Day 12 found us leaving the Dismal Swamp Welcome Center at the leisurely time of 10:10 am, followed by one of our new friends. Three boats had left earlier, and the other was headed north (a bit unusual for this time of year). This part of the journey was quite the winding path—not at all the straight and narrow canal of the previous day.
It was even more beautiful with the fall colors, and some homes along the banks. We spotted a “haunted kayak” on shore, reminding us that Halloween is this weekend. When cruising, it’s hard to remember what day of the week it is.
We did our second lock, and later waited for two bridges to open for us at Elizabeth City—the new one under construction and the old one that’s still in use. Bet those construction workers get real tired of sailboats migrating south this time of year! Our new Go Pro was on the bowsprit recording it all, but we haven’t downloaded the video yet. Stay tuned.
Once inside the Elizabeth City harbor, we decided to bypass the free slips (with short finger piers) and opted to dock along the courtesy wall—also free. What a concept!
We walked the town, and bumped into Ron and Sandy from S/V Adagio, our pals from the first lock and Dismal Swamp Welcome Center. They invited us over to their boat for cocktails at 6 pm. And then appeared Tyler from S/V Resurgam and Doug from S/V Winsome Lass, other pals from last evening’s cockpit party.
We shared more stories and our plans for the coming months. Not wanting to part too soon and make dinners on our own boats, we all ordered pizza via delivery to the nearby park. No kidding! It was an evening to be remembered with new friends.
