to be heard besides our engines, bird calls & our Pandora channel when we have reception…lovely!

At Hobucken, NC the ICW took us by a tiny Coast Guard Station seemingly in the middle of nowhere. It’s surrounded by forests and water…pretty, but very remote feeling. Saw a number of fisher people out on the waterways or shore. They said fishing is good right now. 

We crossed the Pamlico River in about a 1-2’ chop thanks to all the wind. I don’t like that rocking and rolling so much…I prefer to be down in the salon where you don’t feel it so much. Came into Dowry Creek with lots of winds making it very difficult for dad to dock. UGH...nothing you can do but do your best!

It is so beautiful here…like our last stop…very serene and peaceful…Although M & D talked to the owner, she said to keep an eye out for deer and bear particularly when using their loaner car on the Belhaven roads. WHAT??? Bear??? Sure enough mom and dad said they saw a deer on one of the Belhaven roads. They had gone into Belhaven to eat at Spoon River. They said it compared to any NYC restaurant that uses all local food…each meal was a presentation including mom’s white sangria! They brought home leftovers, so I’m hopeful that they will share!

Not too many industrial places like this on ICW along this area anyway

Mostly, this lovely scenery is what we are seeing...

Occasionally we come across some fisher people

The Hobucken, NC  Coast Guard Station

More fisher people, they really appreciate it when we slow way down so they don't get rocked so much!

One of the few pretty houses along this stretch...They tend to be more spread out...

We've come across quite of few duck blinds...

We arrived to this beautiful marina with beautiful views all directions...

Woke up to a beautiful morning. Mom made cranberry orange muffins and our inverter started acting up again. We are mystified what is going on…dad will talk to someone here but we are in NO Cell HELL, meaning NO coverage! So, the outside world has to communicate with us through email until we leave here Monday or Tuesday or call Dowry Creek if there is an emergency, 252-943-2728. Thankfully, they have Dish so dad can see the Indy 500 tomorrow and the parade today if it's on down here... 
WE can't believe it, but one of the guys, Brad who has a boat here and helps out...has another friend with a boat here who works as a boat electrician...He is coming this AM...hope he can help us!!! Otherwise, I'm hoping they have a freezer that I can transfer stuff to??? AAAHHHH! Life on a boat...the good and the bad!

Pamlico River Posting

Whitaker Pointe Marina                                                 Oriental, NC                             May 26 - 27, 2016

 It was another gorgeous day and as always we were on our way before I barely had my breakfast! Blue skies, big fluffly clouds and a bit of wind here and there…Thankfully, dad had done his homework the night before because coming by Morehead City, the ICW got very confusing!!! Definitely one of the more industrial areas we have seen in a long time!  
Not long after we passed Morehead City, 3 military style, dull grey, stealth or futuristic looking, power boats came flying past us. Mom was bummed because she couldn’t even get a photo of them! Dad thought they could be ICE.

We ended up helping out another boater by leading him through that confusing ICW channel. He’s taking the boat to somewhere in VA. Since mom wasn’t driving so much today, she decided to make marinara sauce for spaghetti tonight. It smells wonderful in here!!! 

M & D are talking about anchoring out now, since we can finally see shoreline where we could safely take me to do my business…I’m not so sure how I feel about getting into the dingy??? Might want to rethink using the fake grass??? (To be continued…)

Arrived at Oriental by 2 PM…it is positively gorgeous here around this marina…picturesque no matter which way you turn…Love seeing and smelling the forests again! 

If the courtesy car comes back M & D might take a spin into town, just to say they saw it...Maybe not until tomorrow morning...They can take it for a breakfast spin, since we may wait for the tide to rise some before we leave here. 

Met some nice loopers who just crossed their wake here, Vickie and Wayne on a 36' Monk trawler. Hope to have cocktails with them later...We will probably be seeing them again since they aren't planning to return to Holland, MI, their home port until about the same time we will be there.

Looking forward to hanging out in the same place for three days and chilling out...

Coming by Morehead City,NC  lots of industry

Looking into Morehead down one of the channels

Anyone want to buy a small island right outside Morehead City, NC?

Good to know we are heading towards Norfolk, VA

A couple more rustic scenes along the way...an old barn & a duck? blind?

Have to show a couple of the McMansions today

Whitaker Pointe Marina, Oriental, NC, our tonight stopover

Across the way from us...I'm a sucker for old Federal style homes...

Our Swan Song at Swansboro, NC

Casper Marina                                                 Swansboro, NC                        May 25 - 26, 2016

M & D got us off before 8 AM, so we could make the first bridge opening on the hour. There’s a series of bridge openings that we are trying to time today. We are saving fuel since there is no point in going fast due to these openings. Came through a heavily smoky area, but have no idea where the fire was…Not good!!! 

Again, lots of shallows, as we cross inlets and shoals with civilization coming and going…we see lots of beach cottages along the ocean. 

Came by Camp LaJeune complete with scary Channel 16 announcements, a helicopter flying around and many posted

KEEP OUT signs…It’s mostly a gorgeous wildness !

Weirdness is happening on Moondance…first mom couldn’t find her good cooking tongs that she had brought from home, so she bought a new one…They have now disappeared along with her small electric fry pan extension cord…She and dad have been through everything…even pulled out drawers. Dad found the original good tongs, but the other 2 objects have not been found??? It’s a puzzle! 

They are getting cleaned up to go check out Swansboro, NC…it looks pretty cute from the marina!!! At least they fed me before leaving…I was mad at them, so I destroyed the waste in aft head trash can…that will teach them to leave me!!! 

They said that what they could see from the waterfront looked cute. Mom brought me grouper, rice and veggies from her Icehouse Restaurant meal, so I will be eating well for the next couple of meals! 

They stopped at the Church St. Irish Pub & Deli for a nightcap…so another bartender photo taken. Talked to the young bartenders there who like our waitress is married to a serviceman…Go USA Military!…the Navy and Marines are well represented down here!!! 

It’s funny M & D noticed as we are getting more north, we are starting to see normal grass, clover and such…along with some interestingly marked ducks? We are definitely going to be rocked to sleep here...Wow! Nelly!!!  

Off tomorrow for Oriental, NC and Whitaker Marina.

 As we were leaving this AM

Loved the frog with the surf board in front of this Wrightsville Beach house

One of the first official exercise equipment, the joggling board or it's called a courting board depending???

The Causeway Cafe is definitely a hit in our minds and stomachs!!!

Some of the sites along our travels yesterday in Wrightsville Beach & today...

Love how the sunset lit up this part of Wrightsville Beach

Wrightsville Beach sunset from Moondance's Flybridge

More gorgeous homes along the ICW

Couldn't believe Lily, she put her head up on the seat while she parked herself in front of the fan.

Not sure if I really would love to meet these people or I wouldn't like them??? They certainly put it out there!!! Look closely because they have a grotto as part of their pool with a slide...WOW!

Lily decided she needed a tan???

The Onslow Swing Bridge by Camp LaJuene let us all through early...YEAH!!!

Just some of the gorgeous wilderness in Camp LeJuene

Loved this Church St. Inn mermaid weather van!!!

Sorry this store was closed...very funky stuff...I've never seen a male mermaid before...look starboard!!!

If we saw one of these, we saw 10 swan planters...cute Swansboro, you'll...

One section of Swansboro's Waterfront

The Icehouse Restaurant reminded us of another very old CT one that we can't remember it's name?

The Church St Irish Pub & Deli Bartenders...aren't they cute?

They had really wonderful murals all over the pub

We are pretty much by our lonesome tonight...quite a change from other marinas!

Walking back we got sight of these ducks hanging out

Anyone have any idea what kind of ducks these are???