Today was a better travel day for me, but not for Stan. Once he left the channel and made his way into the Pamlico Sound and Neuse River he had a very rough ride, with winds mostly on his beam. Stan told me it was the roughest day he remembers in our travels. I guess I'm glad I was moving the car today. The one bright side to Stan's trip today was it was short. We decided we needed a little rest after six very long days.
Oriental is a cute little town that is full of sailors and cruisers. It advertises itself to be the sailing capital of North Carolina. There are quite a few nice galleries and shops and several good restaurants. The place to be in the mornings is The Bean, a coffee shop that overlooks the harbor. It was very crowded when I arrived and it was a great place for me to hang out until Stan arrived. There is a free dock in Oriental, but there are only two spots. They were both full when I got to town, but luckily one boat left about an hour before Stan pulled in.
Oriental is a cute little town that is full of sailors and cruisers. It advertises itself to be the sailing capital of North Carolina. There are quite a few nice galleries and shops and several good restaurants. The place to be in the mornings is The Bean, a coffee shop that overlooks the harbor. It was very crowded when I arrived and it was a great place for me to hang out until Stan arrived. There is a free dock in Oriental, but there are only two spots. They were both full when I got to town, but luckily one boat left about an hour before Stan pulled in.
When we take advantage of a free town dock we like to be sure and spend a little money in their town, so we went to lunch at M&M. From the looks of the crowd, it must be THE place to have lunch. It’s located a few blocks from the city harbor and close to the Oriental Harbor Marina. Since the weather was a little threatening, we spent the afternoon driving around town and wandering through the shops. Having the car to use let’s us see places in town we might otherwise miss. It is a beautiful little town and I'd love to come back when the weather is better so I could get some great photos.
A view of the harbor from the Harbor Cam
Views of the harbor
Depending on how far you want to go next, you might make Swansboro and Yana's Restuarant. We stayed at Casper's in order to go over there for lunch. Bill and Laura tied up at Casper's long enough to have lunch and then went on down to Mile Hammock to anchor. Not sure but they may have charged them a day fee to tie up. BUT, beware Yana's closes at 3:00...if you go be sure to say hello to YanaMama and tell her the boaters on MemoryMaker sent you! FYI...we liked the strawberry fritters better than the apple ones.
ReplyDeleteWe loved oriental too. We are back on the water taking claddagh home. Left lafetti this morning. Lost your email and phone, please send when you can. Looking forward to catching up at home. Jude and jim
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