Coinjock to Manteo

Day Six – Tuesday

The “ride” yesterday from Coinjock to Manteo was fun, but uneventful. The first hour was canal that crosses a peninsula near the Virginia border. It was mostly a fairly narrow channel between pines and other undergrowth foliage with lots of ducks. Once we reached the North River it widened out into marshland with more ospreys and sea birds along the way. There was even one pelican sitting on a channel marker right in the middle of no-where.

In about two hours we reached the Albemarle Sound where the water opened up and there was a huge fetch for the wind. We certainly felt it more there than we had before. Unfortunately, the touring guide that Mitchell ordered, did not arrive before we left, so we don’t have an easily usable chart to watch. [I love picking out the markers on the chart and looking for other ‘aides to navigation” and miss having the chart to use.] Don has electronic charts so that whomever is at the helm can see where to go, but it’s nice to have both. We have a North Carolina map that is the next thing to a highway map, but at least it does show is the land masses, the bodies of water and the major buoys.

We passed Powell Point which is where the land bridge goes over to the Outer Banks and then approached the center of Roanoke Island. We could see the Alligator River Bridge from a long distance, but we came up the seaward side of the island to reach the city marina. This meant that we came up the “back side” of the Outer Banks, so we could see the “wrong side” of Jockey Ridge, for example. There were many parasail boats out (I saw six at one time) and as we approached Manteo we were able to watch a shipful of children out maneuver a pirate, throw him into a rowboat and then shower him with water until he fell in. What fun! [And, what a great answer to: “And what did you do this summer?”]
Wednesday

This was my day to play by myself. Mitchell helped Don with some repairs, while MA worked on things around the boat. I walked about three miles [very slowly] to the Elizabethan Gardens. Took a ton of pictures along the way and at the garden, but you’ll have to read It’s My Garden to find out about that. Since it took me two hours to walk one way and another hour to tour, I decided to call a cab to return to the town dock for lunch with Mitchell.

We wondered into stores and boutiques for a couple of hours and made a run to the grocery store. I tried to get a manicure, but they were booked up for today. Very strange business model. I walked into a completely empty salon with two employees sitting there talking. They said that they had no openings until tomorrow afternoon. Perhaps that was true, but in a vacation town with the economy lagging one would think that someone would have been happy for an extra few bucks on a Wednesday afternoon.

We are eating dinner on the boat tonight and then Don and MA are going to the Lost Colony play tonight with some others. We have opted to stay here. I am having shoulder problems again. The cortisone seems to have fixed the tendinitis, but the muscles in my shoulder are giving me a fit. When I try to sleep I get a hunk of knots in my back. One of our purchases today was a heating pad that I can heat in the microwave. I intended to bring one with me, but forgot. I hope it will solve the problem tonight – either that or way too much wine!!

We have really liked Manteo. It’s an interesting blend of little old cottages, historic buildings and new expensive construction. Like most everything on the east coast there is not much waterfront left vacant, but a lot of quaint little places one could retire happily. There is a sort of artsy-fartsy feeling to the downtown area – not unlike the Asheville area. Having a whole day to spend here has been nice.

Tomorrow we go on to Albemarle Plantation. Stay tuned.