Now we’re getting to the good stuff! I didn’t just sit along the shoreline and watch the sun and the waves all day. Sure I did plenty of that but I had other adventures too. Plus I got a chance to add another video to the world’s lamest YouTube channel. I hope you like ferries.
As I noted earlier, I could catch most of the unvisited counties while driving to Pine Knoll Shores and back. However, two counties required a dedicated day-trip and I wondered about the most efficient route. Fortunately I consulted my United States Ferry page and everything clicked into place.
I could catch both counties using ferries! I’ve never taken a route with back-to-back ferries before so it seemed exciting. They both lined up wonderfully at wide tidal rivers and then I could loop-back overland and hit some additional attractions. It seemed eminently doable and a lot of fun. Well, “fun” being a relative term.
Nonetheless, timing was everything. Ferries run on schedules and I didn’t want to waste a lot of time waiting for them. Generally that’s not an issue because it’s easy to download a schedule and arrive just before departure. True enough most of the time, but I wasn’t taking just one ferry.
So I had to align ferries with competing timetables. Twice per day, I noticed, I could drive between the two with fifteen minutes to spare. That meant I had to leave home at exactly 8:00 a.m., and not one minute later. Then I had to hope the first ferry kept exactly to the schedule and dropped me off on time.
Cherry Branch – Minnesott Ferry
First we arrived at the Cherry Branch – Minnesott Ferry on the southern bank of the Neuse River for a 9:00 a.m. departure. I felt particularly excited because the Neuse served as the southern boundary for Pamlico County. So I was about to arrive within a new county via ferry. That wasn’t totally unprecedented — I did the same in Nantucket and Martha’s Vineyard before — but it was still quite memorable.
People don’t ordinarily travel through Pamlico County by chance. It sits away from population centers, it lacks any popular attractions, and it certainly doesn’t qualify as an Interstate Highway county. Nonetheless I appreciated the chance to arrive there by boat.
Two ships crossed the twenty minute passage continuously; we caught a ship called the Roanoke. It was a smaller Hatteras Class ferry, able to accommodate 30 vehicles and 149 passengers at a time. Nobody ever had to wait more than a half-hour generally and we waited much less than that because I timed it right. We also didn’t have to worry about crowds. Hardly anyone else crossed on this early morning mid-winter weekday. The price was right, too; free!
The ferry dropped us off in the Town of Minnesott Beach. Not Minnesota like the state, but Minnesott. So how did it get the name? Was there a connection to the state? The Town of Minnesott Beach offered an explanation. The name “… is thought to have originated from an old Indian word meaning ‘land of the sky-tinted waters’.” Well, I always get suspicious when I see “it is thought” as part of an explanation. I do know that “Mni” is a Siouan word for Water. For example, Minnesota translates as either clear water or a body of water clouded by mist that rises in the morning.
Still, I was ready to throw a penalty flag because the explanation seemed contrived. Then I dug a little further and I discovered that Sioux influences actually did extend into this area. A small eastern branch of the language family included the Catawban and Waccamaw Siouans. Perhaps the town’s explanation included a kernel of truth after all.
Bayview – Aurora Ferry
Anyway, all that I knew for certain was that the next ship left at 10:15. This ferry route featured only one ship and it covered a longer distance so it ran less frequently. No problem. We drove across the peninsula and into Beaufort County, and then to the southern bank of the Pamlico River with a few minutes to spare.
There we sailed on the Governor Daniel Russell, a River Class ferry with room for 42 vehicles and 300 passengers. Again, we shared the journey with maybe five vehicles and a dozen passengers for a half-hour passage. Honestly, I don’t know why either of these ferries existed. It’s a very rural area and overland options exist just a few miles to the west. Maybe it’s a tourist attraction?
However, I couldn’t keep questions out of my head. Who was Governor Daniel Russell? Of course I resolved that easily enough with a quick Internet search. Russell served as the governor of North Carolina between 1897-1901. He was also the only Republican governor between the end of Reconstruction and 1973. During his term, he expanded voting rites throughout the state until white supremacists gained control of the legislature. That pretty much ended Russell’s political career but at least there’s the boat.
New Bern
So with the ferries behind us and new counties captured, we started our loop back towards Bogue Banks. Our route took us through two significant towns, Washington and New Bern. Of those, New Bern seemed to have more attractions so we stopped there. I could probably write an entire article just about this town but instead I’ll sprinkle New Bern destinations throughout the series. We could have spent a full day here and still not seen everything. Unfortunately we only had a couple of hours.
I will note that Pepsi Cola began in New Bern; something I didn’t know about beforehand. An historical marker explained that it began in a pharmacy as “Brad’s Drink” in 1893, named for its creator Caleb Bradham. Anyway, that explains the photo.
Beaufort
Wait, didn’t I mention Beaufort already? No, that was Beaufort County not Beaufort the town. And to make things more complicated Beaufort the town does not reside within Beaufort the county. Additionally, Beaufort the town is the seat of government for its home county, but that’s Carteret not Beaufort. North Carolina does this with frightening regularity.
Full disclosure, while my loop took us through the town of Beauford, we did not stop there. We did that later in the week. I included it here in case anyone wants to replicate my route for some reason. We started running out of daylight so close to the winter solstice so we had to get back to the house. It’s a nice town though and definitely worth visiting either as a dedicated stop or as part of an extended itinerary.
Articles in the Bogue Banks Series
See Also: The Complete Photo Album on Flickr.
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