To get to Belhaven, we first retraced our route back to Oriental Marina so we could have a shorter trip the following day. As this was our second visit to Oriental we decided we would get the bikes out and grab some groceries. There is a Piggly Wiggly about a mile from the marina and we easily made this trip with the bikes. We also enjoyed looking at the riverfront houses, followed by a great dinner at M & M’s.

Some days just don’t go the way you plan. We woke up the next morning to get ready to go and as we were releasing our lines we were greeted by a lady who was walking past the marina. She said she wanted to say hi before we left. So we got off the boat and introduced ourselves. She introduced herself as Tanya. Turns out she had completed the loop a few years ago in a Ranger Tug not much different from ours. She wrote a book about her adventure. I had read this book last year and had referenced it several times. The book is called Crossing the Wake by Tanya Binford. We enjoyed the few minutes speaking with her, and could have talked for several more hours. She was in the process of moving to Oriental from Southport. After getting a picture and giving her a boat card, we said goodbye and finished preparing to leave. It was a great start to the day and we were pleased to be able to meet her.

As we left Oriental on a beautiful sunny morning we began heading northeast on the Neuse River. I could tell it was going to be a bit rougher than the previous day. By the time I started thinking about turning around we were already way out in the river and it was pretty choppy and uncomfortable. We pushed through it by reducing our speed and staying head on to the oncoming waves, but it was a rough and bumpy ride all the way to the Bay River where it finally calmed down. We turned up the Bay River and continued up the ICW through the much narrower Goose Creek. This was nice because the waves were gone and we had a chance to collect our stuff off the floor of the boat. We eventually had to cross the Pamlico River, which was also choppy, but not as much as the Neuse. We entered the Pungo River and since it was at a right angle to the wind, the waves were much smaller and easily manageable. So much for beautiful sunny days being good days to be on the water. My mistake was that I had checked the wind and wave forecast earlier in the week, but for whatever reason I forgot to check the night before. The winds that were from the northeast had not subsided like the forecast had predicted, and those winds pushed the waves up to an uncomfortable level. 

Our ride was longer than expected, and the boat was covered in saltwater, but other than that we were no worse for wear. We arrived at Belhaven Marina thankful to have an easy access bulkhead tie up. The marina is simple but they were awesome to deal with and had nice bathrooms. Gregg got us a reservation at Spoon River Artworks on a Friday night, which was a plus.

Dinner at Spoon River Artworks was fantastic. We really enjoyed it. It had been a while since I had a steak, and the wet-aged filet was awesome. Melissa had a black drum fish in a pinwheel arrangement stuffed with crabmeat. I got to eat a bit of that as well. We were too full for dessert, but everything we tried was first rate.

So maybe not such a bad day after all.