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Published: July 29th 2012
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Beaufort Riverwalk
Beaufort on a rainy day. After completing my turn at Vandermere, I headed south a bit and booked into the Cherry Point Marine Base near Beaufort, NC. I had heard a lot about this area and wanted to explore some. This small port town is pronounced Bo fort. (The town in South Carolina whose name is spelled the same is pronounced Bew-fort.) I found it to be picturesque, like many of these old port towns. Beaufort was founded in 1709 and is North Carolina's third oldest town. (New Bern is the second oldest and I think the town on Roanoke Island is the first. Got to research that!) I liked the white, 19
thcentury low country style houses with their touches of Victorian decolletage on front porches with rocking chairs and swings. There was an interesting maritime museum as well as charming specialty stores. Blackbeard's ship, the “Queen Anne's Revenge” is anchored here. I didn't go see it, though, because I felt the admission charge was more than I wanted to pay. (I know, I'm a cheapskate.)
The most fascinating thing I found in Beaufort was an old cemetery with graves dating back to the Revolutionary War as well as many from the Civil War. The
Colonial House
Just one of the many lovely colonial houses in Beaufort. oldest date I found on a gravestone was 1767, although there was one place commemorating graves of settlers in 1711. One particular grave site was very poignant: the stone simply identified a “Little girl buried”. It was covered with sea shells, most of which looked fairly new. I spent quite a bit of time in this graveyard, finding beauty and serenity among the twisted trees, wrought iron gates and fences and moss-covered gravestones.
April 23: After visiting Beaufort, I back-tracked to New Bern, the second oldest town in NC. I didn't explore much of the town—the narrow streets made me nervous in the RV! The primary reason for my stop was to see Tyron Palace. New Bern is considered one of the “coastal” towns of NC, even though it is somewhat inland. It is situated where the Neuse and Trent rivers join to form the Neuse Inlet into Pamlico Sound. (Confused yet? Get out your maps!) The city was founded in 1710 and was North Carolina's first capitol. Tyron Palace was the home of the governor. The mansion features guided tours by docents in period costumes and includes the beautiful formal gardens as well as the practical,
Maritime Museum
I liked the architecture of the museum in Beaufort, NC kitchen gardens. Photos were not allowed inside the Palace. (I never understand that!), so I made up for it by taking a lot of pics outside on the beautiful grounds and gardens. There were three separate gardens: a formal one, an informal one and a kitchen garden. It was quite the place to see!
April 24—I drove on across NC without stopping to explore. I had covered a lot of this area last year when I visited Cape Hatteras. I am ready, now, to start on up the East Coast toward New England. I left North Carolina and drove through the Virginia Beach area to the Chesapeake-Bay-Bridge Tunnel. I had been through this tunnel many years ago, (Think 1967!) but had some concerns about going through in an RV. I parked in the viewing area to scope things out and turn off my LP gas. I watched semis whizzing into the tunnel as well as out from the other directions and decided it would be snap for the motor home. The tunnel-bridge connects the southern tip of Virginia to the Eastern Virginia Shore. It certainly is an engineering achievement. Use of the tunnel-bridge to get to New Jersey and
Fishing Boats
Many boats were tied up along the docks at the city's waterfront.
New York saves a couple of hundred miles of going around Chesapeake Bay. Going this way I didn't get to see the Naval Academy at Annapolis, but neither did I have to deal with the D.C. -Baltimore area traffic! I sat in the parking lot for a little while watching the ships going back and forth while I had some lunch.
After crossing the bay, I stayed at Kiptopeke State Park. While taking a walk, in between rain showers, I discovered a bunker nearby which was built during WWII to store arms as well as watch and protect the entrance to the Bay from German U-boats. Seems hard to believe, now, that enemy subs and ships could ever get close enough to our coast to actually enter the Bay. I have heard and read several stories, however, of just how close some subs actually did come.
April 25: The Eastern Shore of Virginia is made up of small beach towns and geared to the fishing industry. There is quite a chain of barrier islands, some of which have wild horses on them. I drove up Highway 13 until I reached Chincoteague Island with it's National Wildlife Preserve and
Store Alley
An attractive alley by one of the downtown stores in Beaufort. island of wild horses. The town of Chincoteague is also the gateway to the Assateague Island National Seashore. I spent the night in the parking lot of a Methodist Church. That was my first experience of requesting to dry-camp at a church. It worked out very nicely.
April 26: I explored the Chincoteague and took a few pictures, but it rained (again) while I was there. The town is much like many others of the barrier island small fishing villages. There is one significant difference, however. Chincoteague is the home of the annual pony swim.
Wild horses which probably originated from survivors of a shipwreck, populate Assateague Island. The island fire department owns the herd living on the Virginia side of the island. Every year in July, local “salt water cowboys” round up the herd of ponies and swim them over to the town where they auction off some of the animals to eager buyers. Huge crowds attend the annual event which is held in a carnival-like atmosphere. The remainder of the herd swims back to the island the next day. The auction is held to maintain the pony population at a stable 150 and the proceeds are
Graveyard Family Unit
There were various fenced family plots like this once in the cemetery in Beaufort, NC used to update equipment for the volunteer fire department. A a book turned movie exists about one of those horses. She was named Misty and there is a statue to commemorate her. One article I read said that the swim is usually featured on the “Good Morning America” show. The horses and foals may be seen during the summer months via a special tour operating from the town.
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