Here we are in Elizabeth City, NC waiting on weather again! But this time we are having fun in the process so we can't really complain.

Elizabeth City is home to true southern hospitality! We arrived early in the morning after anchoring near the bridge just north of town. A volunteer - Sam - was waiting at the town's free docks to help us tie up. Elizabeth City offers free dockage to visiting yachtsmen! What a wonderful thing to do. We tied up with Auriga's right next to us and proceeded to meet and greet all the other cruisers. The day just flew by.

At 4:30 we were all - about 30 folks - hosted for a wine and cheese party by the Elizabeth City Rose Buddies. Mr. Fred Fearing (who is 93 years old now) began the tradition over 20 years ago. He needed someplace to put his love after his wife passed away. I understand that in the season, he presents the ladies with roses from his garden. During the party I had the opportunity to visit with Fred and see pictures of his family. It was a great time and we met lots of new folks. And today I was presented with a rose from the garden here at the marina!

The next day Tanya and I walked about a mile to the laundromat and did some laundry. I didn't have much as we had just worn the same warm clothes each day in the 38 degree weather! But always I believe in taking advantage of a laundry whenever possible - you never know when you can do it again.

While we were at the laundromat the guys had gone for fuel. Then we all headed off to the local fitness center where we enjoyed sauna, steam and a great shower - all for just $5 each. It felt so good to really warm our frozen bones up. We were on our way back to the marina when out of the blue a car pulls up and a nice lady asks - in a great southern accent - if we needed a ride somewhere. So we hoped in her car, had a fast and furious conversation with her and were pleasantly dropped off at the marina! So far this is appearing to be the friendliest town we have encountered!

After getting all cleaned up Tanya, Jill, Eileen and I were driven to the Farm Fresh Grocery store by a nice man from the store. They post a phone number out front of the marina and offer to drive cruisers to the store and then back again with all those heavy bags. It is a wonderful service and we are very grateful to Farm Fresh!

It took some work to find homes for all that I bought and then we all gathered on Auriga for happy hour. It is a lot of fun meeting new folks. After all that happiness we all walked to the local Mexican restaurant, Mamasita's and had a great time eating tacos and drinking Mexican beers.

Yesterday was spent cleaning the boat, taking walks and visiting with the other cruisers. Happy Hour found us at Thumpers Bar and Grill for a beer and then it was off to Church. With the Halloween season upon us, there are lots of special events going on in Elizabeth City. One of these is the Ghost Walk. The Church has a dinner before the Ghost Walk so we decided to support the local economy and attend the Church Dinner. We had Barbeque, Hush Puppies, Potatoes and desert. The food wasn't that good but we had fun anyway. Tonight we might take in the Ghost Walk which looks like loads of fun.

Well, this is my first posting in my new BLOG. I am so sad to have had to leave the old one with all our cruising history but it is free and I can't really complain can I? I am hoping that this blogsite will work well and not have the problems that I had with the old one.