Enjoying Oriental

Got to Oriental last Friday morning (4 a.m.)  with friends Drew and Steph who helped me prep the boat for two days.  Cleaned the bilge, installed new anchor, organized spare parts, food, lines, swabbed the decks, tested all the systems, fixed broken items...lots to do and lots to learn.  I am grateful for their friendship and support. After the work was done, we would sit atop the flybridge and enjoy the spectacular sunset with favorite toddy in hand.  Alas, they had to leave Sunday so the chores continued with me doing them solo. It's interesting being docked at a working and very active shipyard (two really since the other one is just across the fairway).  It is spring and the yard is full of boats coming in to get ready to cruise.  The variety and size and experience of the captains  is amazing.  Several times I stood on my back deck with boathook in hand ready to fend off an approaching, seemingly out of control boat.  I am docked next to Tow Boats U.S.  I only wish I could maneuver my boat as seamlessly as they do!  

Downtown Seafood Market

  Oriental is a delightful small town of 900 people, and 2000 boats.  Seems the town got its name from a piece of flotsam found from a sunken ship named Oriental.  They then took the Oriental theme and have adopted the Chinese dragon as their town animal. I'm sure it makes sense to someone, but to a tourist, it begs the question of how many rums one had the day they accepted that line of thinking? 

Drew and Steph...boat gurus

 Many easterners come down for the weekend.  Here are some photos of "main street".  The town is laid back, has beautiful waterfront views, is inhabited by mainly retirees and everything revolves around boating and the water.  I met several interesting people on my walks each morning; lots of retired sailing couples with great tales to tell. I also watched several boats come in from both the New York and Florida areas and got to hear about their recent adventures.  Oriental is a stopover for them and they became tourists for a while, like me, before they once again untie their lines and move on to their next destination.  With the inner harbor located just off Main Street, one could leave your boat, cross the street to "The Bean" to grab a starbucks-like beverage, and wander for hours through the quaint shops.  People are very friendly and, being retired, have lots of time to visit.   I loved my time here.  Tomorrow I drive to Raleigh to visit my cousin Tita from Peru and then pick up my crew, Gene and Maggie.  Hopefully we can begin our trip down the intracoastal on Thursday.  My one purchase here was a t-shirt that says "Women who behave never make history..."

Inland Waterway Provisioning; note the dragon

Inner City Harbor

Oriental Dragons are prevalent

Oriental Inner City Harbor; view from Main Street

Park with more chairs...great place to ponder life

Sitting by the dock of the bay

Typical Nautical Treasures Downtown Shop

Walking by the water