Oriental

 TRAVEL DAY 34 - Morehead City to Oriental

April 21, 2023

2.83 Hours/23.8 Miles

    To say we lost a week would be a lie. What we feared would be lost time turned into probably one of the most fun stops. With the repairs complete, we waived our short term home in Morehead City goodbye and set our sights for Oriental, NC. 

Oriental, NC

    The terrain and foliage constantly changes, the marshes again gave way to higher bank elevations and larger trees. We traversed Harlowe Creek to the Adam's Creek Cut and then across the broad Neuse River to Oriental. There was a heavy smoke from some sort of fire, so thick on the river, we could not see the other side.

    The town of Oriental was named after the Sailing Steamer Oriental, a Federal transport ship during the Civil War. The Oriental ran aground in May 1862 and wrecked off Bodie Island, 33 miles north of Cape Hatteras. Originally called Smith's Creek, the wife of the newly appointed Postmaster, Rebecca Midyette thought the town needed a better name. Inspired by the Steamer's name, she proposed it be renamed Oriental and in 1899 the name was changed.  This is a very quaint fishing village with large rigged Shrimp boats and Menhaden boats lining the docks. 

Seawall

    Dragons are a thing here and they can be seen in several places. The story goes that a part time resident Joe Cox thought the town needed a way to celebrate New Year's Eve. Since dragon's are used to celebrate the Chinese New Year, a town named Oriental could do the same. He created a dragon and with the help of some friends snaked through the town. So, every year between 8 pm & 11 pm the dragon emerges from a shed and wanders the streets of Oriental.

Dragons

Dragon's Lair

    Once in the harbor we made our way to Oriental Marina, spun the Camano around and backed into the assigned slip. Little wind and no current made it easy, as the area we had to work in was pretty tight and at the dead end of the marina.
 
Oriental Marina & Inn

    The message went out via NEBO that docktales were at 5 pm. We all gathered at the dock and 10 Loopers walked to The New Village Brewery for beer, a food truck and some great live music.

Docktales

Do these glasses make me look Loopy?

    Saturday morning we checked out the small farmer's market, grabbed some salad stuff and some baked goods, then went on a geocache adventure. We found 2 caches and explored more of Oriental.

Geocaching Fun

    Oriental was hosting  SailPack, an intercollegiate sailing competition.  Saturday evening there was a Pig Roast scheduled. We decided to walk over to it with the crew of RIVA (another Looper we met in Morehead City). We got some exercise and a good meal along with music and a lot of great folks.

SailPack "Pig Pickin"

More "Fun & Games"

 Oriental was great and we stayed here for 2 days mostly to miss the nasty weather that was predicted for early Saturday. We got the entire 2 days rain free and at about 9 pm Saturday a huge thunderstorm rolled in, but we were snug in our boat by then.
    
Morehead City to Oriental

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