Saturday April 30: Pictures from the Past!

A picture we didn't think we would see again: waiting in the car as the ferry at Cherry Point loaded!!

We rode this ferry just about every day (and back) when we spent a number of weeks with the boat either in New Bern or at Wayfarers Cove getting some work done and spending time with Wendy and Matt who were stationed at the Marine Corps Air Base at Cherry Point on the Neuse River.

This time though it was to meet friends who used to live near us in Cleveland.

Buck and Donna on the ferry.

Buck and Donna (who now live in Raleigh) agreed to meet us and spend a couple of days on the boat. The plan was to travel by boat from Morehead City to Oriental on Friday where they would pick up their car and drive home - we would continue on our travel north.

So we rented a car Thursday, drove to Oriental, picked them up and drove back to Morehead City and the boat.

It was quite windy on the ferry :-)




Let me back up a few days. We left Wrightsville Beach Tuesday early for the 50 mile trip to Swansboro. Normally we would stay at Dudley's Marina but this time decided to try Casper's. It's right downtown (well, mostly). Very windy by the time we pulled in. Lots of ospreys again in the area.

And the old tanks as we passed through Camp Lejeune are still there. Occasionally the waterway will be closed because live fire exercises are taking place on base. We work very had not to be there for those days!

The North Carolina shoreline along this area (we are traveling about a mile or so from the coastline) seem to be all sand dunes.

Seems like it would be great to be able to get out there on them. Marines only please .....

Caspers was a nice place to stay. Best part: a quick bike ride brought us to Yanna's for breakfast.

And Elvis was there to greet us once again!

Great place and the food was very good.




But Steve went a little crazy. He saw a dish on the table next to us and inquired as to what it was. Turns out it was the 'famous' fruit fritters.

In other words, take perfectly good fruit, dip it in some kind of batter, deep fry it and then sprinkle with powdered sugar. Serve with whipped cream and cherries!!

We ended up each eating one (bananas by the way was the fruit of choice) and giving the rest to a group of Marines. Those young guys can eat anything!!

When we woke up Wednesday morning this was the view out of our starboard window. It was a bad day for this sailboater.

Seems likely he mistook a marker and sailed right into the shallow area near the marina.

He was still there when we left - headed for Morehead City.

Not sure how they were going to get the boat off as the tide would take it up a bit but only a foot or so.


On to Morehead City. So we spent a day returning a defective water heater (which we just installed 2 months ago) and dealing with a warrantied TV from Best Buy. By far the most entertaining (and time consuming) was the TV. Two and a half years old. Warrantied for 5 years. Good so far. Dropped the TV off in Savannah as it needed to be sent off to the repair center. On the way to the repair center, the screen was cracked. Ok. Best Buy would give is a $250 credit. Works for us.

So at Morehead City, we go to the Best Buy. Now figure this out: bought a new 32" TV for $140. Bought a new mount (due to the increased size of the TV - Best Buy no longer sells 29" TVs) for $100. Bought another 5 year warranty: $30. Left the store with a $98 credit. We just didn't get it. They insisted it was correct. We took it and ran .....

Meanwhile it's now Friday and Buck and Donna are aboard. As you can see, the day started out quite cool but by early afternoon warmed up enough that Donna parted with the blanket!












Buck was the linemaster by the time we arrive at Oriental :-)

After breakfast out, Bambics departed for Raleigh and we continued our journey north. Such a great time with them :-)

Best little sign I've seen lately? It was in the little coffee shop in Oriental :-)