The land of beautiful women

May 20 – 22, 2011

Note the bridge and turtle

Our first detour off Albemarle Sound, on May 20, was 12 miles up the Perquimans River to the small town of Hertford. The Yeopim Indians named the river area, and the white translation means land of beautiful women. Ursa and FLUKE were going to the right place! The whole area could also be called the land of beautiful trees and waters.

Right before you get to the beginning of the Hertford community, you have to go under a bridge with only 34' of clearance. So, a lot of sailboats cannot get under and don't want to have to anchor out as far from the town landing, so they don't make Hertford part of their cruising plans. Most power boaters would be able to get under the bridge, but there are no docking facilities so they don't stop at Hertford either. We had a concern about getting under the bridge since we think we need 30' to clear, so Eddie stood on the roof and Wayne eased FLUKE slowly under the bridge to make sure our mast wouldn't hit the bridge or the signal lights that hang lower under the bridge.

Just enough clearance room

A smile came upon our faces when we rounded the point and saw the unique concrete and steel S-shaped swing bridge abutting the quaint waterfront area. We would learn that this bridge is the only one of its kind in the U.S. and the town is divided over the possibility of having to replace it. I took this picture of an aerial photograph that I saw at the Chamber of Commerce/Visitor's Center. It gives a good idea of how the bridge gets its name.

Bird's eye view of Hertford

After we passed through the bridge we slowly passed the town waterfront area, went around one more bend and ended up in a wide spot in the river surrounded by a beautiful cypress swamp. This was just our perfect kind of place to drop the anchor. We had the place all to ourselves except for the osprey nesting in a huge cypress tree that stood alone out in the water about 50 yards from FLUKE. One resident told us that an osprey nests there every year.

Our neighbor's home

Since it was late afternoon we decided to get Scooter (that's what I've decided to call our new, little dinghy) pumped up and ready to launch the next morning when we would take a land tour. Bass fisherman were coming in from their day of fishing, some with very fancy, glittery-painted boats traveling on plane at 50mph, but creating little wake since there wasn't much of the boat in the water; they were riding on air! Our biggest surprise came right as the sun turned out the lights. The night became alive with a cacophony of millions of frogs croaking trying to be louder than the din of all the insects that they hoped to feast upon. If you listened closely you could hear the unmistakable hoot of a great horned owl.

Not really alone

You can't tell from the photo, but we are anchored within site of the "causeway" road that connects to the S-bridge that everyone entering or leaving town has to use. So, as we were walking around town, several of the locals inquired about who we were, and then had a lot of questions when they found out we were from "that" boat. A couple of them said how much they enjoyed seeing a boat like FLUKE anchored within sight.

When we were dinghying into the town landing, we passed by a river camping platform. There are several of these scattered along the banks of the Perquimans River so that people traveling in canoes and kayaks have a solid place to land and camp for the night.

Swamp camping

There are two good public places available for landing a dinghy: the town boat ramp and Missing Mill Park. Both of them are easily visible from the water. We chose the town boat ramp because it is on a floating dock in a no wake zone. There are no cleats to use, so you have to try to use a piling and run a line through the dock boards, which were covered with a lot of duck poop. We shared the space with a kayaker who was pulling out his kayak and we were able to drill him with a bunch of questions and get some local information.

Waiting for their crewmates

Eddie and I went into the Visitor's Center building to get a walking tour map and do some more information gathering. You can easily do the walking tour within a half day's time. The tree-lined streets have sidewalks, and the houses have little signs out front with their names and dates of origin. Quakers played an early role in settling the area, but as other settlers moved in they brought more money and built homes in the Queen Anne and Colonial Revival style that are well-preserved and have helped put Hertford on the National Historic Register of Historic Places. Residents take pride in their homes and gardens as evidenced by how well they are kept up and the diversity of gardens. Magnolias and Confederate jasmine were in full bloom; their fragrances permeated the air as we walked along the streets.

Which smells sweeter

We were admiring one truly outstanding garden whose owners were sitting on one of the garden benches. We said hello and commented about the uniqueness and beauty of their garden: it was a combination of flowers, ornamentals, and bedded vegetables. There was a sticker that said “Save Our Bridge”, so we asked them about that. Frank and Connie invited us in to hear their story and answer the other hundred questions we had. They were on a committee to try to save the S-bridge so it was interesting to hear about both sides of the controversy. Frank had worked in England for a number of years and brought back this 2000# genuine British iron telephone booth.

Doing it the old-fashioned way

Since Frank and Connie's lovely waterfront home is only one door away from the S-bridge we could easily hear the bell ringing indicating the bridge was going to open. We wanted to be right up on the bridge by the tender's house when it opened so we could see how everything worked, so we said our thank yous and headed up to the bridge. When the operation was completed, the friendly tender opened the door to ask where we were from. I peaked in and asked if I could take a photo of the control area since all we ever get to see is the underside of the bridges and the outside of the control house.

Controlling the waterway

The “business” district is really only on about a street and a half. The 1825 Federal style courthouse building still functions as the present Perquimans County Courthouse. Several other small businesses occupy other originally built structures from the 1800s. This large mural shows a bit of the long past and recent heritage of the area.

Historical mural

Wayne and Ursa were sitting outside the hardware store where this mural was located. A black man in his 60s was fascinated by Ursa (she is REALLY a man magnet) and asked Wayne several questions about her, including “Is she a boy or a girl?”. When Wayne told him that Ursa was a girl he smiled and said “Well, black girls really like me!”

Eddie and I browsed a few of the small shops, including a kind of 5 and 10 store that has been in continuous operation by the same family for almost 100 years. The friendly owner, about our age, showed us pictures of days gone by when penny candy was sold in large display bins and their sale rang up with the same cash register she still is using today. She also shed light on why we had seen so many turtle knickknacks in store windows and even on the town seal. She said her grandmother talked about the gigantic cypress log that is partially submerged by the causeway road into town where turtles bask in the sun still to this day welcoming strangers to their quaint community.

New money in an old drawer

Since it was getting close to lunch time, the FLUKE crew needed to engage in some food foraging action. We saw a sign at one of the churches advertising a fish fry youth fund raising sale. We picked up some fish dinners and walked over to Missing Mill Park, adjacent to the river front where we could see FLUKE at anchor a ways upriver. The well-used park, with its scenic view, gets its name from having been the former site of a cotton seed oil mill. Since several of the locals had told us not to pass up hand dipped ice cream from Woodard's Pharmacy we walked back uptown to the soda fountain area inside the drug store to special order our “drugs”. You can't beat the price: $.60 for an 8 oz. scoop! Having gotten our daily sugar fix, we licked our lips and wiped our fingers and happily went on our way.

Get your drugs here

Our day on the swamp would end with some special guests. Frank and Connie had mentioned that they would be going to a benefit garden party for the Perquimans County Historical Preservation Society that would take them right by us since they would be going via pontoon boat. The host of the party actually brought his boat down river to FLUKE to invite us to the event. While we graciously declined his offer, when the pontoon boat crew came by, we invited them all aboard for a tour. The party theme was Alice in Wonderland, and the ladies were encouraged to wear hats. This group was the best dressed guests we have ever had aboard. Eldon, the gentleman sitting in the back right of the boat (next to the beer bottle), is 91. Wayne found him climbing down the back ladder from the upper deck!

Off to a garden party

We didn't see the White Rabbit checking his watch that night, but the other inhabitant's of the swamp garden lulled us to sleep with their nightly chorus.

Our next stop would take us to another garden party further up the Albemarle Sound.