Carolina In the Morning

The Neuse River, North Carolina
36 01.68 N 076 38.84 W

Neither Libby nor I are vocally talented. Out attempts at singing sound really bad. Therefore, we seldom try it. Nevertheless, every once in a great while I'm inspired to break out in to song spontaneously. The last several times in a row, including this morning, I was inspired to sing "Nothing could be finer than to be in Carolina in the Morning." There is something about early mornings here that is just magnificent. Whoever wrote the lyrics to that song hit the nail on the head. Most often we are inspired by the Posquotank River, or the Pamlico River, or the Great Dismal Swamp Canal. Today it was the Neuse River. Fortunately for you, I'm not into audio blogging, so you don't have to hear my squacks.

When in Oriental, of course we prefer to use the free public dock. What can beat free? Yesterday the public dock was full, so we stayed just 30 feet away at the Oriental Marina. That marina, and its proprietor Tom, and its tom cat Mr. Mayor, are delights. We recommend it do all our cruising friends.

Always previously, the charm of Oriental was enhanced by the huge shrimp boats tied up at the Staron fish processing factory, just behind the public dock. Especially at night, with the shrimpers brilliantly lit, it made the scene extremely picturesque, rivaling Boothbay Harbor Maine. This year, the factory is closed and the shrimp boats are missing. I asked Tom about it. He said that the old man who owned it got too old. He retired, and sold his boats. His sons are not interested in shrimping careers in competition with the Vietnamese. Too bad, it's yet another end of an era.

I'm feeling guilty leaving Oriental and the Neuse so soon. We have friends all around us. Here in Oriental is Tom. 6 miles East on Broad Creek is W43 Consort with Russ and Pat. 8 miles West is Blackbeard Sailing Club with our another half dozen friends. 12 miles West is New Bern. Libby and I can't walk down the streets of Oriental or New Bern without meeting someone we know. This morning I got an invitation to visit with Jeff & Wendy Gower on the W32
Calypso. They are only 4 miles West of Oriental at the Marine Air Station. They even have an air show next weekend. We LOVE air shows. Alas, we're committed to move on to Washington and Elizabeth City.

Why not stay longer? Because we set schedule constraints. We want to be in New York City by June 1 and we delayed leaving the Bahamas 2 weeks to accommodate Nancy's visit. (Imagine describing an additional two weeks in the Bahamas as some kind of hardship. Twitterers would say WTF?) I'm sure I said it before, but I'll say it again. Schedules and cruising make poor fits. Perhaps in the fall, if we have a week or two to kill, we can spend them on the Neuse River vicinity.