Friday, July 25th

Sleeping late (8 o’clock) was great.  The general manager went out of her way to be able to extend our reservations here since they were sold out due to a baseball tournament.  We headed to Morehead City which is a huge harbor and sea port. This is the beginning of the Crystal Coast.   Not only were there several oil tankers in the harbor, there were lots of yachts!  This town didn’t have a lot to offer so we drove to Beaufort which is the 3^rd oldest town in North Carolina.  We thoroughly enjoyed this little town.  They have a monument to Captain John Smith who was born in Beaufort and was a NASA astronaut on the Challenger.  They also had one of the U.S. flags when we were only 13 states – this was on display in their welcome center. 

I just had to make a photo of the JAMES Café – especially since he CANNOT COOK! 

Leaving Beaufort we drove to Cedar Island ferry to determine how far the drive would be Sunday morning.  It is at least 1 hour and 15 minutes and we have to be there at 9:30 a.m. to catch the ferry.  That means we must get up early!!  There was a hotel by the ferry but after looking it over we decided the drive wouldn’t be so bad.  One end of the hotel had fallen in, the rooms were 1930’s style without telephones, and the room numbers were even falling off the doors.  NO WAY! 

On the way back to our hotel we drove by Cherry Point Marine Corps base.  That explained the emphasis on the military all over town and the airplanes in the front yard of our hotel.  This was a really good day.  The town of Beaufort is really neat – in addition to the historical part there are lots of unusual shops on the boardwalk by the harbor.