(all photos taken by Christine Markel Lampe, except for the one above, which was taken with my camera by an anonymous person, after I set up the shot)
MOREHEAD CITY, WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 15, 2002
Turning on 8th St., we spotted a huge statue of King Neptune a few blocks ahead, where the street ended at the water's edge. Aye, we were thinkin' this seemed an appropriate place for a Blackbeard Festival. On our right we spied our destination, the office of the Downtown Morehead City Revitalization Association.
Inside
we found Bruce Naegelen, director of the NC Blackbeard Festival. Bruce is a
burly, cheerful man, who would look great in pirate garb, but we found out he
refuses to dress in any costume. We think it had something to do with a
Halloween party gone wrong.
(In the photo to the right, Bruce is on the right, with Michael MacLeod. We finally persuaded Bruce to put on a cloak and tricorn for the photo, but notice the red polo shirt on underneath.)
After Laurens de Graff arrived (aka Tony Kopec), Bruce took us down to meet a newspaper photographer for a session of Michael and Tony clashing blades (there was a great photo in the paper next morning - showing it pays to show up early). Other pirates drifted in during the afternoon and evening.
At o'dark thirty the next morning, Friday, about a dozen bleary-eyed rogues gathered on the docks for an appearance on a local morning news show.
Pirates attempt to obtain caffeine-laden libations in the early hour before sunrise.
Left: Laurens de Graff, aka Tony Kopec; right: Braze, aka David Fleming
As the sun rose, we prepared for our one and two minute performances with the remote reporter, to give a proper piratical background for his broadcasts. In each successive appearance, we dressed him up more and more like one of us, as he interviewed us about pirates, or we clashed blades behind him, or just gathered around him as he promoted the festival, every 15 minutes or so.
Laurens de Graff, left, and Michael MacLeod, right, cross swords in front of the undaunted TV reporter.
Finally, the reporter was fully dressed as a pirate, and some of our women pirates started to take a fancy to him. He was quite popular for a few seconds, but not bein' one of us rugged piratical types, he got a bit overwhelmed. He beat a hasty retreat for the news van and locked himself in, much to the disappointment of the women.
Our scurvy crew then went off in search of breakfast and caffeine at the New Dawn Restaurant.
Saturday morning was the gathering of the pirates for the street festival at a waterfront park. Though the weather had been absolutely gorgeous on the previous two days, Mother Nature decided not to bless the street festivities. As we set up our merchant offerings, sharing a table with author Margaret Hoffman, there was wind, and more wind. Near hurricane force winds, I swear. Twas a good thing we knew our knots, because everything had to be lashed down and battened tightly, or it would have flown away.
Bravely facing the weather, the crowds started
to emerge, and the stage entertainment fired up.
In addition to the winds, the skies threatened rain off and on, with some early attempts at drizzling.
Blackbeard himself (aka Ben Cherry) arrived in time to star in a play about the wreck of the QAR, written by Margaret Hoffman.
The crowds were picking up, and there were quite a lot on hand to watch the pirate invasion & battle, as Blackbeard's crew, led by his first mate, Israel Hands (aka Arthur Whittam) marched in & fought with the local militia. (Left to right: Braze, Raven in back, and Israel Hands lead the pirate invasion).
Soon
after, the skies grew ominously dark, followed by a 20 minute squall. That
definitely thinned out the crowds.
But soon the sun reemerged, so Ben Cherry retook the stage, and told a story of Blackbeard to the hardy few who braved the storm and remained.
As we still had an audience of about 100, the stage entertainment continued with some swordfighting from the Shadow Players (see photo to the right), and then the Tryal of Ann Bonny and Mary Read. Everyone dispersed as soon as trial was finished (the skies were getting dark again).
Once the festival concluded, we decided to go off and find some North Carolina pirate haunts for ourselves.
Bath, the oldest town and first capitol in North Carolina, is a very small village on an inlet just off the Pamlico River, about two hours from Morehead City. Being the port of entry for the Pamlico Sound, it was the early 18th c. center of nautical activity. Blackbeard came into Bath to take the King's Pardon in the summer of 1718 (Stede Bonnet had already come to Bath, gotten his pardon and left). He settled there for a very short time, and even married a local girl.
We drove up there on Sunday morning, on the way passing through the colonial capital of New Bern. Periodically, we'd see a sign advertising "Bath, home of Blackbeard", with a image of the captain himself. Off the main highway, we soon crossed the bridge over Bath Creek, and stopped at the Bath Visitor's Center.
There is not a lot to see in Bath -- there are three colonial homes you can tour (the oldest built in 1744), and a 1734 church.
We asked a local historian about Captain Teach and the location of Plum Point, where the legends say Blackbeard had his home. She told us visitors were always asking to see Blackbeard's home, but lamented that there is no documentation, to her knowledge, that Blackbeard ever lived in Bath, much less had a home there. There are faint remnants of a foundation on Plum Point. The area, she told us, has been dug all around by treasure seekers, but nothing of note has been found there. However, it is well documented that "Thistleworth", Governor Eden's home was on Archbell Point, just across the way from Plum Point. The port collector, Tobias Knight, lived on Archbell Point as well.
Plum Point would have been convenient for Teach, in his dealings with Tobias Knight and Gov. Eden. But Teach would have only been in Bath for only a few months after taking the pardon (he was killed November 22, 1718). Not enough time to have a house built. He might have moved into an existing house, but it also might have been more convenient and logical for him to live on his moored vessel.
Plum Point is on the left, & Archbell Point on the right of the mouth of Bath Creek
Now, you can only get to Plum Point by boat, but she told us where we could go to look out at Plum & Archbell Points. We followed a road through town south to where it ended at the water's edge, and straight in front of us we could see Plum Point on the left of the mouth of Bath Creek emptying into the Pamlico River, and Archbell Point on the right.
Plum Point, where legends say Blackbeard had his house.
Archbell Point, where Governor Eden's house, Thistleworth, stood.
Next morning, we returned to Beaufort. We explored the old cemetery, on an appropriately overcast and gloomy morning. We strolled through the old monuments and barely legible headstones. Then a flash of blue color caught my eye. And another blue flash. It was a pair of blue jays the flew past, and landed on the railing around a grave. Yet another blue jay appeared. These pert, sassy birds accompanied us as we continued through the overgrown grounds. We don't have blue jays in California, so they were quite a treat for us.
Afterwards, we visited to North Carolina Maritime Museum to see their exhibit of artifacts recovered from the wreck thought to be the Queen Anne's Revenge.
The bell, cannon balls, and other items recovered from the wreck of the Queen Anne's Revenge on display in the the North Carolina Maritime Museum.
Next morning we squeezed in a visit to Southport, before our mid-afternoon departure back home. Southport is on the mainland, at the mouth of the Cape Fear River, just across from Cape Fear itself. It's an attractive beach town, with many historic homes as well.
We
first went to the Southport branch of the North Carolina Maritime
Museum. But
though it was past the posted hours for being open, the door was latched shut
with a note saying they'd be open in an hour.
Instead, we went to locate the Stede Bonnet monument Dave Moore had told us about, where a road out of town crossed a small creek. (see left)
This was Bonnet's Creek, the approximate location where Stede had brought his vessel upstream in a creek off of the Cape Fear River, and where William Rhett had captured him and his crew. Now -- I know many pirates used sloops, and other shallow draft vessels, but looking at the creek that was small enough for a person to straddle at points, made me wonder how a vessel large enough to hold even one person could have navigated this stream. Dave had anticipated our reaction, for he had told us to remember conditions can change mightily in almost 300 years.
Bonnet's Creek -- left: looking
upstream
right: looking downstream near the mouth of the creek opening up on Cape
Fear River.
Not far from the creek was an old cemetery. I love prowling around in old cemeteries, so thought this a good place to kill a little more time. Entering the cool shady cemetery, we crunched the leaves underfoot with each step. Then I caught a flash of blue out of the corner of my sight. Trying to quietly follow after it -- I spotted the blue jay. This was only the second time I had spotted blue jays on this trip. What is it about cemeteries? As I followed the blue jay, it landed at the base of a head stone, and I saw another flash of blue, just a little bit of blue though. And a foot away - another little bit of blue. Baby blue jays -- fledglings, were hiding in the grasses, and mom (or was it dad?) was bringing them lunch. The babies were mostly brown, but the tips of their tails and wings were sporting the blue color. I watched as she/he made several return trips. One little greedy baby hopped right up on the curb around the tombstone and demanded most of the food.
Left: Mama blue jay comes to
feed her babies in the cemetery (there are actually at least three babies
visible in this photo)
Right: Close up of a baby blue jay on the curb of a family grave plot
(another baby is on the ground).
We headed a bit back towards Wilmington, then turned on a short side road to see the old colonial seaport of New Brunswick -- actually the "site" of New Brunswick. On the way there, the side road skirted the edge of a swampy backwater lake.
The swampy backwater lake. Note the large nest on the stumpy tree out in the middle of the water. There is an eagle just landing in the nest.
Michael told me he saw alligators. I hit the brakes and pulled over. Sure enough, right by the side of the road, just in the shallow edge of the water were three alligators, about four, maybe five feet long. Not so big, or I wouldn't have been standing only six feet from them (and up about three feet of steep bank). They posed nicely for some photographs, one sporting a bit of pondweed on his head. I was amazed to find alligators so far north.
A friendly alligator poses for his photo. He's about 5 feet long.
After a short visit at New Brunswick (founded in 1726), and walking about the archeological excavations, we had to leave, and say farewell to North Carolina, vowing to return someday.
NOTES: Blackbeard Festival t-shirts are still available, at $20 each plus $3.00 shipping. Ordering information at:
www.downtownmoreheadcity.com (click on Blackbeard Fest link in left margin)
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