A Tornado Watch And Some Fried Fish

In the morning we took a stroll around town looking for the amenities we would probably be needing that day. Elizabeth City has a pretty cute downtown, which they are renovating, and a few good thrift and antique stores. There is also the inevitable "strip" where you can find all the regulars. On the hunt for internet access for the laptop we ducked into "Commtech Computers." They kindly let us burn a disk with the new issues on it and use a computer to upload it. We were mighty happy to have found such a place. The next stop was an antique store where we mostly just talked with the owner, Patty. As with many of the folks we've met around here, it was easy to talk a lot with Patty. We talked about everything from the weather, to owning a house, to dealing with death. Perhaps since we are clearly fulfilling some of our own dreams, people feel the urge to tell us of their own aspirations. While at the antique store, the wind had picked up, so we returned back to the boat to batten things down a bit.

Battening led to lunch. Though we had heard the tornado watches on the radio, the wind was nothing to worry about. With full bellies, we were ready to set out for more exploration. At another thrift store, we didn't have any chatting to keep us from shopping. Hannah found a few fantastic 75 cent clothing articles, and Tim found about 20 feet of fake christmas greenery to hang up in the boat (it looks great by the way). After another short trip to the library and then the post office, we were on our way to pick up some groceries when we found the "Muddy Waters Cafe." This cafe (which brings the rating for the city up a half propeller) served top notch espresso and had coffee tables strewn with newspapers and magazines. There was even the complimentary guy on his guitar when we returned later on.

The local grocery store had everything we needed including a ride back to the boat by one of the clerks. It felt like such a special treat even though they do it for all the boaters. He also opened up to us and told of being on American Bandstand and how his oldest son looks like Brad Pitt. We met back up with Bethany and Perry and set out for the cheap local seafood joint. After a large assortment of fried goodies we set out on our new mission: to find the new Special Edition Lord of the Rings: Two Towers DVD.

We walked the strip heading for Walmart but were glad, for more than one reason, to come across a Block Buster Video first. Feeling every possible ounce of success we went back to the "Muddy Waters" cafe and then off to the boat and bed.

Elizabeth City was certainly a nice place to visit and explore though the lack of cell phone coverage was kind of a problem. Currently, it feels more old than historic. Hurricane Isabelle took its toll on the town, and they are doing a good job recovering, though it is hard to imagine living somewhere that gets so many tornadoes and storms. The people are very nice, and we did enjoy the places we stopped in to. We give Elizabeth City three propellers.