The Outer Banks, a long barrier peninsula upon which the town of Kitty Hawk is located, is at the eastern edge of the sound. Roanoke Island is situated at the southeastern corner of the sound, where it connects to Pamlico Sound. Much to our disappointment, due to the tropical storm Bertha, we were unable to venture to either Kitty Hawk or Roanoke Island. Hopefully, the next time we are in this area the weather and seas will be such that we will be able to see where THOSE OTHER Wright Brothers once played. As we crossed the Sound it was like being back on the Gulf again as it seemed like once again we had the water all to ourselves. For the most part, the water was calm but the weather continued to be so hot and humid. The breeze from the water was the only saving grace for me and in turn Captain Mark. He does not seem to be as bothered by the heat and humidity as I am, but he certain bears the brunt of my crankiness from the heat and humidity.
Drawing closer to the Elizabeth City area, we started to see evidence of the large Coast Guard station located nearby. Again, it must have been a pilot training day as both planes and helicopters were taking off and landing continually. 
Elizabeth City is known as “a harbor of hospitality” and just about every boater travelling along the North Carolina Intracoastal Waterway makes it a point to stop at Elizabeth City. The city provides free dockage which is very nice and most refreshing to the budget. In addition, the merchants of the city are the most accommodating of any that we have seen or experienced thus far on this trip. 
We found it utterly amazing and wonderful that Farm Fresh sent an employee and van to pick us up at the city dock and drive us to their store located about five miles away. We shopped and then were driven back to the city dock by the friendliest and most helpful Farm Fresh employee. Now that is really slick marketing because not only did they receive well over a $100 of my money but they also promoted tons of good will within the boating community as word of this kind service spreads. I will definitely shop at any Farm Fresh store that I encounter in the future as well. It rained really hard for about 30 minutes and then it became even hotter and more humid as the day ended. The next morning as we were studying the weather reports to decide whether to depart or stay another day, the mayor of Elizabeth City knocked on our boat to say hello. It seems that he comes down to the dock each morning to meet and greet any new boaters. He asked about our plans and said that we should stay another day to see a movie and have dinner at the Carolina Theatre & Grille. It did not take too much convincing for Captain Mark to agree that this sounded like a great idea. The Carolina Theatre & Grille is a really very clever idea, cute set-up and efficiently run movie house/restaurant. People arrive at 6p and are shown to small tables with wonderful swivel chairs and a telephone within an old movie house. Upon reviewing the menus at the table, one “calls” in the dinner order which is then delivered very promptly. The food was reasonably priced and really rather good. The dishes were cleared and promptly at 7p everyone turns their swivel chairs to watch the movie.
We watched Wanted with Morgan Freeman, Angelina Jolie and James McAvoy. The movie was okay and normally we would not have gone to the theatre to see an action movie like this, but the setting and concept of the Carolina Theatre & Grill was too good to miss. The entire evening including dinner, wine and the movie was less than $30, which I thought was a great deal even if the movie was a “wait for video”. 
We would highly recommend that every boater consider stopping to spend some time in Elizabeth City, North Carolina and that some of the other “coastal” towns follow the high standard of hospitality toward boaters as set by the people of Elizabeth City.
Hours on the water: 4.5
Nautical miles traveled: 33.7
Number of bridges to be opened: 0
Time spent waiting at bridge: 0
Next Destination: Dismal Canal Visitor’s Center
What we're listening to: Mayflower by Nathaniel Philbrick
What we watched: Wanted
Lesson for the day: Small towns can be full of big surprises
Obligatory knitting report: It was too hot to knit
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