After Norfolk, and the Great Dismal Swamp Canal, we arrived in Elizabeth City, North Carolina – the Harbor of Hospitality.
Now this is a town that lives up to its tagline. As we were pulling into the town dock, where a boat can tie up for FREE for 48 hours, a man serenaded us. Yep, he sang to us, and it sounded nice (Heather – he was singing “You are my sunshine“…). After he helped us with our lines, he told us his name was Gus Jr., and we had a great chat.
It sounds like Gus has lead a very interesting life…something he learned from his Grand Daddy, that we won’t forget is:
If a hurricane passes outside the Gulf Stream, it’s a-goin’ out to sea.
It a hurricane passes inside the Gulf Stream, it’s a com in’ after me!
He told us several other things about weather forecasting and such that I wish I could remember well enough to relay to you, but I’m afraid I’ll get it wrong so I’ll stop here. Back to Elizabeth City.
It’s a pretty town, and as I said, it lives up to its reputation as the Harbor of Hospitality.
When there are five or more boats at the town dock, the city hosts what’s known as a Rose Buddy Reception, continuing a tradition started by two local residents, Fred Fearing & Joe Kramer, in the early eighties, to welcome visiting boaters to Elizabeth City. Starting at 4:30, and hosted by the former mayor, Steve Atkinson, the reception included wine & cheese, cold beer, and gifts, like Elizabeth City drink koozies and fly swatters, of which we’ve made great use since leaving. The mayor told us about the history of Elizabeth City and gave us some valuable tips about boating in Eastern North Carolina. He personally gave me and Phill a tip that saved us at least an hour crossing Albermarle Sound. The Rose Buddy Reception was also a great way to meet fellow travellers headed south.
We liked the place so much, we decided to stay another day.
We wanted to try a real Southern Breakfast, so we went out to the Colonial.
Phill had the corned beef hash, biscuits & grits. I had an omelette.
A local supermarket sends a van three times a day to the town dock to pick boaters up and take them grocery shopping. We went with about 5 other travellers. This is a very helpful service – we didn’t have to get a cab back to the boat! Did I mention that it was free??
The Visitor’s Center will rent you a bike (for FREE) for the day, so rather than double around town as we normally would, we borrowed a second bike.
Still on a quest for a travel-sized banjo, we stopped in at a pawn shop. No banjos, but we bought a little Fender Squire acoustic guitar, so now we can play together.
We had a great stay in Elizabeth City, and highly recommend it to anyone passing through on the ICW.
We’re now in Swansboro – another beautiful North Carolina town, using the free WiFi at Caspers Marina. We gotta get going unless we want to pay for another day! Until next time…