The Rest of NC and on to Virginia

On April 24th we arrived at the Grand Manor Marina in Belhaven. Belhaven is a small community of less than 2000, but it's prime location on the north shore of the Pongo River, just eight miles from the Pamlico Sound which separates North Carolina's Inner Banks from its Outer Banks, makes it a small town that celebrates life on the water!  The Grand Manor Marina was terrific, with golf carts to use, free laundry, pickleball and other games on site. Located on the property is the beautiful River Forest Manor, a home built in 1904 and is the icon of Belhaven.  The manor now has a restaurant, Bistro 1904!  Our bartender, Harley, fixed fantastic beverages. And they even had Prosecco on tap!  The town has a great Ace Hardware store with a store called "Handpicked Sister" inside - they had all kinds of gifts and home goods.

On the 25th, we had a pretty choppy ride up the Alligator River to the Alligator River Marina (well, actually it's a gas station).  They are known, for their gas station chicken, of course!  And, of course, we had to try their alligator bites (not so good).  FYI - the Alligator River wasn't named "alligator" because of Alligators in the River, but because of the shape of the river itself.  The alligators didn't start showing up until later.

On the 26th, we went up the Albemarle Sound to Coinjock.  The Albemarle Sound is not our friend.  Roughest water yet, with 2-3 feet swells the norm and then some up to 5 feet.  Thank goodness the Coinjock Marina made up for the trip.  The name Coinjock is an Indian name which means "Land of Mulberry Bush," but there arn't any bushes nearby??  This marina is best known for its Prime Rib dinners, and they did not disappoint!  Delicious!

The town of Coinjock is also known for the monster truck called the Grave Digger.  They offer rides for a fee, but we didn't need the excitement.  That would have been no different than our trek across the Albemarle Sound.

The highlight of the day was meeting five Harley Davidson Bikers.  We had some laughs and told some stories and "Smiley" left us with two small bottles of Fireball!  We made Fireball coffee that night!

We departed Coinjock on the 27th at 8:45 am, motored on the Coinjock Bay, Currituck Sound to the North Landing River, to the Albemarle & Chesapeake Canal.  We crossed into Virginia at 10:37 am and spent the night at the Chesapeake City Waterside Marina #2 - they are free!

                                                                      Sunset in Belhaven
                                                            River Forest Manor in Belhaven
                                                           Alligator River Marina (gas station)
                                                                        Our Biker Buddies 


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