Day 29 - The Oldest Town in NC

Current Position: 35° 28' 35" N  76° 48' 54" W

Another day of bouncing around on the water.  Pamlico River was not as bad as the sound (I could still cross stitch) but not comfortable enough to move around the boat.  It was windier today with more white caps but not too bad.  We saw another kind of blind today (we think).  It has no floor so we assume it's to pull a boat into. 

While we see mostly forests now there is still the occasional salt marsh - or both!

Any ideas what would strip the bark from trees like this?  There were several in this area (larger areas of stripped bark down low, smaller areas up high).

We see Osprey frequently now, but it is hard to catch them on camera (like the dolphins down south).  They love to nest in the day markers.

We pulled into Bath’s Public Dock – free! J - at noon and docked for the first time all by ourselves (no one on the dock to catch our lines)!  Very successful.  Bob pulled up to the dock close enough for me to “drop” the line over the piling.  I had a bit of trouble getting it tied off properly but did it and got the next line on too.  It is our first time on pilings so our fenders are sideways.  It’s a bit of a LARGE step to the dock but we are very careful.

We went to the visitor’s center and were surprised to see they were open on Easter Sunday!  They have a walking tour brochure of the historic area.  Bath is the oldest town in North Carolina, founded in 1705.  It had NC’s first library, the oldest Church (still used), and was home to Blackbeard. (Beaufort was his vacation home).  He was quite the local character and he and his men were well liked because they spent their gold freely.  He was quite the lady’s man with at least 14 “wives”. They are pretty sure the local government was taking "kick-backs" :) 

 Our tour guide was a very pleasant young man who truly enjoys his work in history and is researching more information on the historic homes of the area.  He pointed out that the forks were not used for eating but cutting.  You'd carve up the inside of your mouth if you ate with these forks!   They ate with their knives!

I eat my peas with honey; 

I've done it all my life. 

It makes the peas taste funny, 

But it keeps them on the knife.

He also had us guessing as to the purpose of this cage.  It's about 1 foot long.  The creature it housed was used in World War I and II (and even before).  Can you guess?  Check tomorrow's post for the answer.

The wardrobes didn't have shelves!  They carefully stacked their clothes in tall piles!

Have you ever said "sleep tight"?  The bed frames consisted of ropes stretched across the base for the mattress to rest on.  The ropes had a tendency to stretch and create a saggy bed.  There was a tool to tighten the ropes so one could "sleep tight".

 Docked at Bath, NC free dock.