Hurricane Horses in Beaufort, NC (#116)

We had a beautiful and long travel day to Beaufort, NC. We had three critical bridges we had to time to get through and not be delayed.

We were able to call to get an opening at 6:30am, before the hourly openings at 7am. The current was at high tide and the wind was calm so it was easy getting off the dock. Once we made our call, a sailboat who also thought they had to leave at 7 called and got in behind us. Within a minute three other boats called and we lead 4 other boats to the next bridge that only opened on the 1/2 hour.

The final bridge of the day was a noon opening.

We drove by the New River Marina that is where our friends on Dream Looper will cross their wake. We are ahead of them to get back by April, and now we know for sure they won’t catch us. We waved to the marina for them.

We saw some big ships.

We got fuel when we arrived and a wonderful protected inside slip for our three day stay.

Beautiful marina with clouds before our mini-hailstorm.

We had a great meal at Moonrakers.

Six free new washer and dryers. In addition to the fabulous bathrooms, Homer Smith Marina wins best amenities award!

Laura found a great Viet Street Eats with many vegetarian options.

We took the Beufort Historical tour and loved the Pharmacy the most. It was fascinating seeing all the bottles of medicinal concoctions.

We learned that the doctor would have a lantern like this for ships to know if the town was healthy or sick before they would land. If the town had an outbreak, the botton would be red with the yellow on top. If the town was healthy, the bottom would be green.

We decided to take a ferry and tour of Shakleford island where the wild Spanish horses/ponies have been living for the past 500 years. Our converation about the horses almost six years ago led us to deciding to go on the Great Loop with the Sparkling Star.