Headed out of Oriental to travel east, going down the Neuse River for 10 miles. The river is about three miles wide and if you follow it all the way up river you come to the city of New Bern, NC. The north shore is sparsely developed with homes. As it is cloudy, I can not see the south shore. About one hour into the trip we ran into a shower. Decided to go below to drive to stay drier for about an hour til the rain cleared.
Turning into the Bay River off the Neuse River, we changed our course to north to go behind Rockbill and Bull Islands and avoid cruising through the much larger Pamlico Sound. On the Bay River, the shore is filled with tall pines. It is still drizzling, but the seas and winds are calm.
From the charts, we can tell there is a large commercial fish farm on an island we passed, just past the tree line.
The further up the Bay River we go, the more homes are scattered on the mainland side of the river. There are even a few homes on the islands on the east side, which would be only accessible by boat.
The river narrows to a dredged channel that connects the Bay River to the Goose River, a branch of the Pamlico River. This channel is undeveloped on the side of the channel. The only building on this stretch is RE Mayo, a large shrimp operation and fuel dock. Cruisers can call ahead for an order of fresh shrimp and stop to get fuel.
We had to slow to share the waterway with this guy!
As the channel ends we turn east down the Pamlico River and then turn north on the Pungo River to the town of Belhaven NC. We will anchor here for the night. As we traveled this last leg the sun reappeared!!
Belhaven is a small town, home to the River Forest Manor which in its glory saw many famous people stay here- Walter Cronkite, James Cagney, Harvey Firestone, and Roy Clark to name a few. The manor has carved ceilings, oak mantels, eleven fireplaces, leaded glass windows and crystals chandeliers. The town and the manor were built by John Wilkinson, a lumber and railroad magnate. We will dinghy ashore and see the sights this little town has to offer.
We took a couple of fellow Loopers, Jim and Kayce, that we met in Charleston into town with us. We walked around town visiting the “hardware store that is like a small department store, a few shops, and River Forest Manor.
We met the owner of the farm to table restaurant Spoon River. Unfortunately we were not able to eat there as the restaurant was being renovated and expanded, but the owner took us on a tour of the renovation in progress and apologized for not being open.
Ate a lite dinner at the Tavern at Jack’s Neck and were joined by two other couples, one from Tennessee and the other from Michigan. Enjoyed talking boats and sharing travel stories.