Oct. 29, 2026 Onward to the "Other" Washington

 Thurs.-Sun.  10/29-11/1, 2026   Slade Creek to Washington Town Docks   40 miles and 4.2 hours

Our original plan was to head from the Belhaven area to Beaufort, NC and spend 2 nights there.  Unfortunately, the marina could only accommodate us for Thursday night.  Decisions. Decisions.  Since we really wanted to spend two days in Beaufort, we figured waiting until next week might get us a 2-night reservation.   So, we checked the charts and decided a cruise up the Pamlico River to Washington, NC would make a good side trip.  Stopped there one time by car and it looked interesting. Rave reviews from boater friends who overwintered there and liked it so much they moved there. Decided we'd make it a long weekend stop if they could accommodate us.  Quick reply of "yes" had us lined up for 4 nights. Thursday through Sunday.  We'll anchor out Monday on the way to Beaufort.  Even got confirmed reservations there for Tuesday and Wednesday nights. Seems it all worked out in the end.   

Good nights sleep at Slade Creek anchorage.  Winds died down a bit overnight.  Anchor held steady. Had a couple of sailboats pull into the anchorage later in the day and spend the night.  Relatively short cruising day planned for us so once again no rush in the morning as we see the sailboats pulling anchor and departing. Pleased with this anchorage compared to the potentially more exposed one we've used in the past up the Pango Creek.  

Checking the sailboats at anchor as the sun rises

The protective tree line catching the rising sun

Finally get moving around 10AM.   Pretty open waters out the Pungo River and out onto the Pamlico River.  Ninety-degree turn to starboard and a relatively long straight shot towards the narrowing headwaters and the town of Washington. Oftentimes referred to as "Original Washington" or "Little Washington" to distinguish it from Washington DC.  It was the first town named after George Washington.   Bit of a side trip as it takes three hours up the Pamlico with not too much to see. Mostly undeveloped natural shoreline with a few areas of scattered houses.   Make it past the Coastal Railroad Swing Bridge guarding the entrance to Washington and get a warm greeting and assistance with an easy side tie to E dock.   Redevelopment efforts in the late 90's resulted in the waterfront area docks and park.  Removed some of the town's history taking away the remnants of its once thriving commercial wharfs and shipbuilding shops. Local waters had become too shallow for any sort of large vessels. Made the open spaces available to the public and the waterfront available to pleasure boaters helping give the town a new identity.  Main Street is behind it.  View from the waterfront is the back side of the buildings on Main St.  Quick walk downtown reveals numerous restaurants, shops, museum, theatre, ice cream shop and two breweries.   Reminds me of Georgetown, SC, Brunswick, GA. or Lewes. DE., where Main Street stretches down several blocks with an active and varied vibe. 

Dockmaster says the 120 year old railroad bridge is the oldest in NC.  Passing
 through, it looked every bit that age.  Impressive that it still opens and closes daily

View of town from our dock

The Riverwalk and park area.  Gets plenty of activity. Walkers, runners and lookies.

View down Main Street.  Nice trees.  Even play "Yacht Rock" music via speakers

Historic Turnage Theatre.  Has an amazing amount of activities

Art on the street features blue crabs. 

Pretty sure this one is sponsored by the local Garden Club

Great Indian Summer weather Thursday and Friday. Temperatures reaching the sunny 80's. Winds finally settling down for a few days.  Lots of people out and about.  Can tell we're back down south as everyone we pass gives a smile and a "Hey", Hello", "How are you" greeting as we walk along the waterfront.  We head for the Underground Railroad Museum housed in an old Seaboard Coastline Railroad caboose.  Small museum but curator captivated us with story after story about the secret symbols and methods of communication between slaves and abolitionists.   Took us through a spelling lesson demonstration never saying a letter but using symbols in a song to get us to spell out "Washington". Gave us a little history of the town's days as a commercial shipping center and how that was the method used for most slave escapes from here. Even talked a little about her childhood days in Washington as a segregated town. Told a humorous story on herself - maybe true, maybe not.   As a young girl she went with her mom to a department store in town.  Was all excited to see the water fountains marked "colored" and "white".  Went to the one marked "colored" and tried it several times.  Told her mom, "It's not working".  Mother pushed the button and water came out just as it had for her.  She exclaimed to her mom " But where are the colors?" she had expected to see in the water.  We wound up spending 2 hours in that caboose turned museum just listening and learning.   Afterwards, grabbed a beer and some very good NY style pizza from Pitt Street Brewery.  Great views as it sits right on the river.  

Underground Railway Museum housed in this old caboose

Yeah.  I know.  Weird selections for a flight.

Saturday we took in the N.C Estuarian Museum. The Albemarle and Pamlico sounds are the second largest estuaries in the US.  Nice information about the importance of the area for the health of wildlife and protection from the ocean.  Did not realize it but just past the Hiway 17 bridge in town the water becomes the Tar River.  It's the defining line between the 215 miles of fresh waters upstream and the brackish waters of the Pamlico River.   Back to Pitt St. Brewery again and some eastern NC BBQ for dinner.  Watched the Clemson-FSU football game Saturday evening.  Held at FSU who was favored, but we managed to play decently most of the game and came away with a win.  Still gonna be a tough finish to our season going forward.  Sunday sort of a lazier day.  Daylight savings time ended - hate how early it will be getting dark.  Spent the morning giving the boat a freshwater washdown. Took a walking tour of some of the historic houses in town using a brochure we picked up at the welcome center.  There are three early houses dating back to the late 1700's.  Then most of their historic houses are from the reconstruction period after the civil war.   British used Washington as a military supply base during the Revolutionary war.  Stored munitions here. Used the abundant forests to provide wood for ships and masts.  And of course, resin from the pine trees to make tar for waterproofing the ships.  When they left after the war they destroyed the town on the way out.   Then during the civil war when Union forces held Wilmington, Charleston and Savannah, this was a major supply center for the Confederacy.   Union forces eventually took control, and the town was once again burned as they left.   Then an accidental fire took out much of the downtown and wharfs in the early 1900's.  Sort of amazing that any houses survived.  It does make for a bit of a hodge podge. Unlike a lot of older towns with well-defined several block areas of historic houses clustered together, the ones here are sort of scattered around town.  Made for a nice walk seeking each one out.  

The Myers House built in 1780 holds the distinction of being the oldest house in Washington. 

1899 Methodist Church is the 4th sanctuary on this site and home to
Washington's oldest congregation. The unique turret is a town landmark.  

The 1890 Moss house - a triple A frame. Dormer roof, attic roof and porch roof

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The 1829 Elmwood House.  An original plantation house used as a Union hospital
 during the civil war.  Featured in Harpers Weekly in 1857 as one of the
south's most distinguished homes.  Now a B&B.

Worked up a thirst so stopped at Two Rivers Brewery for a flight.  Had to try both breweries.  Their mango fruited wheat beer was surprisingly refreshing after that walk. Seems to always be something happening in this town for amusement.  A crowd had gathered for Sunday afternoon music bingo at the brewery while I was there.  We grabbed an early dinner at The Loco Social Mexican restaurant where they had entertainment with live music from JD and Clay.  Plenty of entertainment all weekend with bands, karaoke, open mikes, theatre, ghost walks, Halloween kids in the park, etc... 

Getting in the Halloween spirit.  This house had at least 6 full size witches on
their porch.  I would have been too scared to ring the doorbell as a kid.
Maybe that was their plan?? 

Selfie at the bear statue in the park. 

JD and Clay.   Fun to watch JD play the flute, sax and keyboard while also singing.

Finished the day watching recordings (thank you again Starlink, Fubo and Apple TV) of the Jaguars dominant win over the Colts and then the F1 race from Mexico City where Kimi Antonelli became the youngest driver ever at just 20 years old to win the Drivers' Championship. Amazing!! Overall, a good fun long weekend in Washington and certainly worth taking the side trip off the ICW for a visit.

Sunset over the river

Journey for Oct. 29, 2026