April 12th was a the last weekend of Lent and the start of Holy week. It was a beautiful spring day in North Carolina, especially along the coast. The weather this time of year is great; low humidity, afternoon temperatures near 80’s, and cool temperatures in the evening. It was a beautiful weekend for motorcycle ride and to take in 3rd Annual Oriental Boat Show. I was debating if I wanted to ride motorcycle down to Oriental (3 hour ride – 160 miles) or take the truck. It was going to be a blustery weekend, but there was no rain in the forecast. It been a long time since Michele and I went on a long ride on the Hog (1994 HD Road King). Michele been pestering me to list her on craigslist. I am hoping a weekend ride to Oriental, NC will change her mind. If I take the truck, then I can take the kayaks and bikes down with us.
Friday was a windiness of the 3 days. The winds was gusting over 30 knots at time, which made the ride a little uncomfortable at times. We made good time traveling down to Oriental. We stop several time to stretch our legs and warm up. We finish off the ride a nice warm bowl of clam chowder and a beer at Silo.
The sunrise on Saturday was gorgeous. After breakfast, we walk to the water front in Oriental to visit the 3rd Annual Boat Show. It was my 2nd time there, but a first for Michele.
We enter a few raffles (but didn’t win), went onboard a Beneteau Oceanis 37, and met some old friends. After lunch, we went back to scrub down the boat. On the way back we talked about when and where we were going attend Mass. The Catholic Church in town (St. Peter’s the Fisherman) only have one Mass on Sunday, which was at 10:30. I am morning person. I am up at sunrise. The Sunday Masses in New Bern and Havelock were at 08:00, that would mean Michele would have to get up at sunrise (which isn’t a good idea). We checked the Saturday Mass times for Havelock and Morehead City. It made no sense looking at New Bern Saturday schedule. We’ll be heading that way on Sunday on the way home. We decided to catch the 1615 ferry to Cherry Branch and attend the Saturday evening Mass at the Annunciation in Havelock, NC. The NCDOT changed the ferry schedule and now the ferry departs on the hour and half hour up to 1700. Lucky we got there early to catch the 1600 ferry.
Needless to said, we had some time to kill before the 1730 service. I took Michele to Havelock 9/11 Memorial across the street from the Annunciation Parish. Inscribed around the plaza base of the Memorial was the phrase “We Shall Never Forget.” The steel beam in the middle of the Memorial was a piece of wreckage from the World Trade Center. The parishioners of Annunciation were friendly. They welcome us with open arms. We lady in front of us was making a cross with the Palms handed out for Palm Sunday Mass. She offer to make one for us too. I felt like I was part to the Parish.
One of the best part of the trip was sharing the sunset with Michele from the upper deck of Cherry Branch-Minnesott Beach Ferry.
Cathy and Wil (our close friends from Oriental) were heading to Raleigh Sunday morning. They asked if we wanted to tag along. They were going to an Aeropostale clothing event in Raleigh, near Umstead Park off of Glenwood Avenue. We stopped at Five Guys in North Raleigh for lunch. Over all we had a busy but wonderful weekend.
