Yesterday we were faced with a number of choices of what to do for fun. We decided to run up the White Oak River.
Bluewater Cove where we live is about half way between Swansboro where the White Oak joins the sound and Stella where the river gets much smaller. Our subdivision is marked on the Google map with a colored "A."
Going up the river has a number of advantages on a weekend. First you avoid the crowds, and second you really feel like you have been in the wilderness. There are only two or three homes on the river after Stella, then it gets pretty wild.
It is a much different experience that going out the Inlet where there is a steady stream of boats on the weekend.
A little after noon we headed up river. We made our first trip up there in 2007 so we have a nice GPS route to follow. Someone has put some homemade channel markers of red PVC pipe in the river so it is easier than it used to be.
We had a friend who lives up the river take us up there the first time.
We saw a couple of boats fishing just before Stella, but we only met one other boat and that was when we had already headed home.
Just above Stella, the marsh grasses reach heights of five and six feet. Eventually even farther up the river, the river narrows and trees come down to the edge of the river.
We turned around at the point where the river is officially supposed to be freshwater. The river straightens out after that point.
The trip back down the river was a lot of fun. The river is deep and yesterday it was also very quiet so it was a smooth ride around all athe oxbows.
I enjoy the old railroad trestle in Stella. It looks like somelthing from another time.
When you get back to the point where the river opens up, it is hard to believe you are on the same river.
When we got back to Bluewater Cove, we found our friends Brian and Theresa practicing their kayaking skill in the water behind our home.
I was getting a little hungry for lunch, but just as we got inside I got a call from some clients who had just bought a home to remodel in Silver Creek. They wanted to talk to a contractor about remodeling their kitchen.
I managed to get Brian, who is a general contractor, out of the kayak and over there by 3 PM. When we got back home aroud 4 PM, lunch tasted pretty good.
Just after sunset, we took a trip down to Swansboro to watch the moon rise over the White Oak. It was impressive.
With building clouds, it looks like yesterday was the great day to run the river. Today it if stays warm and dry, maybe we will make it over to the beaches.
I think we will skip the Seafood Festival. Maybe we will have shrimp tacos in honor of it.
I did put together a slide show of yesterdays adventure. It is in two web pages. The little arrows at the top left of the page move you between pages or slides.
