Nov 2, 2022 Edenton, NC

 Nov 2  Edenton - 17 miles

A really quick and pleasant trip from Albemarle Plantation to Edenton.  Just 2 hours and we were tying up to their newly refurbished town dock.  The one large face dock was perfect for us.  The only other boat tied up was a sailboat. On the trip we noted Vahevala and Crimson Tug on AIS headed out on the other side of the Albemarle.  We stayed 3 nights and found the town to be a delightfully welcoming small southern town very proud of its long history and doing a wonderful job maintaining a vibrant downtown and many large and small older homes.   Had dinner Monday at the just opened Herringbone Restaurant in the renovated old ice house on the waterfront.  Great meal and even better they have 20 taps with assorted craft beers all made in NC.  Of course we got a flight (and even stopped back Wed. for another flight). 

As You Wish tied to the city dock with the 1886 Roanoke lighthouse in the background.
It's the only remaining square screwpile lighthouse.

20 NC craft beers on tap at Herringbone Restaurant.
Named after the once thriving local herring fishing industry.

We walked the town on our own, got the bikes off the boat for another longer extended tour and even took the historic trolley ride to be sure we hadn't missed anything.  Downtown was loaded Monday night for Halloween as kids from throughout the county came dressed up to receive treats from all the shop owners. We got a map at the visitor center showing about 15 of the most relevant historical points in town.   As you move from one to another there are informative display boards at each location providing even more details.  Going up and down the local streets most houses have a white plaque stating the original owners name and year built. It is wonderful to see so many of these older houses restored and maintained.  

A few historic waterfront homes off Queens Anne Creek

The 1758 Cupola house 

The 1767 Chowan County Courthouse - still in use today!!

Because we had so many small mill towns in SC that have disappeared, I was fascinated to see their 1898 cotton mill had been converted to 30 condos but even more impressive was the several streets containing about 50 original mill houses that had been saved and converted to homes.  Edenton makes a claim as being NC's first capital - but so does New Bern.  Depends how you want to interpret history.  Before the hurricane of 1795 closed off the Roanoke Inlet and direct access to the Albemarle Sound, Edenton was a primary colonial port city.   After that it struggled for a while until a rail line connected it to Norfolk in the 1800's and it again became a commercial hub for shipping the regions produce and seafood.  It's another place where the locals seem amazed by the large number of transplants who arrived during Covid.  It's been called one of America's best small towns in several magazines and we could see why.   Glad we waited it out in AP until we could get here.

After almost 2 weeks of overcast skies, we finally had a good sunset. 

Journey for Oct 31