Drunk Drivers

Manteo, NC
N 35 54.528 W 075 40.102

We have been very lucky over the years. Despite the number of times we tied up to very public places, there have been very few incidents where we were bothered by bad people. Last night was one of those few.

It was First Friday night in Manteo. That means the shops stay open late, the streets are closed to traffic, and there are bands playing in the streets. We walked around and enjoyed it for a while.

First Friday also attracts some locals who come by boat and who tie up at the public dock. One of those in a party barge tied up about 50 feet away from us. Soon they were cooking BBQ on the stern for about 12 people. Cool. Then apparently those 12 people got into the sauce. As the night progressed they got louder and louder. Then, one of them found the compressed air horn which is very loud and blew that until it ran out of air.

We elected to not interfere so we went to bed. A half hour later I woke to the noise of a nearby engine. I looked out and saw the party barge leaving. The guests were leaning over the side screaming obscenities. Bear in mind, these were not ignorant kids, but elderly people of retirement age. Good, I thought, at least they're gone.

An hour later I woke again to the sound of more engine noises and loud voices. It was the same party barge, and now it was heading toward us, apparently out of control. My heart was in my mouth. I thought we would be rammed. Well, to make a long story short, they missed us and crashed in to the dock 6 feet away. I would have jumped out to yell at them or something, but a nearly naked man running around in circles and cursing wouldn't help the situation. Finally, they backed out and disappeared in to the dark. Good riddance.

Grrrr. Anger

Seriously, let me repeat. The truth is that such unpleasant experiences on the water happen less often than one would expect.

First Friday

Manteo, NC
N 35 54.528 W 075 40.102

We're back in Manteo where we stopped last spring on our way north. We are on Roanoke Island right next to the place where they show the Pagent June through August.

We are also within sight of Nags Heat and Kitty Hawk. This area is a magnet for tourists and even in October there are plenty of them around.

The weather today is especially delightful so we hope to see a lot of people out on the street for tonight's First Friday celebration. That's something they do here every month.

Last night, prior to the debate we watched the stars and tried to spot a passing sattelite. Being anchored out in the sound exposed to wind and waves, we had a very bumpy time while we were listening to the debate. OK, I'll confess -- we fell asleep about 60 minutes into the 90 minute debate. The truth seemed to be that if the candidates are not going to risk screwing up, then they recite talking points thus making the debates very boring.

Out of the 26 debates so far this election season, the only one that seemed to provide information that an ordinary citizen would like to hear was the one hosted by Reverend Rick Warren. The other 25, all run by professional journalists, were boring and uninformative. I swear that today's journalists claim to be serving the public but they act as if their only audience was other journalists. They claim to ask what the American People want to know, but I suspect they ask whatever gives them brownie points with other journalists, then they falsely claim that is what the public wants.

Whoops

Maneto, NC
No LL

Whoops, a recent post "Sit Down For a Spell" talked about a picture that failed to post. I repaired it. Please go back and have a look at it.

All For Us?

Albemarle Sound
N 35 57.944 W 075 48.389

As a write this, there is a stunningly beautiful sunset sky. We see Jupiter, a sliver of a waxing moon, Venus the red sky and the tree tops of the cypress swamps all in close proximity. Wow.

Once again we are reminded of how lucky we are. All day today we sailed down Albemarle Sound while seeing only one or two other vessels. We pretty much have the whole place to ourselves. The Albemarle is about 5x40 miles in size which makes it very big. Still, we are almost alone out here. It was the same way sailing up the sound two days ago.

Tonight we're being very bold. We are anchored near the shore but in an exposed place with no shelter. The weather report promises that we won't have much wind for the next few days, so we are emboldened. It is generally a bad policy to anchor in exposed places and we regretted doing it last spring on the Chesapeake. However, darkness outraced us to the sheltered anchorage tonight. We are in shallow waters that are sometimes chris crossed with gill nets that are not lit, so it would not be
good to sail at night.

We have one more thing to look forward to tonight -- the Biden Palin debate. It sounds like it may attract a huge audience. We'll be among the radio audience.

Claims To Fame

Edenton, NC
N 36 03.352 W 076 36.623

Elizabeth City claims to be the Harbor of Hospitality. Edenton claims to be "The Prettiest City in the South." From what we've seen recently, both claims are substantially true.

Above, the Rose Buddies commemorative stone, dedicated 9/18/08. We've written many times in this blog about the Rose Buddies. Fred Fearing will be much missed.

Below, the many many pretty scenes we saw today walking around Edenton. Edenton was North Carolina's first capitol and it must have attracted the wealthiest citizens who build wonderful homes and churches. Many of them still exist in pristine condition. We recommend Edenton as a very worthy destination for a weekend trip if you are within range.

Bottom pic, top left and center. The lower panel in the back door of the house has a geometric pattern. The garden behind the back door has the same pattern, see the top center picture.