Oriental, North Carolina - Day 6

Tropical storm Ana has passed us for the most part. Not impressive compared to what Texas is getting hit with these past few weeks.  We are all good and looking forward to heading north for better phone signals on Wednesday. Tomorrow's winds should be a bit against us so we'll take advantage of a free night stay here at this marina.  

Unfortunately, I've ruined my laptop computer so no photos to share.  I'm  using Charlie's old laptop until we get to Norfolk where the Geek Squad can fix me up! 

Riding out Tropical Storm Ana

Update:  Monday, May 11th.....storm has passed us for the most part. Not impressive compared to what Texas is getting hit with these past few weeks.  We are all good and looking forward to heading north for better phone signals tomorrow or Wednesday.

Took all day to get a bleep of connection to post this.  So sorry to not have connection to phone Mom and Brigitte to wish them a Happy Mother's Day and a very happy Birthday!  Love you tons! Hope this does post before getting bumped off......

Oriental, North Carolina - Day 4

Who knew?!

Blackbeard the Pirate

Blackbeard’s real name was Edward Thatch

In November of 1717, Blackbeard captured La Concorde, a large French slaving vessel. He renamed the Queen Anne’s Revenge and kept it for himself, modifying it for piracy. He put 40 cannons on it, making it one of the most formidable pirate ships ever. With it, he terrorized the Atlantic and Caribbean for almost a year before the Queen Anne’s Revenge ran aground.

Blackbeard knew the importance of image in his line of work. Before battle, he would dress all in black, strap several pistols to his chest and put on a large black captain’s hat. Then, he would put slow burning fuses in his hair and beard. The fuses constantly sputtered and gave off smoke, which wreathed him in a perpetual greasy fog. He looked like a devil who had stepped right out of hell and onto a pirate ship and most of his victims simply surrendered their cargo rather than fight him. Blackbeard intimidated his opponents this way because it was good business: if they gave up without a fight, he could keep their ship and he lost fewer men.

In 1718, Blackbeard went to North Carolina and accepted a pardon from Governor Charles Eden. He may have wanted to leave piracy behind, but his retirement didn’t last long. Before long, Blackbeard had struck a deal with the crooked Governor: loot for protection. Eden helped Blackbeard appear legit, and Blackbeard shared his takings. It was an arrangement that benefitted both men until Blackbeard’s death.

Blackbeard wasn’t one to run from a fight. On November 22, 1718, Blackbeard was cornered by two Royal Navy sloops that had been sent to hunt him down. The pirate had relatively few men, as most of his men were on shore at the time, but he decided to fight. He almost got away, but in the end was brought down in hand-to-hand fighting on the deck of his ship. When Blackbeard was finally killed, they found five bullet wounds and twenty sword cuts on his body. His head was cut off and presented as proof to collect a bounty: his body was thrown into the water, and legend has it that it swam around the ship three times before sinking

There’s a common myth about Blackbeard that other pirates like him. There are no accounts of Blackbeard ever burying treasure, and nothing attributable to him has ever been dug up. Much of the loot that he captured was vulnerable to the elements, like fabrics or cocoa, and burying it would have ruined it (and it certainly would be in bad shape today!). Still, treasure hunters like to look around his old haunts to see if maybe he did leave something behind.

He captured 40 ships during his career.

It was said that he married a 16 year old.

He has had about 14 wives or more.  All of which he has been married on the ship with.

Researchers think they have discovered the wreck of the mighty Queen Anne’s Revenge along the North Carolina coast. Searches of the site have yielded treasures such as cannons, anchors, musket barrels, a bell, a broken drinking glass and part of a sword. Work on the site is ongoing and researchers hope to turn up more. It’s the closest thing to buried treasure the famed pirate left behind!

Oriental, North Carolina - Day 2

We enjoyed some much needed rest today and are riding out the upcoming east coast storm here for the next few days.  We used the courtesy car to venture into town.

The courtesy car today was a lovely Chevrolet Uplander LS Minivan!

River Dunes Clubhouse and Restaurant at sunset.

Who knew?!

On September 5, 1917, Oriental was the first town to have a motorized school bus service in North Carolina.

Oriental is called “The Sailing Capital of North Carolina”.

The town of Oriental was named after the Sailing Steamer Oriental. Built in Philadelphia in 1861, the ship was used as a Federal transport ship in the Civil War. She met her fate a year after being launched, run aground in May 1862, when she was wrecked off Bodie Island, 33 miles north of Cape Hatteras. Her passengers and crew were saved.

Oriental, North Carolina

We traveled 31 NM today and are docked at River Dunes Harbor Club and Marina. The marina had at least 12 Looper boats arrive at port today so they opened up their restaurant to us, which is normally only opened on the weekends this time of year.

Plane 2 Sea underway on the Neuse River

Plane 2 Sea underway on the Neuse River

River Dunes Harbor Club and Marina

River Dunes Harbor Club and Marina

Jeffrey Siegel, of Active Captain, greeted us at our arrival in port!

12 boats of Loopers are here tonight.  We took up two large tables for dinner.