We are finally in NC! South Carolina is a really long state! Of course, so is NORTH Carolina but we are just starting it so we aren't worn out yet. Today, we went through the Sunset Beach PONTOON Bridge. It is the last surviving pontoon bridge in the USA. It operates on the hour and we weren't paying much attention to the time so we had to wait 45 minutes for it to open. Unfortunately (or fortunately), a new high-rise bridge is under construction right next to it so this is the last season it will operate. I've got to tell you that it is fascinating to behold. Most of the bridge is fixed but in the middle, cars drive down onto a roadbed resting on pontoons, past the gate house and back up to the main fixed sections. When the bridge opens, the gatehouse/pontoon section moves via a cable away from the fixed sections so that it is perpendicular to the fixed sections, the cable drops and the boats pass through. I have no idea how it moves back into position. Pictures attached are of this operation.
Southport, NC is an interesting town. Situated on the Cape Fear River Inlet, the old homes were built around 1880-early 1900's by sea captains and/or pirates. There are lots of beautiful big oak trees and azaleas, etc. Pretty wharf area with lots of good restaurants. Dinner tonight was at Mr. P's Bistro; prime rib for Margaret and me; shrimp & oyster gumbo for Terry and Jon. Rather than being served over rice, the gumbo was over fried grits. Yum. The vegetable du jour was fried green tomatoes. Who could ask for more??
Most of the trip from Myrtle Beach to Southport was slow going. Very narrow canal with houses and floating docks on either side. There we a number of abandoned, wrecked boats along the shore. Don't know if they were a result of bad weather or the economy.
We've been having some difficulty with the connection of our backup GPS. Luckily, new friends Harry and Janice on "Mariah" had a solution. Harry had a spare "hockey puck" which improved the connection so now we have a backup GPS system. Yea!
This is Singletary country. They were among the first settlers and had land grants in 1728 on Cape Fear River. The bridge is STRANGE.
ReplyDeleteNow my mouth is watering, with not a hope in Hell of getting anything resembling your dinner.
ReplyDeleteThat's really weird about those boats, sure would like to know the story behind them.
Sleep well.
Sis