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Ship’s Log 6.12 Wrightsville-Belhaven

 Day 2 in the books! Wrightsville word of the day: COMMUNICATION. Again with the switches. A first mate who will remain nameless (aka, me) forgot to turn VHF on. We were under the impression bridge opened on the hour. When I suddenly remembered to turn on switch, bridge master was calling out to Fine Time, oh dear. Actually, he was great and just letting us know it was by request and would be an hour. Fine by us, not so much the cruiser behind us. Let me paint the picture: We are redocked and up strolls said cruiser’s capitan. Headset on, armpit holes cut out, this guy means bizness. He was pretty friendly but wanted to make sure we knew he knew bridge protocol. “I thought you called or I would have called.” We made a joke, “But we thought you called?”. Humorless laugh followed. We parted ways and did some map studying. It actually made more sense to backtrack and cut out at Masonboro Inlet so we headed south, leaving bridge behind. As we’re cruising away, we hear on the VHF, “bridge master, I would appreciate if you updated the info to show this is a request only bridge.” Bridge master said, “Roger that, I’ll submit a report to the state.” Cruiser responded with, “I would appreciate if you call me Captain.” Insert Bridge Master eye roll.

Great ride on the outside. Our wristbands are zapping like crazy and feel great. Breakfast of dried mangos and baby pancakes (thx Costco), snack of Jayne Taylor’s garden cukes, tomatoes pilfered from the Poor-Me-One farm, and hummus in pita - yum. Decide to stop in Morehead City for lunch, really for a peek. Pull up and they’re somewhat excited to see us but nervous we’re taking up room because the big fishing tournament is about to commence. We promise to keep it snappy and head onto Sanitary Restaurant. I blow out a flop on the way so am hobbling down the street looking like a Panama City reject. A very nice lady offers to give me a ride wherever I’m going. I laugh and say, you’re too kind but I am not going far. The fam is unconcerned about my state. 

We get to the restaurant and Mason and Wm order the recommended fried flounder. Meade and I decide to get oysters because we had such a lovely picnic earlier. Side note: this is not the place for oysters. Living and learning...

Had some muscadine smoothies (who knew?) from the boat store that seemed to cover up the oyster mishap and off we went.

More smooth running (Neuse R, Pimlico Sound, Pungo R) and make it to Belhaven, NC. What a gem of a spot. Stayed at Belhaven Marina, and oh the amenities! Showers, laundry, bunnies grazing on clover! Dock Hand was super nice and recommended beach spot down the road for a swim and got us a reservation at Spoon River for dinner. The beach spot was a bit further than advertised but we got to see more of the picturesque homes of Belhaven. The swim was just what we needed after hot afternoon. Water was fresh and felt wonderful. Quick change and onto Spoon River: We have really stumbled into greatness now. Very cool atmosphere, great food, and you select your wine/beer from a large wine room and take it to table. The owner is super interesting and renovating many of the downtown buildings. I have to give a shout-out to Jennifer Flournoy, because this lady was doing some historic architectural painting that would make you proud. 

Another peaceful night on boat and all is well on Fine Time

Comments

  1. StanyarneJune 12, 2021 at 8:15 PM

    Our place on the Pamlico is like 30 miles from Belhaven (almost right across from Bayview and only like 15ish miles further than the mouth of the Pungo) I was just up like 2 weeks ago. Ugh. I'd have loved to have y'all for the night.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. UnknownJune 13, 2021 at 8:20 AM

      That would have been so fun! What a beautiful area!

      Delete

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