Thursday, October 30, 2003
 We headed up the
Pagan River again toward Smithfield Station Marina. The hurricane has
taken out every dock, undermined some of the banks, and tossed trees
everywhere. One smaller motorboat was still hung up in its lift, but it
was very askew. A sailboat was far up on the bank, way  above
the high tide line. It would be interesting to see how it gets back to the
water because the land rises very sharply behind it, and the water in front of
it is too shallow for a barge. The restaurant at the marina is at least 15
feet above the normal water level. During the hurricane, the water came
across the outside deck and began to seep under the doors of the dining
room. The parking lot was submerged under 6 feet of water.
The owner of the marina, Ron Pack, said we could dock for the next two days, but
he had a large fleet of boats coming in the the weekend. He wouldn't know
until tomorrow or Saturday if we could stay. We tied up and went in to
have a lunch of crab cakes and scallops. Joyce and Rex Williams picked us
up so we could do our laundry and get fresh provisions. We returned to the
boat to have dinner on board.
Friday, October 31, 2003
   We
rode our bicycles up the hill to Smithfield and spent the day visiting the
museum and the shops. Smithfield was named after Arthur Smith, the first
settler to own land in 1637 along the Pagan River. His great-grandson had
the land surveyed in 1750 and laid out the town. Houses built in the 1750s
are still maintained as private homes. The Smithfield Inn, built in 1752
and opened as a tavern in 1759, is still providing shelter and good food
to its guests. (It was the Christ Episcopal Church rectory during the last
half of the 19th century.) There are almost 50 buildings from 1752 through
1913 that still grace the old streets. 
Captain Mallory Todd established
the first ham curing and shipping business in 1779. Dry-cured hams made
from peanut-fed hogs have become renowned over the past three centuries. The
Smithfield hams are famous for their long-lasting quality... there is one, for
instance, in the local museum which was cured in 1902 and said to still be
tasty. But it has not been actually tasted in a few years. We made sure we had a
fresh Smithfield ham sandwich at the Gourmet Bakery and bought
some slices for another day.
We returned to town in the evening to watch the Halloween Parade. The
costumed children go from store to store to receive their treats. Most of
the towns in this area limit the times and the age of the children for Trick or
Treating, but Smithfield gathers them all in one place.
Saturday, November 1, 2003
   Joyce
and Rex Williams joined us for a trip up the James River to see the Ghost
Fleet. There are more than 100 ships that are stored there, many of them
rusting and deteriorating. There is an aircraft carrier, landing ships,
supply ships. We even saw the old Empire State, the SUNY Maritime training
ship. There is a patrol boat hanging around the several groups to make
sure that no one gets too close. We continued up river a few more miles
where we anchored to enjoy a picnic lunch.
When we got back to the marina, we found that the slip we'd been in was occupied
by its owner who had returned early from a cruise. Darkness had come, the
current was rushing by at 6 knots, and we were trying to back into an alternate
slip that was 6" narrower than our beam. With the assistance of the
owners of the two adjacent boats, we managed to back far enough in so we could
get off on the finger pier from our swim platform.
Sunday, November 2, 2003
 We rode back
into town to go Christ Episcopal Church. We wanted to visit St. Luke's
Church, but they don't hold regular services. It was built in 1632 and is
the oldest original Anglican Church in America. After church we went back
into town to see an art show. Some of the paintings were interesting, but
we much preferred the sculptures seated around town. Kay looked over
Robert Frost's shoulder to read his "Fences" poem. We returned
to the boat to reposition it in a proper slip and to pack our bags for
tomorrow's trip back to Long Island.
Monday, November 3, 2003 through Sunday, November 9, 2003
We drove back to Amityville for Kay's Mom's Memorial Service. Alan and
Corinne flew down from Syracuse, Cynthia and Donald drove from Campbell Hall
with the three girls, Caryl and her three children came in from Shirley, and Amy
and her son Jay came over from Lindenhurst. Pastor Eric Rasmussen of
the First United Methodist Church led a nice service that included the hymns and
a poem that Mom had requested. Some of her friends from the Church and
some of our friends also attended. We returned to Smithfield Station on
Sunday afternoon.
Monday, November 10, 2003
We returned the rental car and left Smithfield to head back down the Pagan and
James Rivers toward Portsmouth and Norfolk.   There wasn't too much traffic
on the waterways -- a few tows, some tugs running one way or another, a
container ship heading out to sea, and some pleasure craft going
somewhere. We headed up the Elizabeth River and passed mile 0 of the
ICW. We zipped past the first bridge with a tug and a sailboat, and then
we all sat and waited at the next bridge because the railroad bridge right next
to it was closed "for maintenance work" according to that bridge
tender.  Forty-five minutes later we had grown to two tugs, three tows, two
sailboats, and four pleasure craft. I guess the RR bridge tender decided
that something might bump into something else, so he opened his bridge. We
could not see any remnants of any work, no workmen, no vehicles, no
nothing. We headed up the Dismal Swamp Canal soon thereafter, but we were
20 minutes too late at the Deep Creek Lock for the 3:30 opening -- the last of the day. We
anchored right in front of the lock for the night. We had thought that
this route was along a deserted waterway, but we passed houses along the canal,
and we could see a church spire and a town beyond the lock.
Next: The Dismal
Swamp Route... Welcome to North Carolina --or-- Back
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Cruisin' The Loop Aboard Kibon