We started before sunup for our planned long day, and watched the sun rise over the Pungo Alligator Canal and our friends on the boat Tautaug.
The Alligator River is long and very wide. Right in the middle of the river, at a point about 2 ½ miles wide, they have built this bridge with swinging center section, through which we passed.
After crossing Albemarle Sound, we entered the Pasquotank River, and passed by this dirigible hanger left over from World War II, which now houses a blimp-building firm.
Just up the coast is the largest Coast Guard command in the nation, the renowned Elizabeth City Station. This is where many Atlantic air-sea rescue missions originate.
Elizabeth City, on the Inner Banks of the Albemarle Sound, has been named “One of America’s Best Small Towns.” The waterfront is billed as the “Harbor of Hospitality” and we found the locals very friendly, as we spent the afternoon and night at the free town dock. Many folks just stopped by to chat.
Monarch was about as large as they could handle, and you can see how far we stuck out beyond the outer pilings.
A community sponsor had paid for each slip, with a commemorative plaque in the brick walk along the water.
We did a walkabout through the historic downtown. This was the Robinson House, a beautiful turn of the century mansion.
And another, from the late 1800’s.
We visited the Albemarle Museum, a beautiful new facility that commemorates the rich history of the area.
This boat, suspended from the ceiling of the museum’s lobby, is the type used for generations, to fish for shad – hence its name Shad Boat. It has been named North Carolina’s official state boat.
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