Our first interesting sight as we cruised along the canal, was this rather unique lawn ornament. We have seen the usual statues of deer, gnomes and an occasional plastic flamingo, but this is the very first, ah giraffe??
From the water, it looked almost life-sized. I sure would like to call these people up and find out the story behind it.
Not much else interesting along today's route until we got onto Camp Lejeune property. The ICW takes you right through the base. It is the largest Marine base on the East coast with some 45,000 plus soldiers there. Obviously, we had to deal with the usual military restrictions (eyes straight ahead, don't wander from the course--okay, just kidding), but there were warnings and restrictions posted all along the waterway. And then we came across this sign:
No lights flashing, so off we go.
Not more than 2 minutes after passing this sign, we felt, as well as heard, two loud booms and it scared the crap out of me. All Art could say was, "Incoming!" I swear I expected to see an explosion in the water in front of the boat. Obviously, nothing happened, but it sure got our attention that we were on military property. After that, we continued to hear distant explosions and saw a lot of destroyed military vehicles and huts, obviously bombed during their practice drills.
The next thing Art said was, "Oh look, Ospreys!" As you might remember from previous posts, we have seen Osprey nests on almost every channel marker (and I included a few photos), so I wasn't too excited until I realized he meant the plane and not the bird. It was a pretty cool sight, but I wasn't quick enough to get a photo.
Once we traveled the 10 or so miles through Camp Lejeune, it was back to the usual scenery--swamps, marsh areas, a few scattered houses. And there was always a house or two that caught our attention like this lovely pink one:
As it got later in the day, the wind kicked up and we were glad to finally head into Dudley's marina in Swansboro, NC. We had planned to fuel up, but the winds were so strong, they literally blew us into the dock and so we tied down for the night. In the middle of the night, I was awakened by another loud boom and I thought the fuel dock had exploded. No signs of fire around or anything else, and then it dawned on me that it was another bomb exercise at Camp Lejeune. Wonder how the locals put up with the constant booms. Next morning, we were out of there before another bomb dropped!
Next stop: historic Beaufort, NC
The next thing Art said was, "Oh look, Ospreys!" As you might remember from previous posts, we have seen Osprey nests on almost every channel marker (and I included a few photos), so I wasn't too excited until I realized he meant the plane and not the bird. It was a pretty cool sight, but I wasn't quick enough to get a photo.
Once we traveled the 10 or so miles through Camp Lejeune, it was back to the usual scenery--swamps, marsh areas, a few scattered houses. And there was always a house or two that caught our attention like this lovely pink one:
As it got later in the day, the wind kicked up and we were glad to finally head into Dudley's marina in Swansboro, NC. We had planned to fuel up, but the winds were so strong, they literally blew us into the dock and so we tied down for the night. In the middle of the night, I was awakened by another loud boom and I thought the fuel dock had exploded. No signs of fire around or anything else, and then it dawned on me that it was another bomb exercise at Camp Lejeune. Wonder how the locals put up with the constant booms. Next morning, we were out of there before another bomb dropped!
Next stop: historic Beaufort, NC
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