July 1, 2009: New Bern, NC

We had a wonderful last day of the journey. It began with a cruise from Morehead across the bay around Radio Island to Beaufort. We saw wild ponies grazing in the marsh grass on the western edge of Carro Island. What an exotic taste of nature. We passed the boats on the pier at the Duke University Marine Lab and docked across from the tall commercial fishing boat, the Morgan Grace. These piers were part of the charming Beaufort Inn where Tom had arranged for us to have breakfast. They served a yummy warm quiche with a wide selection of pastries and juices to our table where we were seated with round backed wooden captain chairs. The last time we were here, we had brought Tom’s mom with us, so we had bitter sweet memories.

We squeezed in a quick ride through lovely Beaufort along the water front and enjoyed the old white frame homes on Ann Street some dating back to the 1740s. Back on the boat, we waited for the opening of the Cedar Street, Beaufort Bridge. Passing through we found a bevy of little colorful sailboats congregated at the red channel marker, apparently a boating class. There was a huge tug boat, the Island Progress, pushing a barge full of sand. Heading up Adams Creek towards the Neuse River, we saw the Joy Boy II, the YMCA Camp Sea Gull vessel full of campers on their way to the beach. It brought back memories of Penny’s summers there as the Art Director we really are almost home where everything has instant recognition. At lunch time we tossed the anchor out in the intersection of Adams Creek and Back Creek and took a swim in the brackish fresh water.

Entering the mouth of the Neuse River, we encountered the wide waters near the Pamlico Sound. The Neuse River is 7 miles across here and often the water is rougher than it was today. There was a class of sailboats out enjoying the breeze and you could barely see the shore on either side. Moving upstream we passed the Havelock-Arapaho Ferry near Minnesott Beach. This ferry cuts miles of the commute time of people living “down in the county” and working at the Cherry Point Marine Air Station at Havelock. We could make out the little camp buildings of Camp Seafarer as we passed it on our starboard side.



I took a lot of pictures on the approach to New Bern. It was fun to see the huge camp pier covered with swimmers just before we reached the spaghetti bridge. The Neuse River Bridge wraps around the three way connections of New Bern to Bridgeton to James City and is an amazing example of civil engineering. We could see the gazebo on Union Point and the First Baptist Church four posted steeple over the trees. The curved green dome of the Convention Center gave a backdrop to the water front. The Trent River Bridge is still under construction and it took a few minutes to figure out where boats could pass through while the lift opening was filled with a working barge and crane. It is going to be a wonderful bridge with beautiful curved supports for the water way.

The Grand Marina was filled with boats and has a classic historic presence on the water front with its bronze roof shining in the sun. We pulled into the Bridgepoint Marina were we have a slip facing the railroad bridge. It is a great place to enjoy the dramatic approach of evening and the glorious sunsets.