How Long Has It Been....

....since the last posting. Well, toooooo long and it won't be easy to catch up. I'm not saying that I can catch up but we'll get started again. It's just that we have been out creating memories and haven't had or taken the time to blog.

After leaving Deep Point Marina at Southport we spent one night at Swan Point Marina at Snead's Ferry. There we met some folks who are from Bermuda and spend their summers in the Sydney area of British Columbia. The name of Tom and Debbie's boat is Bermuda Shorts. I'll bet that we will see them again in BC when we are done with all the loops.

The 44 mile trip from there to Morehead City on April 26th was punctuated with unusual yard art...

 swing bridges...

 and communication towers and training grounds at the Marine base at Camp Legune.

Once again we stayed a little off the beaten path. The Morehead City Docks...

 were our choice for the next three nights. There was a memorial to the local fisherman which reminded us of the one we have in Gig Harbor.

Other docking options included Beaufort, NC which is just a few miles away. This one is pronounced "BO-furt". The Morehead City docks were close to a number of good restaurants including one called The Sanitary Restaurant.

What an unusual name we thought. They were celebrating their 75th year in business so are doing something right.

We were told the story of the name later in the day. The originators were two brothers who were fishermen. What fish they didn't sell on the commercial market, they cooked up at their fishing shack. It wasn't long though before the Health Department got after them for having an "unsanitary" restaurant in their fish shack. Well that red tag did not last long and they have had a very "Sanitary Restaurant" since then.

We elected to eat in the bar that night and found a really unique bar and back bar. It was custom made to look like the stern of a boat and was called Tall Tales. The food was really, really good.

While walking around prior to dinner we ventured by the row of current fishing boats to try to see the catch of the day. We were a little late for that but they were preparing for the next days charters. One fellow was preparing a pole for tuna fishing. It had the biggest reel I have ever seen.

Another boat had quite a choice for poles all rigged up depending on what type of fish they run into first. Hope they had enough!

You never now where you will find "art" displayed. Debi thought that maybe this one should be affixed to the bow of our boat. We are still looking for the right one.

While at the marina office we knew we found a kindred spirit. We had a great conversation with the marina owners and hit it off very well. Imagine that...

On Saturday after a quick haircut [flattop] for Bob we took a cab over to Beaufort to walk their waterfront. They have quite a nice Wooden Boat Model Shop there.

They love to teach people how to build wooden boats and have a variety of classes to meet that goal.

Along the board walk there was an olive oil and balsamic vinegar shop which always is of interest to us.

Only one bottle was purchased this time. That was a very tasty Lemongrass and Mint infused White Balsamic Vinegar. It is supposed to go good over vanilla ice cream. Nothing further to report on that combination as of yet.

Also along the board walk were several restaurants which had live music. This one was a favorite for the music fans.

A visit to an town like Beaufort is not complete unless you stroll through the old graveyard... in this case "The Old Burying Ground".

These places have many Revolutionary War veterans as well as those from the Civil War. It can be a local Who's Who from yesteryear.

To complement that are the many well cared for and beautiful old homes from the 1700 and 1800's. Here are but just a few.

One of the highlights as we walked the dock was to run into
Rowland and Alex who are loopers from Calgary in Canada aboard their boat Tosca. We had first met them in Georgetown a week or so earlier. We agreed to meet later on their boat and then go to dinner. Did I mention that The Sanitary Restaurant was really, really good? That is where we went as they had not been there and had heard about it.

The next day we took a dinghy tour of both the Morehead City and Beaufort waterfronts.

There we found old but nicely restored buildings,

a new "old" tour boat getting ready for the summer season,

and a portion of the commercial fishing fleet. There is always plenty to see from that vantage point.

Nautical Word For The Day:

Offing:

1. At a far distance.

2. The open sea when viewed from the shore.

From Great Loop Jargon:

3. What the mafia might do to a guy if he crosses them in some way.