Day 4: North River to Belhaven

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This morning, Ann suggested that we switch roles. So she drove the boat out of the anchorage while I washed the anchor down on deck, in the cold, with water splashing back at me, and mud all around. When two people on a boat swap roles to learn each others' jobs, it is called cross training. This morning, I discovered that I'm not a huge fan of cross training. But, Ann was enthusiastic enough that I fear we may have switched these jobs for good. 

Of course, it wouldn't be morning on a boat trip without a beautiful sunrise.

I took a quick break from anchor washing duty to snap a photo of Ann, pictured at the helm station above staying warm and dry and usurping my job. 
The run today consisted of lots of river driving. About 7 hours. But it was mellow and fun, and as my kids would probably call it, chill.
We arrived in Belhaven around 3 pm and tied up on their fixed pier. They only get about 6 inches of tide here, so it was easy peasy. 

We learned that the last leg of the Intercoastal Watersay was officially opened in Belhaven in 1928 with the completion of the Alligator/Pungo canal. 

Our marina provides free golf carts because it's a bit of a hike to get to the quaint town.

On this Monday evening, we only saw two open restaurants in town. One was a steakhouse, and the other was a fantastic restaurant called Spoon River that came highly recommended by one of our fellow snowbirds from Annapolis. You can see the wonderful ambiance.
They prepared a special vegan plate for Ann.
While I was tempted to get the same, I ended up settling for the filet mignon with butternut squash mashed potatoes and broccolini. 
Last night, at anchor, my dinner consisted of a peanut butter and jelly sandwich on whole wheat with some frozen edamame that I heated up and a pre-packaged egg roll. I called it "cooking", but Ann mocked me. I'm not much of a chef. So tonight's gourmet dinner was extra special! The bad news is that Ann is trying to claim that this was my early birthday dinner, and that's still over a week away. Since she called it a birthday dinner, I went ahead and got a dessert. OMG was this good.
Tomorrow, we are off to Beaufort, NC. Should be about 7 hours with the same type of scenic cruising we had today. Long stretches on beautiful rivers. Our last inland cruise before we hit the ocean on subsequent days.

Now, let's see who's playing in Monday night football before going to bed!

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