I'm surprised to see so many shrimp boats in the harbor this morning. I
wonder if most of the fleet is idle.


Admiral Halsey wrote:
It varies from day to day. I know absolutely nothing about shrimping.

But you're going to tell us about it anyway.

... But
I assume there are good days for it, and bad ones.

Those are the big boys... they go from Mexico to New England, often out
hauling for a week. Check the web cam archive to see when they arrive
leave. The shrimpers that have to wait for a good day are much much smaller.


... After we live there a
while we'll no doubt learn more about it. By the way, one can buy fresh
shrimp at the docks there, when the boats come in.

Really? Who'd a thunk it?



The small building in the foreground on the left is a coffee shop. Looks
like business is pretty good.


That little place used to be the Oriental Trading Co. prior to Isabel

I didn't say what it *used* to be, I said what it is now. You want the
history of most of the town buildings? I go to Oriental fairly often,
starting in about 1968. Nowadays I have family there.



The anchorage is out beyond the sterns of the row of shrimpers on the
right. There is a new marina that takes up most of the old anchorage
around the corner. You can see the loom of the open Neuse River in the
distance to the left.


I believe that's right.

Good.




Incidentally, I've assumed that four-lane headed into Oriental was primarily
to provide faster access to the Minnesott ferry. Am I off-base on that?


Yep. It's for the blue-hairs who want to shop at the Wal-Mart in New
Bern and can't be bothered to wait behind the tractors that are often on
the road between New Bern & Oriental. Not many people use the Minnesott
ferry, I've rarely seen it more than half full.

DSK