August 24, 2008 (Sunday): Kagawong to the Bengamin Islands

Sunday was a backward day for us because we had discovered that the United Church on the Hill had their worship service in the afternoon. So Sunday morning, we set out in bathing suits and bug spray to find the Bridal Veil Falls. On the way, we passed the old limestone mill at the end of Kagawong River. This was a mill built in 1925 that produced the pulp to be shipped to Michigan to make paper for the Sears and Roebuck catalogs. Tom that was a significant link to our southern history and needed to be recorded here. It was later a hydroelectric plant, and now a community center.

The trail to falls led by the creek below the falls, and reminded us of a walk through Montreat below the Lake Susan dam in the western part of NC. The creek was singing a happy gurgle and churning the sparkling clear water over and around the rock strewn bed. The banks were often overhung by evergreens trees and wild flowers. The falls were a pretty sight with the water falling maybe 40 feet into the pool below. In our bathing suits, Tom and I walked the rock ledge behind the falls getting wet with the spray, but decided the bed of the pool was to rough to swim there. It was fun to see the falls up close and personal before drying our feet and heading back to the marina. At the marina (already in damp bathing suits), we took a swim off the sandy beach and took advantage of the big yellow sliding board out in the water.

After lunch, we climbed back up the long hill to attend the worship service at the tiny church on the hill. . Several people greeted us and welcomed us to their church. They had a old upright well tuned piano that made lovely music with amazing acoustics in the small sanctuary. They had a lay meditation on forgiveness, and we enjoyed singing Amazing Grace. They had beautiful wooden pews which were obviously crafted specifically for this room because of the angle that the side pews made with the aisle was reflected in the angle of the armrest. The church was the oldest building in the area dating back to 1881 and they had a huge embroidered quilt of the wall from their centennial celebration in 1982 (OK, so they were a year off).


This afternoon, we set off into the windy bay to anchor out for the evening in the Benjamin Islands. We were glad to find a still anchorage in the midst of the massive granite outcroppings of the Canadian shelf. It was fairly stressful in the wind and Tom tried a new trick of tying the stern to a tree on the shore. Unfortunately, in trying to dock the dinghy, he lost the long rope to the water; but a friendly boater zipped over to the back of our boat and got the line and ferried it back to shore for us. After making sure we were secure, we took our dinghy back over to the rock edge and trekked up the smooth warm pink and gray face to sit and enjoy the wonderful view. The sight was post card perfect of the cove and blue green water we are sharing with several other boats. The closing night of the Olympics all we got on TV was sound, no picture,... oh, well, we are ready for football season to start.