Dismal Swamp – NC to Virginia – Exhale on the Water

The infamous Dismal Swamp wasn’t so dismal, after all.

Albemarle Plantation

We spent two nights in Albemarle Plantation, a well-manicured gated community with a resident owned marina. A delightful golfing community, they loaned us an electric golf cart to traverse around. The slips were really wide, which meant I got to practice my lassooooing technique to secure the boat to the pilings.

Albermarle2 — Tied to a piling WAAAAY over there

Elizabeth City

Elizabeth City was our fifth port inside the Albermarle Loop, before traversing the Dismal Swamp. Another town, lost in time, Alisha would have loved this well stocked little sewing center.

Sewing Center Small Town USA — Sewing Center – for Alisha

Singer Elizabeth City — Small Town, frozen in time

Dock and Dine

This waterfront cold storage warehouse supplies most of the local restaurants in town, to encourage business they offered free dockage. In exchange boaters are asked to 1) shop at their local stores then 2) complete a short customer satisfaction survey. Brilliant!

Entrance to the Swamp

With numerous conflicting stories of how much the Dismal City was loved or hated, I was apprehensive when we heard of mechanical problems at the lock, trapping 4 boats inside just two days prior. When we heard the lock was operating again we headed to the swamp.

Atlantic ICW Mills Lock

With the most spectacular weather we have experienced thus far in the journey, our experience was exceptional, worth repeating even.

Reflective Waters

Dismal Swamp Visitors Center

So, what exactly is the Dismal Swamp??

Dismal Swamp History Here

Dismal Swamp5 Visitors Center

112,000 acres of forested wetlands. In 1763, George Washington visited the area, and he and others founded the Dismal Swamp Company in a venture to drain the swamp and clear it for settlement. The swamp’s role in the history of slavery in the United States is reflected in Harriet Beecher Stowe‘s second novel, Dred: A Tale of the Great Dismal Swamp.

We docked at the Visitors Center, our final stop in the Albermarle Loop. A new looper friend, trawler cat Nine Lives rafted off of us. We then traveled in tandem to Norfolk.

Hello, Virginia

Dismal Swamp Day Two VA

Entrance to Norfolk

Gateway to Norfolk — Norfolk Naval Center

The entrance to Norfolk, VA is dramatic, more details in the next post. Thanks Maureen for the dinner suggestion. The Prime Rib at Freemason Abbey was yummy.