Elizabeth City and the Dismal Swamp

The Elizabeth City slips were filled by the time we arrived so we tied up on the wall. It was a nice wall so we remained there for the rest of our stay.

Rather than taking the quicker, faster moving Virginia Cut, we again decided to go along the Dismal Swamp canal. It's a route made slower by 2 bridges and 2 locks, but it's picturesque and worth the time. The Dismal Swamp experience begins or ends at Elizabeth City - depending on your direction. The town courts cruisers by supplying fourteen free spaces in slips and at an adjacent wall - and, if there are 5 or more boats, a wine and cheese welcome at 4:30 each afternoon. At the welcome, the major gives a talk describing places to go and sites to see: the dinner and a movie theatre, the free Albemarle Museum, the historic areas, a free shuttle to the Fresh Foods grocery store. Sam - one of the original Rose Buddies - the group of men that started the wine and cheese welcome tradition and gave roses to all the ladies - now sits in his truck most days waiting to drive cruisers wherever they need to go. We stayed for 3 nights and had a fine time. Along with the crews of 5 other boats, we went to Thumpers for dinner (Bob loved his $5 Thumper burger with fries) and the next day I joined the women for a fancy tea and sandwiches lunch. We walked through some of the historic areas taking pictures of homes, toured the museum and went to the dinner and a movie theatre with Barb and Ken - the X-Men movie was OK but quite violent and also somewhat incomprehensible - but ordering dinner from a phone before the movie was fun.

Saturday morning we left at 9 to make the 1:30 bridge and lock opening and then continued on to raft up with everyone at the Visitor Centre dock wall in the canal.



Boats ahead of us going into the first lock.








Crew from the 8 rafted boats gathered around a picnic table for drinks and shared hors d'oeuvres before dinner.

Boats rafted along the Visitor Centre wall.

Today, along with Sandcastle, Plumpuppet, Riff Raff (Jimmy and Linda's large motor vessel) and Daniswan (a small power boat single handed by Jim), we moved on a little way along the Swamp route to tie up at another free dock - some of us positioned just before the second bridge and some just beyond it. Tonight crew of the 5 boats will go to a Mexican restaurant close by - reputed to be "authentic". We didn't go through the second Swamp lock as a railway bridge up ahead is closed for repair and we won't be able to continue up the river until after 11 tomorrow morning. We might just as well stay and enjoy this beautiful place.

Throughout our cruise along the Dismal Swamp canal, I took picture after picture, trying to capture the beauty of the tall trees and thick greenery on each side of the channel. No picture seems to do it justice but I'll upload some here in the hopes that you'll be able to see in part what a lovely spot the (not so) Dismal Swamp is.

Dismal Swamp water is a definite brown.

A Canada Goose nesting among the lily pads.