Easter Greetings from Beaufort, NC!

Friday, April 18, 2014
At 8 am, we left our dockage at Carolina Beach State Park.  It’s been a great place to stay with protected slips, quiet throughout the night, and free delivery of a rental car to this location.
With overcast skies and temps in the 60‘s, we continued our journey navigating from the lower helm as we motor behind barrier islands.  Dream Chaser passed through the two worst cuts on the Intracoastal:  Snows Cut, ten miles up the Cape Fear River, and Elliot Cut near Charleston.  They both have very fast tidal currents.
We kicked the speed up to 9.5 to reach the Wrighstville Beach Bridge by 9 am as it only opens on the hour.  Onslow Beach Bridge is also a swing bridge with a 12 ft. height and limited openings, so we’ve been cruising at 9-11 mph for awhile to make the 3 pm bridge opening. 
From Wrightsville to Swansboro, the land thins between the ICW and the Atlantic Ocean, and we can see the ocean breakers from the boat and it's wild out there.  At noon, we bundled up and enjoyed homemade bean soup from the upper helm.

We've seen some really interesting
things as we've been motoring along
the ICW, but today, we saw this huge
giraffe out in the yard and then
the large bright pink house with the
painted parrot, alligator, anchor, and
who knows what else on the outside
were definitely unique!

We passed through the Onslow Beach Bridge at 3 pm, and then entered the Camp LeJeune Marine Corp Base.

There are “WARNING Live
Firing Range” signs along the
way, as the firing range actually
crosses the ICW for about
15 miles.  About 40,000 marines
a year still train at this base,
and at times boats on the ICW
have been stopped so practice
can continue uninterrupted.







The ICW, at this point, becomes easier to navigate with fewer shoaling areas, so Steve moved to the lower helm due to the cold wind.  The predicted rain hasn’t hit yet, but radar shows a large storm moving up from Florida that will bring us rain by tonight.
This afternoon, we enjoyed chips with our favorite thick salsa:  diced tomatoes, avocado, onion, fresh garlic, cilantro, and a squeeze of lemon juice.
At 5 pm, we reached Dudley Marine at Cape Carteret, near Swansboro, NC, our dockage for tonight.  Between heavy winds and a strong current, after three attempts, we were finally tied at the gas pumps. 




Once Dream Chaser was secure, we
registered at the marina office and
paid for fuel and dockage. $$
Even though Dream Chaser's
600 gallon tanks were still
half full, the price was good,
so we decided to take on
287 gallons to top off the tanks.
Diesel will become more expensive
as we head north towards
Washington D.C.
In the marina office, we met Clyde,
who is their "talking" 63 year old parrot!
He was more like a silent partner,
because he wouldn't talk to us.






We borrowed the marina van and drove to Swansboro, originally a fishing village, but now a cute little waterfront town with some small shops and restaurants.  Only two shop were still open at 5:30 pm, so we checked them out and then returned the car to the marina.  
With a load of laundry running and the crockpot filled with apple crisp, we dined on chicken salads and grilled zucchini.  Then, we watched the movie, Safe Haven, again to review the fire scene and see if we would recognize more of the village and the ferry landing. 

At 10:30 pm, with the rain falling, we called it a night and crawled under the thick quilt on our bed.

Saturday, April 19, 2014
Good Morning and Good Bye, Swansboro!  At 6:30 am, with rain and temps in the 50‘s, Dream Chaser is on her way north to the Beaufort/Morehead area.  We need to be at our dockage by noon in order to get a rental car for the weekend. 
We had made great time with good currents and about 10 am began our attempt to dock in front of the Sanitary Seafood Restaurant in Morehead City, NC.  We had an incoming tide, 1.1 knot current, a 19 mph wind against us, rain, and temps in the 60’s.  Mary was in full rain gear and the fenders were in place.  After several attempts, with current and winds fighting us, two men from neighboring boats gave us a hand and struggled to tie the lines. THANK YOU!  Toughest docking so far on this journey.  Boaters often appear “out of nowhere” to help with docking.  One...because we are a family, and that’s just what boaters do.  Two...your boat might be the one hit or scratched by the docking boat if  you don’t get out to help and protect it!
Tonight and tomorrow night we are docked at the Sanitary Seafood Restaurant at Morehead City, NC. Dockage is $25 a night plus a meal at the restaurant.  What a deal!  We on the waterfront only 30 feet from the windows of the restaurant!
Morehead City has a waterfront downtown that is thick with seafood companies, restaurants, and also has the basics-bank, post office, etc.  Ernest Hemingway kept his boat at the Morehead Yacht Basin.

Once settled in, we visited the NC Aquarium at Pine Knoll Shores in Atlantic Beach.  With the rain outside, indoors is a great way to celebrate Earth Day (a little early) at the aquarium with about a thousand other people.  The layout takes you through many regions of coastal North Carolina, and we learned more about sea life and also about their fresh water fish.

Our next stop was the free North Carolina Maritime Museum just across the river in Beaufort (Bo-fert), NC.  The museum is rich with displays on pirates, shipwrecks, and boatbuilding.  A “must see” is the movie about the feared Blackbeard and his conquests.   In 1718, during his reign on the seas, this English pirate ran his ship, Queen Anne’s Revenge, aground at the Beaufort Inlet. We saw the artifacts from that ship on display.  
Beaufort is a quaint sailor’s village (dating back to the late 1600's) with a boardwalk and inviting little shops.  We walked through part of the historic section, but want to return when it stops raining.

Dinner of shrimp & grits was at the Sanitary Seafood Restaurant, and we were seated looking out the window 30 ft. from where Dream Chaser is docked.  Definitely no privacy on Dream Chaser unless the boat's window shades are pulled!  Started in 1938 as a fish market with 12 stools at a counter, this market became so popular that people were lining up at the front door.  In 1949, a new restaurant was built on the present site and, several additions later, it remains a family run business with seating for 600 people.  Great seafood!
The night was spent on the boat with a good movie and early lights out.

Sunday, April 20, 2014
By 6:30 am, we were seated inside the First Baptist Church in Atlantic Beach, NC for the Easter sunrise service.  He has risen!  He has risen indeed!
After breakfast, we drove about 30 miles to New Bern, NC to check out Tryon Palace, historic homes, historic downtown, and a few quaint shops..but they did not open until noon.
So, we drove to Born Again Ministries on Kale St in New Bern for their 10 am church service.   Meeting in a warehouse, we joined the all black congregation and worshiped together.  Great music, fired-up preaching, and very friendly people!
New Bern's history began with a village of native peoples in the area.  Then in 1710, Swiss and German Immigrants built a settlement and named it after the town of Bern in Switzerland.  New Bern has experienced Indian wars, diseases (yellow fever), pirates, the Revolutionary War, the Civil War, fires, effects of hurricanes, and at times tremendous growth.  It's another great story!

Our first stop was the History Center and Tryon Palace, a Georgian style structure that was the first capitol of North Carolina.  We toured the Governor's Palace and the historic homes. The formal gardens were inviting, but due to the rain, we experienced them by looking out the windows.  They would be breathtaking when in bloom on a sunny day!

After donning raincoats, we walked part of historic downtown New Bern and admired the architecture of Georgian homes, Victorian Mansions, and Greek revival homes.

Bern has been translated to mean
bear, so a bear has become their
icon and there are life-sized painted
bears throughout downtown.






In 1893, Caleb Bradham, a pharmacist and owner of a small drug store in downtown New Bern, concocted a drink to be used as a digestive aid to relieve an upset stomach.  Originally called "Brad's Drink", by 1898, it was renamed Pepsi-Cola!  And we all know how popular Pepsi became.

After a long day of touring New Bern, we returned to Dream Chaser, enjoyed a shrimp dinner at the nearby Sanitary Seafood Restaurant, and then spent a quiet evening aboard.  The rain has finally stopped, but the wind continues to blow...sometimes in strong gusts.  These blasts of wind create weird noises and shifts the boat around.  But, we are tired and familiar with most of the noises, so we will sleep.

Happy Easter to All!