We were able to take care of our laundry and go to the supermarket while we were in Elizabeth City. The Laundromat was not even close to being nice but it was cheap and quick. Last year we had read that the supermarket would pick you up and drive you back to your boat. We didn’t need to be picked up but when we got to the store we asked if they would drive us back. Well, we were at the wrong supermarket for that, and the other one didn’t do it anymore either. No problem, it was a long walk back so we didn’t buy as much and I stuck to not so heavy items. We had gotten not quite half way back when an older woman who had pulled into a parking lot got out of her car and asked if we were boaters walking back to the waterfront. She offered us a ride back which we happily took. She was the daughter of the last lighthouse keeper of the Bodie Island Lighthouse. Not only that but she had lots of ties to Maryland. She was a very fascinating woman and besides the incredibly nice act of offering the ride we were thrilled to have met her.

The wind was blowing really strong the whole time we were in the slip in Elizabeth City. We were worried that it would be very hard to get out of the slip if the wind was still blowing that hard. When we woke up on Tuesday morning the wind was relatively light so we didn’t waste any time – it wasn’t supposed to stay that way. We were out of that slip just minutes after 7:00am. The wind didn’t take long to start blowing again and we put our jib, staysail, and mizzen up. We were heading the long way on the Albemarle Sound, past where everyone turned to go down the ICW. We were headed to the Outer Banks of North Carolina. We had a great sail. The water wasn’t too rough and the boat was moving six to seven knots consistently. There wasn’t much sun, and there was a little bit of rain, but at least it wasn’t very cold.

We are now anchored in Manteo. It is very much a tourist town. It is our first time in the Outer Banks so we don’t have much to compare it to, but it seems like a nice town. It is, of course, off season, so none of the local restaurants are open for breakfast. Someone told us a place to go for breakfast but said you couldn’t walk there, another person told us it wasn’t so far that you couldn’t walk. Bill really likes going out for breakfast, and we have to get back into walking shape, so we did go there this morning. The walk was fine, although very far, but the breakfast wasn’t really worth it…

The other thing to do in Manteo is to go to Festival Park and learn about the history of the area. Manteo is on Roanoke Island, the site of one of the earliest English settlements in the New World and the birthplace of Virginia Dare, the first child born of English parents in the Americas. They have a replica of the ship that the English came to the area on so we toured that. There was also an area where they had people dressed in costume as the early English settlers and taught people about the history. As you can see in the pictures of Bill and I above, we were eager students. I do think Bill got the better end of the deal, although he said it was very uncomfortable wearing that gear.

Tomorrow we are continuing further down the Outer Banks. Our destination is Orcacoke but it is too far to get to in one day so we are going to stop and anchor half way there.