Day 46-Exploring Edenton

Tuesday, May 4, 2021.
Sunny & Hot, Temp: 89/69, Humidity: 96/52%, Top Wind: SW10 mph, Precip: some evening ⛈,
Miles Traveled: 3 on foot, 3 with Stuart Peezee!

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Warning- Lots of Pictures today! It was a sleep in day, and minimal breakfast, because our goal for today was to go have lunch at the Old Colony Smokehouse for some Championship BBQ! The only problem is that it’s a two mile walk each way, which in Kenny’s book might as well be twenty. I looked on the Google map, and there is a boat launch and a wall that we should be able to tie up to. So, a brilliant idea popped out…. let’s take the dinghy! It will be kind of a pain in the butt to get Mr Stuart Peezee off the back of the boat, but the winds were calm, so let’s do it!! It was a bit of a challenge, since we had to inch Island Girl forward and not lose her outside of the pilings. Then unstrap, uncover, and launch Stuart without bonking him into anything rough on the dock. It didn’t go quite as smoothly as planned, and let’s just say we’re really glad Kenny didn’t have his phone in his pocket. 😳
Stuart’s little Suzuki electric start motor fired right up and he was so ready to go! We put island Girl back into her proper position, and away we went! Here is our route. Much easier than walking, since the temperature today is going to be 90-ish!!

Only a bit of chop on the water here by the marina.

There was a bridge that we needed to pass under with a reported five feet of clearance. If we couldn’t do that for some reason, there was a marina here that we might could tie up and walk across the bridge to the BBQ joint.

But we fit under just fine! And there weren’t even spider webs or anything hanging down. 😁

Way back here was calm water and we kind of had to just tootle along to find where to go. There it is!

He’s only a little grumpy, but we could smell the wood smoke on our approach! 😋

There were LOTS of turtles on floating logs!

Here is the boat launch and mini marina, along with a decent dock wall to tie to!

All parked and ready for some grub! Good job Stuart!!

This is Old Colony Smokehouse. I missed the actual ‘smokehouse’ part off to the right, where the big smoker was.

Inside we got in line and figured out what to get. You can buy smoked meats by the pound or plates or sandwiches or loaded potatoes. Then add some sides and dessert and some sweet tea, and you’ve got yourself a yummy good southern bbq lunch. This place has it figured out – they are only open from 11-3, or when they’re out of meat, whichever comes first. So they slow smoke meat when they aren’t serving it.

They have been in lots of championship competitions, and this was an invitation to the Jack Daniel’s World Championship Invitational Barbecue in 2017. And apparently Food Network’s CHOPPED! Champion & International Multi-Award Winning Pitmaster Adam Hughes runs the joint!

I ordered brisket and turkey, and the chef sliced them right here and loaded my plate. Oh my goodness! I just looked up Adam Hughes on Chopped!…. and this is him! He competed in a group of 16 pitmasters on Chopped! and he lost the grand finale because his turnips were undercooked. 🙄

They added the sides and we were ready. Kenny ordered brisket and chopped pork.

I caught him with his first bite already in. Notice there is a big line! It is a very popular place with the locals, for sure. There were lots of pickup trucks in the parking lot. 😉. The food was so good. The meat is all dry rubbed, not sopped in sauce. We tried a couple of their sauces and their house BBQ sauce was delicious. I think it had a bit of citrus flavor maybe? It was so good.

I tried to capture the wall with their trophies.

They sell all kinds of take-home food stuff, including ”Seasoning Meat“. I wasn’t sure what it was until I checked it out and discovered that it is a smokey seasoned hunk of pork belly! I would have purchased some, but I don’t know what I would use it for.

Here is the front of the building that faces the road. It was such a tasty lunch and was worth getting Stuart launched!

Back on board Mr Peezee, we headed back to the marina.

Captain got to crank the throttle and let Stuart run for a bit. He still looks grumpy, huh?

Coming back into the marina. We’re still the only boat here.

We left Stuart tied up to the side of Island Girl for awhile, and I went on a photo safari of Edenton. (It’s pronounced like the garden of Eden-ton). This house was up on a hill called Pembroke Hall, 1850. It has 17-rooms and a dozen Italian marble fireplaces! It was actually sold at auction a few years ago because the owners were in too deep and filed bankruptcy.

Today’s portrait of flowers. I don’t know what these little guys are, but we’ve seen a lot of them in the Carolinas. They close up in the evening.

Many of the sidewalks in Edenton are make of brick.

The West Customs House, circa 1772 was where all foreign trade goods needed to be cleared.

I don’t remember the name of this house, but it was really beautiful. I love the big decks!

The Charlton House, Circa 1765 is an unusual style for the times. It was interesting compared to all other homes on the block, since this is the only one that has its deck right on the sidewalk! And scope out that brick foundation for the deck. Also, most all decks in the south are slanted to the outside away from the house. It helps drainage, right? This one was really slanted.

The Edenton Baptist church building is really, really large, spaning the width of an entire block, and has a big green (bronze?) dome. It was built in 1875 as the second church building, after the first one built in 1811 was destroyed by fire.

This was just an intersection with beautiful homes in all directions.

This tiny little building is known as the Rector’s Study associated with the St Paul’s Episcopal Church. This little building was built in 1850. It’s so tiny, yet it has a chimney for a fireplace to keep the Rector warm. 🔥. AMAZING that it has survived and been restored!

St. Paul’s Parish was established in 1701, as part of the colonial Church of England. The church is the second oldest church building in North Carolina, and the only colonial church still in regular parish use. It was built between 1736 and 1766,

This plaque indicates that the first building was built in 1701, the second built in 1708, then this one built in 1736.

The graveyard surrounding the church is the oldest in Edenton. There are identifiable graves, including Governor Charles Eden who died in 1722. I couldn’t read many of the headstones, as they looked like this.

The Iredell House is one of the few that are open for public tours. James Iredell (1751-1799) was a prominent political figure including being nominated Associate Justice of the first US Supreme court by President George Washington.

This is his house.

This little building was the Edenton Public School, 1850.

I don’t know the history of this one, it was just an example of one that had all kinds of gingerbread.

A monument to Hugh Williamson who was a “framer and signer of the U.S. Constitution” and citizen of Edenton.

Just more cool houses of different styles.

The 1767 Chowan County Courthouse lawn.

It faces the bay, and looking out at the bay are these three cannons.

This is the oldest public building in North Carolina, it is one of only five colonial courthouses in existence, and is the only one STILL IN USE! The NC Supreme Court and the local superior court still conduct business here.

This tea-pot refers back to one of the things Edenton is most proud of . It represents the Edenton Tea Party and is the Symbol of the 51 American women patriots led by Penelope Barker who defied King George for taxation without representation.

The teapot was sculpted in 1905, so it’s over 100 years old! Many of the historic sites in Edenton have these markers telling about the history, and the visitors center provides an easy walking tour map.

Back to the boat to cool down. It was a HOT 90-ish degrees, and I was sweating like crazy. Kenny wasn’t feeling awesome, so we just had french toast for dinner. We looked at all the weather forecasts we could think of, and tomorrow is going to be …yep, you guessed it… WINDY! So we’ll likely stay another night. We only have 20 miles to the next stop, but it can be gnarly water. And besides, who likes to dock a big boat that behaves like a giant sail, in big wind? Not this crew. That’s why there is no schedule.