Meeting the North Carolina coast
September 23, 2009

I had a good idea once; however, it was not yesterday when I decided to take back-to-back doses of Sudaphed before bed. (Note to self: thunk self smartly on forehead with heel of hand to remind self not to do that again). Wishing to look on the bright side of that action and its result, I was able to lie abed with eyes starting out of my head all night long to listen to the rain beating on the roof of the Totee.

The precip has scarcely relented since we arrived here. When there is a dry spell of a few minutes when we are home, I quickly open the hatches to get some real air in here. Shortly after, we find ourselves diving here and there to get them closed again as soon as it starts up again. I truly have never seen anything like it: one second it is not raining at all, and the next second it is POURING, POUNDING and BEATING down. I would be impressed if it had not become so tiresome.

We did get out and about some yesterday. A trip to the marina resulted in a nice talk with a fishing charter owner who we’d love to go out with (if it ever stops raining). He was kind enough to give us advice about places to launch our kayaks (if, etc.). There are great salt marsh areas that would be very fun to paddle, birdwatch and fish, and C wants to kayak out to Masonboro Island. I’m a bit dubious about the island excursion, but probably will agree to it (if . . .).

Fort Fisher . . .

We drove out to Fort Fisher, near the end of Cape Fear. It was an earthenworks Civil War fortification crucial to the protection of Wilmington (then the largest city in North Carolina) and the last port in the confederacy to fall to Union troops. Because of a pounding deluge of . . . yup, rain . . . we couldn’t walk the ruins (much of it is under the ocean now due to shoreline erosion anyway) but learned much in the museum/visitor center. It was the oddest museum I’ve been in, though. The lighting was severely deficient in many places, so much so that some of the material was unreadable.

Afterward, we ferried across the Cape Fear River’s estuary, a ride of nearly ten miles, and landed in Southport, a lovely small historic town, then drove home up the other side of the river. We had clear skies long enough to walk out on the fishing pier, where we enjoyed chatting with the men who were trying their luck. They were a friendly bunch, happy to explain about the fishing methods and answer our questions.





















We awoke today to low dull gray skies, somehow not terribly surprising. It’s odd in a way because when we look outside, it looks cold, but is a perfectly comfortable temperature. We’re used to that wintry look being accompanied by bundling-up weather.

History replaces water . . .

Our original ideas for this area centered pretty much on water stuff - fishing, boating, beaching - but we’ve managed to punt and deal with it.





















We enjoyed a nice walk (partly in the rain) along the Cape Fear River in Wilmington today, got an overview of the historical district via Clyde the trolley tour driver, had a good lunch on the river’s bank (but had to switch to other tables when we started getting wet) and toured the Burgwine-Wright house.

That was an excellent tour by a gentleman in Colonial period costume. The handsome structure sits atop an old Colonial jail foundation and itself is very old - built in 1770 - obviously the jail much older. We were able to go into the rooms that previously housed “cages” for prisoners and to peer into the dungeon that was the prison for the worst of them.

The oldest house still standing here was constructed in 1741. The history of Wilmington is fascinating, important as a seaport in the earliest days of the settlement of the area, since its founding in 1720, and back into the 1600s.

While waiting for our tour time, we got in lots of walking, all over the totally interesting and charming historic district. Beautiful homes and churches abound along brick and cobblestone streets shaded by magnificent Spanish-moss-draped trees.

We also snapped a pic of the U.S.S. North Carolina, a WWII battleship that saw much conflict, and is now moored in the river. We would like to tour her.

Sunshine, this ‘n that . . .

When we finished our house tour, we emerged into sunshine, liked to knocked me down it was so shocking. We squinted our way back to the truck and are thinking the siege is over.

Lots of folks here ride one-speed fat-tire bicycles, called beach cruisers. The land is flat, making these perfectly adequate.

Internet troubles at this park. The signal is excellent, but their server doesn’t like my sending server, so I have to transfer everything I send into webmail, which is a royal pain. Why can’t everyone just get along?

Grandma’s corner: Trinity Grace now has two teeth and although she just began to crawl, is overnight zipping around after her mom and dad.

The seed in our bird feeder has gone rancid and moldy, but this morning, we were still attracting a bunch of birds, including cardinals, Carolina wrens, Carolina chickadees and brown-headed nuthatches (a life bird for us).

Best business name (seen on a hot dog stand): Recession Concession.

Best innovative business: Cruise and snooze - a bed & breakfast operation on a boat.