Thursday, June 3, 2010

Manteo Trip Is A Success

 

 

We started receiving calls, emails and Facebook messages pertaining to the weather forecast toward the end of the week.  I’ll have to give Skip Waters his due, after his Friday evening forecast I was fairly confident our Saturday ride would turn out OK.   I actually felt more secure when I checked the radar early Saturday morning.

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As planned we met at just before 8:00 in Bridgeton, grabbed some gas and quick cup of coffee as we discussed the weather situation.  Upper 60’s with overcast conditions and a slight hint of drizzle.  A quick check of radar and we were off with seven bikes headed to Manteo, NC.
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The State is building a four lane project for Highway 17 between Vanceboro and Washington and there are plastic barrels separating traffic lanes.  After seeing wind blow one in the path of a Corvette on Highway 264 a few weeks ago, I was understandably a bit anxious.
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As we roll in to Washington, and this is the Original Washington, we ride across the bridge with the metal grating that causes that front wheel shimmy.  Debbie really hates that.
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We actually roll through Washington and never stop at a light.  That’s the first time I have ever had that happen especially with seven bikes.  So it’s on to Highway 264 with a stop in Belhaven, NC.  We decided to bypass Pantego by turning on Seed Tick Neck Road and hitting highway 99.  I have included a map shot as proof that the name is legitimate.
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Arriving in Belhaven via the bridge is  much more impressive than by 264.
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About 9:15 we roll in to Belhaven to make a stop at Hardees.  A coffee break and for some a late breakfast.

There were a few minutes of rain drops and with a quick look at the NOAA radar via Verizon we decided to move on.
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As you travel between Belhaven and Engelhard you will ride over the Intracoastal Waterway on the high rise bridge.  You also pass near the Swan Quarter ferry terminal.
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Between Rose Bay and Engelhard there is an area of road that has a natural tunnel of trees for a few miles.  I have always been impressed by this display. 
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Water level is never far from your mind when you live in this corner of our state.
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We arrive in Engelhard around 10:30 and we only briefly ran through a small shower.  Leather jackets still felt good since the temperature had not risen due to the overcast conditions.
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The bridge at Engelhard, NC.


Looks like we just missed the festival!




http://www.engelhardseafoodfestival.com/

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Farming is a BIG industry in this part of our state as this satellite photo indicates.
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Now for the uninitiated,  the ride from Engelhard to Stumpy Point may cause some concern. Several long straight stretches and no houses, no people and rarely do you encounter a car or truck. 

“No phone, no lights no motor cars,
Not a single luxury,
Like Robinson Crusoe,
As primitive as can be. “


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And don’t think you can hop American Express to the Hyde County Airport.
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True rural coastal Carolina with boats and crab pots roadside in Stumpy Point.
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About 10 miles north of Stumpy Point, near Manns Harbor, we hit the Virginia Dare Memorial Bridge.  Manteo is just beyond!
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Pam and TJ ride up to take a live shot.

I start talking to TJ and miss my turn at the next light.
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We finally arrive at Darrell’s Seafood in Manteo around 12:00.




http://www.darrellsseafood.com/

I quite enjoyed my meal and the clam chowder.
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We bid farewell to Manteo’s tree lined drive as we leave via the Manns Harbor bridge.
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While we never made it to Hatteras there is a reasonable facsimile on the mainland side of the bridge.
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A view from the bridge near Columbia.

Due to the newer Highway 64 in the Columbia area not being quite accurate on my GPS I went by my planned stop and ended up taking the Roper exit…….
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Debbie made sure to take a picture for posterity and as a reminder of the error of my ways.  Oh well, a stop and fuel for some worked out OK.  We were only 10 miles or so from our scheduled stop at the gun shop and the peanut/gift shop.
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http://mackeyslanding.com/

The Worlds largest gun shop.
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Mackey’s Ferry Peanuts

http://shop.mfpnuts.com/index.php

My favorite?
Blister fried.

They had something very unusual and quite delicious, a muscadine grape flavored slushy.  The muscadine is a NC native grape and most of us that grew up here are very familiar with it.
We were at the peanut shop for a while and the sky became very dark and threatening.  We had earlier passed through a couple of brief showers that had not even caused a slow down in speed.  Through Plymouth the bikes were kicking up rooster tails in narrow wispy lines.

We decided to head back to miss what appeared to be a storm closing in.  Once again we narrowly missed the major rain and passed through the extreme fringe.  The jackets came off in Manteo and stayed off the remainder of our journey.  We came back on the new Washington/Chocowinity bypass and that saved a good 10-15 minutes of travel.

Our final stop was at the rest area on 17 just south of Vanceboro just to say our goodbyes to fellow riders.

Considering the earlier threat of weather this ride turned out exceptionally well.  Even with brief showers the only thing wet was my glasses and face and they dried in a couple of minutes.  We had the welcome experience of meeting some new riders and adding them to our ride list and TJ had a thrill of a lifetime…stopping at  Hardees twice in one day.

As soon as I collect the pictures the other riders captured I’ll post the best of the lot.  Backseat photography is definitely catching on.


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