For
those who aren’t aware, Oriental is the “Sailing Capital of North
Carolina”. Its placement at the
merger of the Warm Welcome To Oriental
Date of Visit:
Friday 11/21 thru Sunday Morning of
Oriental, in November, is usually a bit breezy and certainly cooler than the 70+ degree days experienced there on our most recent trip. Always a friendly place to visit, the waterside town was a special delight to visit due to the weather.
For
those who aren’t aware, Oriental is the “Sailing Capital of North
Carolina”. Its placement at the
merger of the
T
he
town is small, caters to boating tourists, and has commercial fishing docks.
These photos of the State Hwy
going through Oriental reflect the slow pace there. These shots were taken
at 9AM on Saturday morning.
Recently unveiled, and almost finished, the Oriental Harbor Marina and Townhome complex is an upscale twist to the already popular marinas in the area. In addition to boat slips from 30’ to 50’ in length, the facility includes free laundry, ceramic tile walled showers, a clubhouse, and easy walking access to the other waterfront areas.
The above boats and day-sailors sit in the same area as the commercial fish houses and the harbor breakwater.
This sailboat was coming into the docks near the town's main coffee house, The Bean. If you want to check out the happening at Oriental and see a live cam with updates every 10 minutes, link to
www.towndock.net The Harbor Cam allows you to see the cruising boats which may tie up for free for 2 days. You will notice that the local coffee crowd shows up at 7AM and drifts away around 9:30AM- most park on the street in view of the cam..
The
accompanying photos of John and
Betty Graham shows them cleaning on board
their Tartan 3500 “Serenade”, which was docked at the new complex.
I
understood one of the local folks to tell me that there are only about 800 full
time residents- but over 3,000 boats, located in Oriental. Other, and longer
established, marinas include Whitaker Creek (with captained and bareboat charter
opportunities),
Having twice stayed at the 
reception of its owners Hugh and Marie Grady. Breakfast
is custom cooked, and often includes freshly cracked pecans in the pancakes.
Though I had not previously though of the coastal area as being a great
source of pecans- the whole Oriental area is covered with the trees.
A
local personality and craftsman worth visiting is Bob Werner.
Originally from upstate 
he has been in Oriental for eighteen years. He designs and crafts lawn chairs
inspired by nautical creatures. My
favorite is the bright red lobster- the tail of which creates the ottoman, but
another colorful design has a seagull routed through the upper back.
According to Bob, it takes him six to seven hours to saw, screw, sand, and paint each chair. During Hurricane Isabel, much of the dock-area buildings were flooded. The high water mark for Bob’s building is still seen as the dirty area of his windows- about four and a half feet off the floor!
Similar
to 
finished the run of “Weekend
Comedy” on Saturday November 22nd, .
Written by Jean and Sam Holbrick, it uses a double-booked rental cottage
to set the stage for two couples who show up within hours of one another- each
couple planning a different level of activity and neither wanting to give up the
rustic getaway. Bickering turns to self reflection as the couples learn much
about themselves in their efforts to resolve the conflicts of sharing such
modest accommodations.
Lisanne Erickson and Terry McCune played the young couple. Elaine Creel and Bill Jernigan reminised on their youth and how their lives had become a bit too routine.
No
trip to the area would be complete without some “boat-time!” The
least expensive
means is by NC Department of Transportation Ferry- it’s free. The trip across
the
Local folk use the ferry to access the beach areas near Morehead City.
Beaufort
is one of our favorite places. We Honeymooned at the Inlet Inn in 1997
with a fireplace and porch with a view of the towns public anchorage on Taylor
Creek.
We found BackStreet Pub on Super Bowl
Sunday during our Honeymoon stay.
The building is an early 1900s bakery which served the general store that now
houses Clawson's Restaurant. The Pub is well known by the boating crowd
which moves up and down the intracoastal waterway. The new owner has
pledged to keep the atmosphere that has existed there for well over a decade.
The
Super Bowl Sunday we experienced was of local people who brought their
contributions
of hot dogs, chips, chilli and other such foods. The Pub owner had a fire
going in the fireplace and everyone enjoyed their favorite beverage and cheered
for the teams.
The (now unused) bread oven is on the left above the cases. Seen above the bar stools and to the right of the oven is the fireplace opening.
This
visit we were too early to experience Thanksgiving at BackStreet Pub. But make
note of the announcement taped to the mirror which lets patrons know that the
Pub will be providing turkey for this years Thanksgiving event. Based on
articles I have read in boating magazines, there are some boaters who plan their
visit to Beaufort around one of these "meal events".
I recently was checking out boating
web sites and ran across one linked to a trawler named Slowly . 
http://www.growdown.com/slowly/day.31.php
The young
couple on board, and their friends on another boat, had been in Oriental and
Beaufort on the same weekend as we- and ate at the restaurant called M&M-
though on a different night. They mentioned having been to a bar in
Beaufort and having ordered the Sunday special PBR (Pabst Blue Ribbon) draft for
$1.25 I was amazed as Diann and I recalled a foursome of young people who
had ordered PBRs. One of the girls wore a Hinckley ball cap. When
asked if they wanted another round, one of the fellows remarked, "no we
have to dingy home".
I emailed the couple on board the trawler Slowly to verify if it was indeed them- and it was. They are now living on board in Charleston and are looking for work.
The yacht Celebrate was anchored in
Taylor Creek off the town docks in Beaufort. That boat was photographed
by the couple on Slowly and posted on their web site. I had taken a number
of photos of the boat myself. To link to the web site on Celebrate click
here http://www.celebratecruising.com/
XXXXXX. They have a remarkable story about tearing a hole in
their hull in Myrtle Beach and having to run the boat aground in sand and muck
to keep from sinking.
The balance of these photos show a bit of Beaufort:
The main drag at 8AM on Monday morning
Diann with her first coffee of the day
Shells in the muck and on the pilings at low tide
The public docks
Boats anchored in Taylor Creek
More boats anchored across from the down docks.
As you can tell, we have a sweet spot in our hearts for Oriental and Beaufort. If you plan to go sometime, be sure to see Harker's Island too. There are still boat manufacturers there building Carolina style- and you can take tours in some of the boat sheds.