Sunday, May 7 - Alligator, NC - That's Really the Name of the Town!

Sunday, May 7 - Alligator, NC - That's Really the Name of the Town!

It's Sunday and I am blogging about Sunday!  That doesn't happen very often.

We had made plans to meet Mike and Sally for breakfast before casting off, not thinking that a small town bakery might be closed on Sunday morning.  It was!  Cereal was a very disappointing substitute.

Gil and Deb decided to wait another day to depart to catch a better weather window crossing the Albermarle.  We forged on, as did Scott and Connie and Happy Happy.  (Great boat name.)

The wind at the marina was so bad that I was a little nervous about leaving, but as usual Danny was right.  Once we left the marina, the wind was very light and it was a glorious day, perfect for cruising.

Shortly after leaving Belhaven, we entered the Alligator River-Pungo River Canal.  It runs 20 miles and was the last section of the Atlantic Intracoastal Waterway to be completed.  It is long and straight!!!!    

Bridges over the Intracoastal must be 65' tall, says the Army Corps of Engineers.  Or they must draw or swing.  Makes it kind of expensive to build a bridge!  My phone says this was taken in Scranton, NC, but we didn't see any sign of any town! 

The landscape along the canal was interesting.  Part of the forest had burned and is in second growth, and it looked scraggly.  (That's a good word, isn't it?)

The water in this area is called "dark water."  And it is dark!  It's not dirty, but stained by the tannins in the water.  It is famous for putting "mustaches" on boats. 

Stumps along the canal were huge!  Wish we could look back and see what the trees looked like.

This is the Alligator River.  Rivers in this part of the country are more like bays - very wide.  These two pictures show the view from port and starboard sides of the boat.  Does is look like a river to you?

As we approached the Alligator River swing bridge, four boats lined up to go through on the same swing.

Alligator River Marina was just past the bridge.  People had told us there was nothing there but a marina, and they were right!  It's behind a Shell station, but the station has a small restaurant.  More about that later.

There were only three boats when we pulled in, and we knew all three of them!  Now we feel like real Loopers!  One boat we had met in Brunswick, then again at Isle of Hope, one was a new friend from last night's group dinner, the third we had met via phone while anchored at Camp Lejeune.  While checking in (in the filling station), we talked to Scott, the new friend from last night.  He was placing his order for the highly recommended fried chicken for dinner and advised us to do the same, so we did.  (Again, at the filling station counter.)   When we ate our chicken, we were so glad we followed his advice!