Thursday, February 28, 2013

Coastal N. Carolina, 2-27 & 28, 2013

On the road again Wednesday Feb. 27. Can I share how grateful we are for the prayers of others as well as our own as we travel. Last evening we ate at Chick Fil-A. I took the iPad. When we got back to our RV we wanted to search the Internet for a place we were going to. OH, NO! I was sure I left it at Chick Fil-A. I was praying as I jogged and walked the several blocks. Yes, a customer turned it in. Thank you, God and all our prayer warriors. About the time we were eating I missed a phone call of a friend. When I called her back I profoundly thanked her for being my prayer warrior. Indeed she is a great prayer warrior. Thanks to everyone else who is praying for us. And thank you, God that it was a conscientious person who found it.


In the lobby of the Wilmington Cape Fear Museum is this giant sloth who was discovered in the area.


He weighed 3 tons; 20 ft. tall; claws were 12 inches long; feet 36 inches.


Yaupon Holly leaves were used by the Indians to make black drink.


Regional products used for trade in the 1700's.


Interesting facts about a lady who bought 1 1/2 gallons of molasses every 9 days. She bought 1 quart of rum every 6 days. She may have made "small beer" with the molasses and sold that and the rum at her tavern.


I thought it was amazing that at the time of the 1760 Stamp Act protest there were American born people. But then read Wilmington was settled about 1725. In 1750 there were 4,000 people living there.


During the American Revolution the colonist could no longer get salt from England. They boiled 1,000 pounds of sea water in the cast iron pot to get 27 pounds of salt. The trough in the front was used to layer meat with salt to preserve the meat.


Ingrained in our minds is the date of 1776. That is when the colonists broke from Great Britain. In 1783 they won their independence.


Civil War Confederate blockade runner.


U. S. flag with 34 stars, Kansas joined the Union in 1861. Throughout the Civil War the Union kept the 13 seceded states on the flag. At the start of the War the population of free and enslaved was 31 million. The Army had 16,367. 2.9 million men took up arms over the four years. Twice as many died of disease than bullets.


The Second Confederate flag was created in May of 1863. The first flag, Stars and Bars, was too similar to the Union's flag. The flag of your country is a rallying point for the soldiers to see during battle.


Secession cockade worn to show support for the Confederates.


Music cover for the song Bonnie Blue Flag.


Interesting map of Fort Fisher.


Table croquet from 1880 and badminton racquet from 1900.


Cuirass respirator used in 1920 to help polio patients breathe. An airline attached to the hole would apply pressure and vacuum.


The Cape Fear area built 243 ships for WW II from 1941 to 1946.


Anyone recognize the TV from 1950?


Steamer used in 1950 to make felt hats.


Michael Jordan who grew up in Wilmington and his family donated the money for the Ecosystem Gallery.








Sometimes the ocean waters look like they sparkle. The waves break up microorganisms and that gives off the "cool lights." This was a very interesting Museum. We will be traveling up the "Crystal Coast."


Early 1790's flag was donated to the Beaufort Historic Site. The design is not the traditional design because guidelines were not yet set. The stripes are linen and the stars cotton.


Beaufort is a quaint seaport town with lots of old houses. This one built in 1835.








Incredibly inserting Maritime Museum in Beaufort.


Life car was designed in 1840 used to rescue shipwrecked passengers and/ or crew.


U. S. Revenue Cutter collected duties for imports. The Coast Guard created by combining the Revenue Cutters and the U. S. Life Saving Service in 1915.


Interesting to see an old photo of the soldiers at Fort Moultrie firing on Fort Sumter. We learned the history as we visited both Forts.


Scott's Great Snake was to blockade the Confederate ports so they could not receive supplies from England and France.


The blockade runner would sneak past the Union ships in the night.


Interesting to read about the centuries of fishing in this area. America's first industry was fishing. Oysters, scallops, shrimp, clams, mullet, menhaden, river herring (alewives) and more.





Blackbeard the pirate was captured and killed in this area in Nov. 1718. Recently they discovered his sunken ship and have items in the Museum.


Recovered barrel hoops.


Model of his ship


Pirates captured ships and sold their goods.


Interesting to see oyster shells used as mulch.


Interesting "Old Burying Grounds" from 1731.


Abigail Parker, 1756, may be the oldest legible marker. During the Revolution Anglican loyal to the King fled to England and took the records for the Burying Grounds.


Shape of the stone represents a gate...the gateway to heaven.


Young girl buried in barrel of rum in the 1700's. She and her Dad visited their homeland of England. She died on the return trip. Rather than be buried at sea her father bought a barrel of rum so he could bring her back as he promised his wife.








The water always calls to me.


Driving to Morehead City where spent the night at Walmart, not many open campgrounds along the coast. North Carolina was a state we had not visited. We certainly are learning a lot about it.

Location:Wilmington, Beaufort, Orcacoke & Hatteras Islands, N.C.

Wednesday, February 27, 2013

SE North.Carolina, 2-26 & 27, 2013

Monday Feb. 25 we stayed another day at Huntington Beach State Park. About 10 am we went for a walk on the beach. The wind off the Ocean was so strong and it was chilly. So we only walked about 20 minutes. It was a good day to read about North Carolina and decide where we were going. It was overcast all day and started raining at 3 pm.

On the road again Tuesday Feb. 26. It's raining as we leave and very gusty winds.


Southport Maritime Museum (Beautiful quilt)


Ships in the Atlantic Ocean in this area were often raided by pirates.


They used lightweight cannons with a swivel arm. It could picked up and carried to another spot on the ship. They also used heavy weight and non moveable cannons.


Lots of model ships.





The most exciting thing for me was looking out a periscope. Even though it was foggy we could see a ferry boat and a pilot boat. Phil got sidetracked by a gentleman who wanted to know how we like our Roadtrek. We are repeatedly asked about our little home on wheels.


A sewing machine from 1863.


Can you guess what these are? Sharks's teeth.


Gill net, clam rake and gig.


There was a tribute to the many decades of shipbuilding in this area.


When we stopped at the N.C. Visitor Center we were delighted to learn we could take a ferry across Cape Fear River to Fort Fisher. Initially thought we would have to drive all the way around.


Type of ferry we took for the 25 minute crossing of Cape Fear River. It's another one of those: who would have thought we would be taking so many ferry rides!!! The movie Safe Haven (novel written by Nicolas Sparks) was filmed at Southport and used the ferry we are now traveling on. The ferry attendant said their quiet little town was really a bustling place when the filming was going on.


Fort Fisher was the last Naval battle of the Civil War. (It was mentioned in the movie Lincoln.). The Fort was constructed of sand because that could absorb the blows of the cannonballs.





The Fort was built in a L shape.


After several failed attempts to capture the Fort the Union brought 58 battleships and many supporting ships to attack the Fort. A Confederate said it looked like a forest of sticks out there, because the mast were down and so many ships.


The Union captured the Fort. This was the last Confederate seaport leading to the demise of the Confederate.


Earthen mounds and sally port, entrance.


Medal of Honor was given to 77 soldiers, sailors and Marines for their valor in the second attack on Fort Fisher.


Interesting to learn this is the Confederate battlefield flag.


Naval Jack.


Third Confederate flag. Second flag with so much white was mistaken fr a flag of truce. The red signifies"stained blood."


North Carolina flag has the dates it joined the Union and the date it seceded from the Union.


Bonny Blue flag, the unofficial flag of the Confederates States.

We stayed overnight at Walmart in Wilmington.

Location:Southport, Fort Fisher, Wilmington, Morehead City, N.C.