DISMAL SWAMP

Elizabeth City, NC

John and I departed Elizabeth City in the beautiful morning sunrise on June 8. The day before we had a wonderful cruise from Belhaven up the Alligator River through the Albemarle Sound and up the Pasquotank River. We had been warned that the Albemarle could be rough in surprisingly little wind, but fortunately, we had smooth water until we were docked. Toward late afternoon, however, a fierce wind kicked up. Once again that old adage held true "early to bed and early to rise" makes a man healthy, wealthy and wise (nor sea sick either). The drawbridge in Elizabeth City doesn't open between 7AM and 9AM due to "rush hour" traffic. It's all relative I guess.

We had decided to take the Dismal Swamp Canal route to reach Virginia because of the history and uniqueness of this primeval forest cut. In 1763, George Washington first proposed draining the swamp, harvesting the timber and then farming the land. He purchased 40,000 acres and supervised the first digging for the ditch. Disenchanted with the business venture, he sold his interest to his friend "Lighthorse" Harry Lee, 30 years later.

The swamp route was indeed swampy and primeval and very shallow. It's often closed for periods of time due to lack of water. All together the trip was very slow, we're glad we did it once and obviously the folks here have never seen Kentucky streams. We also wondered what George would have thought about the cell tower right in the middle of it!