Our new friends Dave and Lisa are in the process of buying a little marina in the tiny town of Merritt, North Carolina. Their marina is where we are heading with True North! After spending a few days in Washington we were finally ready to cast off and we looked back and realized that the railroad bridge, that was open a second ago and only is used twice a day, is closed. Not only is it closed but there are maintenance guys on it. Not good. This is a small town so the guy working the dock called the cell phone if the guy working the railroad and we learned it would be at least an hour before it would be fixed. So we turned the boat back off and went for a walk. Eventually they got it fixed and we were finally on our way! I honestly thought the bridge was retired in place on our way in and having gotten a closer look on the way out it’s the worst bridge I’ve ever seen. I’m pretty sure it should be condemned, but as long as we’re on the correct side of it now it’s no longer my problem!

A day of motoring later and we pulled into the marina just before sunset. True North is safely tied up and we can hang out with our friends!

The marina is just down the street from the adorable little town of Oriental, NC. I had heard of Oriental as a boating destination but really didn’t realize we would be so close. There’s not a whole lot there but a grocery store, cute waterfront area, and a few shops. But! They also have a coffee shop so we stopped by there a few times since my coffee bean grinder is broken and I haven’t been able to make lattes on the boat for weeks now. (Tragic)

Jason and I finally found the motivation to drag the kayaks off the boat and go exploring. My favorite part is seeing all of the beautiful houses along the waterfront. There are quite a few quaint little marinas in this area as well. It’s quiet and peaceful with lots of birds.