We were so excited to see these, four of about 140 wild horses on this barrier island, the smallest and most southern of the Outer Banks of North Carolina. Many years ago I'd heard or read about these wild herds that roam some of the islands, descendents of horses left by Spanish explorers (from 1526) or who swam to shore when Spanish Galleons sank. They don't know exactly their origins, but it's still cool to know they've been wild and have survived for centuries.
George and I took the dinghy early this morning out to this 9-mile-long island about 6 miles south of Beaufort, NC (not to be confused with Beaufort, SC). We walked to and fro, here and there, hoping for a sighting. Janet told me I should just whistle and they'd come. hahaha Well, pretty soon, there they were!! Four of them, not moving. We got closer and closer and still they didn't move. We took lots of pictures, and finally decided we'd had our luck and we'd walk back to the dinghy. Once there, we decided to return for photos of us with the horses in the background. Lucky we did, because we were in for a treat!! Read about it further on when you see the other horse pictures.
Sunsets are always a highlight of this boat trip. Tonight (Sunday, May 1) we have left the marina and anchored out where those sailboats are. We are at this very moment watching another similar sunset. I'll never tire of them.
This photo takes us back to the evening of my last blog posting. We had arrived in North Myrtle Beach and were docked directly across from the patrons at a fancy restaurant, a few feet away. George and I had our happy hour up there on the back of the flybridge, within sniffing distance of their dinners. They were looking right at us, and us at them. Was just sorta funny.
I took this picture the next morning after our ride into Myrtle Beach. The area reminded me of Naples, FL, with resort high rise one after the other along a sandy wide beach. The commercial part reminded me of Branson, MO, with all the pizzazz and show theaters. It happened that our marina was right at an entertainment/restaurant/shopping complex with 115 vendors, so there were lots of people around there and it was the Happenin Place.
After our bike ride we departed and shortly crossed into NC. The waterway down here is very close to the ocean, just inside the barrier islands. We often crossed inlets from the sea and could see the breakers out there. In some areas it was solid waterfront homes with their long 1000-ft piers stretching out to deep water. In other areas it was plain marshland. The day was cooler, but the winds were still strong.
We traveled 45 miles to an anchorage near Southport, which is close to Cape Fear. 16 other boaters must have also read that it was a good anchorage in wind, and we had lots of company. We had been used to being all by ourselves in anchorages, but not that night.
The next day we went 47 miles to Surf City, where it's two girls for every boy! After anchoring all by ourselves in an open marshy area, this wake boarder sped by and gave us a show. It was the first skier I'd seen since the Trent-Severn Canal in Canada last July. While there, we got to see LOTS of boaters going by since it was the channel out to sea.
We took a dinghy ride over to the barrier island and then walked across it to see the ocean. There were a few people out sunning themselves. The peninsula was lined with homes, but they were more "affordable" than many areas we've seen from the waterway. The fellow sunbathing on the dock next to where we beached the dinghy had his "two girls" with him to live up to Surf City's motto.
Early the next morning, yesterday (Saturday), we left early and within 3 miles came to a low bridge. I had to idle for about 11 minutes until its scheduled opening at 8 am. Then we were off on another long, 64-mi day of cruising until we reached Beaufort, where we are right now. Along the way we had to go through a Marine base, where they routinely conduct firing practice and shut down the entire Intracoastal Waterway for hours. We were lucky they did not have war games scheduled yesterday, but there were several junk tanks and other old military stuff that looked like their targets. Like the one in this picture.
Another sighting yesterday was this - kids in the water with their doggie paddling after them. The waterway continued to be lined with homes with long docks stretching to deep water (although at low tide the docks were in mud). Other sections were just empty barrier islands with frequent openings to the sea.
Once we arrived at our marina in Beaufort and did a load of laundry, we ate dinner at the marina's Tiki Bar (with $1 beer!!!). Then we walked into the downtown where they just so happened were having their annual Wine and Food Weekend. The biggest event of the evening was a huge beer and wine BBQ ($60/person). With loud live music to enjoy while we toured the visitor center next door. We learned that Beaufort has retained its unique charm because the ocean was its only link to the outside world, until a train service made it here in 1907, and the first roads from the interior of the state didn't arrive until 1926! Isn't that something?
We also learned that the two biggest stories for Beaufort are the wild horses and Blackbeard the pirate, who hung out here. So, as I said before, we went to look for the horses early this morning. This is where we landed the dinghy, on a wide sandy beach of Shackleford Banks. We headed inland in our search...
...and we found some! As I mentioned earlier, we saw four of them. Took pictures (they never moved), and left. Then we decided to go back to get this picture, with me in the foreground. To our great delight, when we returned.......
...we saw a foal nursing! Where was it when we were here a few minutes earlier?? We didn't know, but we loved watching the baby with its mommy.
The foal eventually stopped nursing and then it lay down, after posing for the picture I put on Facebook this morning.
We finally departed Shackleford Banks and puttered around the harbor area, and then back to Breaking Away. Soon we walked back into town for some lunch and more touring of the historic district.
One of the first homes we saw was this one dated 1786. A woman walking up the street said it was her house, and would we like to come in and see some of the antiquities. Yes we would! So in we went and she pointed out the mantle, the floor, and the stairway, all from 1786. She and her daughter and husband were soon intrigued by MY story of the Great Loop adventure.
We had a great time talking, and here are the mom and daughter in front of the old mantle. These chance meetings and visits are one of the highlights of this kind of trip, and also when I rode my bike across the country.
We saw some more old homes on our way to the Royal James Cafe, where they claimed to have the best burgers in Beaufort. It didn't really live up to its claim. It was an old bar, really, with pool tables on top of floors worn to the floorboard from 60 yrs of play. Its highlights for me were these bar stools, and its name; Royal James was the name of Blackbeard's ship that plundered the coasts in the early 1700s. Apparently Blackbeard was welcomed here to hang out and sell his booty, because the citizens were eager for a good deal on his stolen wares. Because of all the various waterways along the Georgia, SC and NC coasts, this entire coastline was where pirates could hide out.
This is an American flag from just after the Revolution. Notice the way the stars are arranged...in rows instead of the circle we normally see for the original 13 states. The sign said that in those early days of our republic, there was no national guideline for how to arrange the stars, and whoever in Beaufort made this flag, did it his or her own way. In rows!
Here's just one more of many many historic homes in town, each with a sign noting the original family and the year it was built. This one is on Front Street, which is the waterfront. We noticed several boats with the Great Loop flag flying, so we went down and had a nice visit. One of the boats was exacly like my Mainship, so that added to the conversation. All five of these Looper boats were traveling together, which is pretty common. I traveled with other Loopers only for a few days on the Illinois River.
This is a wild story! We heard yesterday at the Tiki Bar here at the marina that this afternoon they'd be having a big pig roast. We decided to go. (First we departed our slip and anchored out here a few yards away, and dinghied in for the feast.) Well, here is George getting his meat and fixins -- collards, corn, string bean casserole, fried chicken, and fish. (We didn't take the fish, and I didn't take the chicken either. The pork looked too good.) Anyway, it was all you can eat, it was fabulous, and they even had the $1 beers. A real May Day feast and a half.
So then I went to the bar to pay the bill. I had no idea what it would cost since we never asked. She punched in stuf on the computer screen for about 20 seconds, and then said it would be $5. What? I knew the beers were $1, and that was $5, so I reminded her I wanted to pay for the meals too. SHE SAID THEY WERE FREE!!
Turns out they wanted us to be "guinea pigs" (har har - "pigs") for their new big roaster, in preparation for a huge wedding here next weekend. So they decided to do up this whole meal for free to test out their equipment!! I was dumbfounded. First thing I did was go back to the table and tell George it was $30, and that he owed me $15. But when I told him (and Janet), we couldn't believe what we'd run into. And it was so yummy. Another highlight of this great adventure.
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