We motored and motor sailed north from Oriental up to Elizabeth City.
Had a decent first day, where we could sail a bit. 2nd day no wind, so motored the entire way. We knew this would happen, but decided motoring in no wind was preferable to motor into 15 knots on the nose.
We anchored at the south end of the Alligator River, and had a beautiful sunrise.
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| Nice sunrise |
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| Motoring up the Alligator river in calm water |
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| Its like the start of a bad joke - a seagull, pelican and cormorant where all on a channel marker. |
We got to Elizabeth City on Monday and tied up to the Jennette free dock. The dock is free, and all they ask is that you patronize a local restaurant each day. We spent the time in Elizabeth City doing as they asked, but to burn off all the eating out, we walked a lot.
Elizabeth City has a nice small downtown area, with lots of art, murals and interesting buildings.
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| Bike racks all custom painted by different people throughout the downtown |
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| Bunny enjoying the new grass shoots |
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| Nice to see all the flowers blooming |
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| Lots of wall murals, this one missing the center section |
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| On the sidewalks we saw this several places |
Several sidewalks had painted signs saying that Elizabeth City was the Hot Cocoa capital of the world, so we had to have some. Stopped at the Kraken coffeehouse. Kris got hot cocoa, and thought it was pretty good.
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| Kraken coffehouse - plus hot cocoa |
We went and visited the Albermarle museum. Had been here before, but Jason and Monica's first time, and it was fun to wander through again. They had a new display on the moonshining of the area.
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Part of the display on moonshining
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We ate lunch at Big Boss Burritos, good lunch and enough left over for dinner.
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| Inside Big Boss burritos |
Next day, more walking and eating. The town has done a good job on trying to revitalize the downtown, and adding interest even on buildings that are unoccupied.
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| Murals painted on each boarded up window |
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| Closer view of some of the murals |
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| Old building now used for shops. Nice glass arboretum ceiling |
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| String art graced the side of this building |
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| Another nice mural, couple of restaurants down the alley |
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| More murals |
We also walked to a couple of old graveyards. It is interesting to see the family plots, and see the dates. Some markers in great shape, and others not so much.
We also took a historic walking tour looking at all the old homes. The tourist bureau provided a pamphlet that told about the architecture, and who built the homes and how old they were.
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| Colonial revival style |
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| I think this was the Greek Revival style |
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| Queen Anne Style |
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| Huge place |
All that walking - meant more eating as well.
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| Stopped for ice cream - yummy |
On Friday, there was a "First Friday Art" in downtown, where stores stayed open longer, and sidewalk displays with art, and some live music. Fun to walk around and see things. Also had some free cotton candy. One place had rock painting. The said paint a rock and hide it around town. Maybe someone will find our rock?
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| Our rock. See if you can find it if you visit Elizabeth City |
Finally was time to leave, picked a chilly foggy morning.
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| Early morning fog on our way out |
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| Luckily we found this little guy, and put him back on land before we left. |
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| Mist covered spiderweb near the dock |
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| Heading north up to the Dismal Swamp canal |
We headed north, up the Elizabeth river to the Dismal Swamp canal
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| In the locks, with Breathe ahead of us. |
We stopped for the night at the Dismal Swamp visitors center.  |
| Visitor center at Dismal Swamp |
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| Took a walk on the nature trail at the visitor center |
Will head up to the north lock today, stopping at our normal spot to have a nice pizza dinner, and grab some groceries.
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