Wednesday, May 5, 2021.
Temp: 84/65, Humidity: 44/99%, Top Wind: W17, gust to +29! mph, Precip: YEP! some rain after dark,
Miles Traveled: a few via borrowed car!
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We expected today to be windy, so we planned to stay put. I got up around 8:00 and it was calm outside. WHAT?! 😳
It was kind of foggy and dreary looking because I couldn’t see across the sound. We got a text from Irrational Exuberence. They were trying to get here yesterday, but tucked in to Columbia because it got too rough. Columbia is across the sound from us and they said it was windy and rough over there this morning. Hmmm. 🤔 It wasn’t an hour later, and we had white caps outside the breakwater. I’m glad we weren’t tricked by the calm and we trusted the forecast. It got WAAY rough, and we were rocking, rolling, bouncing, bobbling, you name it. I almost grabbed a chair to go sit on the dock to stop moving. We did take a break and go to the Edenton Coffee shop for breakfast and coffee. They fixed us some croissant breakfast sandwiches which were yummy.
There was only a couple of people there when we arrived around 10:00. Within a half hour, the place was buzzing with people. Moms with little ones who were stopping in before going to the Library for story time, older gentlemen visiting, this is a place the locals love!
We got back to Island Girl and looking out at the sound was crazy rough! This is the highest gust we’ve ever seen our little weather station register. 29mph. 😳
OH – before we went to breakfast, we went up to the park-master’s office to pay for tonight. It’s only $1 per foot per night after the two free nights. But apparently we’re supposed to pay for power for each night that we’re here. We didn’t know that, and we might have left this morning without paying! Woops! They only take cash or check, and we got all paid up. Then he offered us the use of the park car if we needed to make a run to the grocery or laundry. I thought a trip to the grocery store would be good, since we never know when we’ll have another opportunity. So we took the ol’ Ford to the Food Lion at the edge of town. HA! This car has some personality, like all loaner cars. The AC doesn’t work, the steering squeeks, the dome light didn’t want to go out, some of the guages didn’t work. I’m not sure you’d want to take it over 25 mph. But hey – it got us to the grocery store, and BACK! And we stopped at Dairy Queen for a couple of Heath Bar Blizzards. YUM! 😋 A man in the store must have seen us walking from the car, because he asked us if we were driving The Beast. We looked puzzled, and he said – are you staying at the marina? Are you driving the marina loaner car? Yep. Apparently the car is known as The Beast. HA!
On our drive back, I noticed that the Farmer’s Market Wednesday afternoon market was open, so I walked back to it after we unloaded our groceries. I bought a couple of mini banana bread loaves of bread. Everyone there was so nice. I tell you, this little town of Edenton is full of very nice people!
When we were in town this morning, I stopped in at a craft shop and got a heavy duty needle and thread to mend Stuarts rain jacket. His velcro has come unstitched. Probably from too much stress with the lines going across him. A man came down the dock and asked if I was Karen. Yep. It was actually the dockmaster from Albemarle Plantation, which is where we’re going next. He was bringing me a package that I had delivered to HIS marina. He said that he saw our boat here and he lives here, so he just thought he’d bring it over. WOW! How nice. We told him that we plan to arrive at his marina tomorrow…. winds depending. He agreed that the winds have been ridiculous.
We thought we should probably try one of the local establishments for dinner, so we picked the Governor’s Pub, since they have a pretty good beer selection.
I like their sign. It is Cinco de Mayo, so they had a taco special going on. Dinner was good, visiting with the locals was good. Another good day on the loop, in spite of the dumb weather.
All sources indicate that late tomorrow morning should be good for travel. 20 miles is only a couple of hours, so we should be able to find a break and move along. Whether we stay one or three nights there is yet to be determined. Right now, both Friday and Sunday are looking good for traveling back east across the Sound. I guess we’ll see. And wouldn’t you know it…. Albemarle Plantation has a swimming pool…. and all this dumb wind has brought in a cold spell. So yesterday was 90, today was 85. Tomorrow is supposed to be 70, and Friday 65. 🤷♀️. We’re getting more boat washing done with a few downpours tonight. But at least there is no thunder or lightening tonight, so it’s really calm outside. This is the first time that our boat isn’t moving since we’ve been here. 🙂