June 18, 2016
Headwind, potash, cemeteries
We started the day at the Comfort Suites breakfast room. Normally breakfast is available starting at 6:00 but because it was Saturday we had to wait until 7:00. We ate a large breakfast and were about ready to get started when the weather forecast came on advising of winds from the North at 25-35 mph along the coast. Perhaps it was panic at the forecast, perhaps just an excuse, but Alain went back and ate a second enormous breakfast.
Thus fortified we set out and within a mile we merged onto the US 17 bridge crossing the Neuse river. We may not have been on the coast but the wind was certainly blowing on the river. The south side of the bridge rises to allow ships to pass underneath, the northern side is a flat causeway. It seemed like it was taking forever to climb up to the crest. Viktoriya was taking pictures of the river, Alain was staring down at the pavement. When the gradient finally began to ease off as we neared the top Alain looked around and realized that we were not still climbing, we had in fact already crested the bridge and were going down the other side. With the wind in our face it did not feel like we were descending but with a burst of energy we managed to hit 15 mph on the steepest part of the descent. Was it too late to go back for a 3rd breakfast?
Once we exited the bridge and got into the cover of the trees the wind was not so bad. As usual the Carolina roads were excellent. Once again we were following North Carolina bike route 3. We had been seeing the route 3 signs on and off ever since we entered NC. We were also following marks that the local bike club had painted on the road, in this case the blue, yellow and red routes. We have encountered such marking frequently - it's a good feeling to know that the locals have given their seal of approval to the road we are riding on. At a T intersection an arrow pointing to the left was labeled "Sun" and an arrow to the right was labeled "Sat". This being a Saturday we turned right.
It was 25 miles to the first "stop" that Jeanna had scouted out while planning the route but at 15 miles we decided to take an early break at a small cemetery. There was no adjacent church, just a peaceful setting on the edge of a forest. A few of the graves were over 100 years old but others showed that the cemetery was still in active use.
Refreshed we pressed on to the town of Aurora on a branch of the Pamlico river. By the time we got to Aurora we were no longer feeling refreshed and staggered into a Dollar General store. We were heading for the Bayview-Aurora ferry which crosses the main branch of the Pamlico. Ferries were schedule for 10:15 and 11:45. A horn in the distance told us that the 10:15 ferry was leaving. It was about 9 miles to the ferry landing so we would have plenty of time to make it to the 11:45 ferry. How hard could it be to cover 9 miles?
This brings us to fertilizer. PotashCorp operates a huge strip mine and Phosphate processing plant between Aurora and the ferry. You would think with a name like PotashCorp they would be producing Potassium (K - element 19), but the plant was labeled PCS Phosphate, implying they produce Phosphorus (P - element 15). In any case whatever they produce is destined to be used as fertilizer. A mountain of tailings from the mine that looked like a Sahara sand dune lined the road to the ferry. Remarkably the dune was stable and even the strong wind was not dislodging a lot of grit except for the end of the dune where a conveyor belt was adding to the ever growing pile. We passed retention ponds of unnaturally green water. It was quite a contrast to the woods and farms we had been passing earlier in the day.
The ferry ride across the Pamlico was enjoyable (and free). It was nice to see the GPSs on the bikes reporting 10 mph progress while we were not pedaling.
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On the North side of the river we stopped for lunch at the Country Kitchen. Alain and Jeanna ordered Sweet Tea. One of the servers was dedicated almost exclusively to refilling glasses of tea. It turns out that asking for "sweet tea" is redundant. The word "tea" already implies sweet tea. Jeanna demonstrated the correct was to ask for plain tea when she switched over to "unsweet tea" half way through the meal. What she really wanted was an Arnold Palmer but they didn't have lemonade.
Kerry saw some locals examining our bikes and couldn't resist the opportunity to go out and talk bikes. As usual his belt drive was a hit.
The locals advised us to make a stop a mile up the road in Bath, the oldest town in North Carolina. Bath was incorporated in 1705. We enjoyed walking around the town and touring an old house and St Thomas Church. The huge pile of oyster shells behind the house implied that it was once occupied by the walrus and the carpenter, although this was not officially documented.
The St Thomas church is almost 300 years old. The church cemetery includes the remains of 16 unknown individuals that has been buried in a nearby location in a spot marked only by ballast stones. The ballast stones had been moved and now marked the location of the unknown deceased within the church cemetery.
We must have passed at least 2 dozen cemeteries before we reached our destination in Plymouth. Most were small family plots, often on the side of corn or bean fields. The most frequent names on the markers were "Boyd" and "Waters".
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