. . . FROM THE ROSE BUDDIES TO THE STATE OF LOVERS
Just past the Alligator River and the Albemarle Sound is the most cruiser-friendly place we've found: Elizabeth City, North Carolina. Years ago, Elizabeth City offered their city docks and bulkhead free to pleasure boaters passing through. Boaters love free. 
Then in the '80s, two gentlemen, Joe Kramer and Fred Fearing, started greeting the boaters, Joe cutting roses from his garden to give to the ladies on the boats. Although those gentlemen are now gone, Elizabeth City has continued their legacy with its Rose Buddies program every evening, giving roses, having a welcoming wine and cheese party, and offering help and information to the travelers. It's no wonder we all love Elizabeth City -- that and it's a charming town of about 20,000 very nice people, home of the largest Coast Guard air unit in the eastern U.S.
Elizabeth City is also home to a nearby blimp factory. Yes, blimps. It first came into operation to build blimps during World War I. Seeing it from the water, our guess was that it was a maximum security prison. Makes sense, doesn't it, with the two towers?
As we travel along, a question is whether we would want to live in the city we're passing through. The answer is usually "No." Elizabeth City's different. We could live and be happy in Elizabeth City.
We're often amazed by the stories of people we meet. Ted, Sarah and Manatee, their 36-foot, bomb-proof Kadey-Krogen trawler, are on their 22nd Great Loop! We tried to ask them all the questions we could. If anyone knows how it's supposed to be done, they do. We just wish they had been around when the camera was out.
Sailors gather each evening on the park walk in front of their boats to talk over places they've been and boat improvements. . . what else?!
The Swamp called Dismal
The nature preserve is one of those wonderful places where plants and animals are left to flourish in their own habitat. What sets this one apart are the efforts taken to educate visitors and the efforts to make it accessible to them, through bike trails and wooden walking paths, raised above the swamp.
Like ducklings, we cruised through the narrow swamp canal.
Cormorant, the closest boat, is owned by Harry and Jane
who did a world circumnavigation in the Corbin 39. They
say they've given up oceans for now.
Most cruisers through the Dismal Swamp tie up at the Visitors' Center dock overnight. Because there is room for just four boats, everyone who comes after rafts onto the first four. By the end of the afternoon, seven boats were rafted up, not just the five shown here. During Hurricane Sandy, as many as 25 boats were rafted here, we heard.
Three miles from the Visitors' Center, we entered the State of Virgina. Notice how still the water is and how lush the growth is in the Dismal Swamp canal.
A lock at the north end and a lock at the south end keep the water level stable inside the Dismal Swamp. We wish we could have taken more pictures at the South Mill Lock, but couldn't hold onto the lines in this lock and take photos, too. After we were all tied up and starting to lock down 10 feet, Robert, the extraordinary lock tender, blew our conch horn. Robert has a collection of 400 conch shells from travelers and is the most expert conch horn player we've ever heard. He's an expert lock master, too, but wow, can he blow that horn! He said our conch shell was in the top 10 of all the horns he's blown!
From the remoteness of the Dismal Swamp, we suddenly came back to the industrial world on the approach to Norfolk, Virginia. Norfolk is where we bought Carina and had her shipped to Chattanooga, so she's come full circle in her travels.
Next: The City of Mermaids and Warriors
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