Got a 7:30 am start from Belhaven. Leaving was a little tricky as we were fastened solely via our port side on the Belhaven bulkhead. The waterway was a narrow space and another sailboat was tied directly behind us. Tommy used a line off the bow wrapped around a piling amidships which I held, keeping the bow tight to the bulkhead while he pushed the stern starboard, first with boathook, then with the engine in reverse. Once clear of our neighboring sailboat, Tom backed us down between the bulkhead and other slips until we were clear and in the channel.

The trip down the Pungo, Pamlico, Goose, Bay, and Neuse Rivers was sunny and pleasant, with some 4-6kt breezes, and little current for the most part. There were intermittent groupings of large and beautiful homes just on the banks of the rivers.

We saw a number of sailboats and power craft, but the waterways still could not be called crowded. We saw a very speedy and (to us) unusually configured fishing boat, several bass boats, and just before we reached Oriental, a large shrimper with outriggers extended.

We passed under one bridge, the 65′ fixed bridge at Hobucken, without incident, and waved to fisherman on the banks, who were pulling what appeared to be large catfish out of the river.

We docked in slip 8 at the Oriental Harbor Inn Marina around 2:30pm, facing their beautiful lawn complete with Adirondack chairs and Halloween decorations, the associated Inn and Tiki Bar, and restaurant: the Toucan Grill (touted as “the best in town”). After checking in and getting the scoop on the bathrooms, the laundry, the Wifi, and Eisenhower the cat (“he works nights”) Tom and I trekked to the ONLY grocery store in Oriental since the Walmart left in January. It’s a Piggly Wiggly, which we haven’t shopped at since leaving Atlanta 30+ years ago.

They had all the fresh produce we were in need of at very reasonable prices, and again people were an order of magnitude friendlier than around Baltimore way, even though it was clear to everyone we weren’t local. Amazingly, as Tommy and I walked home with our three fairly light piggy-adorned plastic shopping bags, a very nice matron stopped her car beside us and asked in a sweet southern drawl if we “needed a ride anywhere”. I guess she knew exactly how far we’d come since the Piggly Wiggly is the only game in town! We declined with thanks-the walk felt good after all day on board.

We got back from the store to find that all the empty slips at the marina were now full, so it was a good thing we had a reservation. Once the groceries were stowed and Tom buttoned down our travel plans for the next few days, we ventured to the Toucan Grill, where we had a wonderful waitress who brought us excellent New England clam chowder, sesame encrusted tuna (Tom), and pan roasted triggerfish (Paula). Our featured picture for this post shows the view from our table and you can see C Ghost docked in the background.

We then walked about 500 yards to “The Bean” where we got “Moose Tracks” ice cream-vanilla with chunks of peanut butter fudge and streaks of chocolate syrup. Even the walk to and from Piggly Wiggly won’t cancel out those calories.