What's in a Name? Alligator River, Dead Heads, Dismal Swamp, Coinjock, and Loopers

AGLCA stands for America's Great Loop Cruiser's Association

Alligator Marina and Gas Stations

April 29-30

   We traveled 53 miles on the Pungo River and Alligator River to our next destination, Alligator Marina in North Carolina.  I love these names!  There are supposed to be alligators in the river, but unfortunately we did not see any!  There are dead heads, though, and I am not describing fans of the Grateful Dead.  A dead head is a partially submerged log that has become so water-logged that one end of it peaks out of the water.  It is dangerous because the rest of the large tree limb is under water, waiting to be hit by an unsuspecting captain! We were warned to be on the lookout!  This stretch is also known for tree stumps near the banks,  so Karl was particularly mindful to stay in the channel. Fortunately, we avoided tree stumps and dead heads and arrived safely at Alligator Marina.

Stumps and Deadheads

    Alligator Marina is a dock next to a Filling station and Convenient Food store.  That is it.  No nearby town, nothing there except what I described.  The people were very friendly and the Convenient store is famous for its fried chicken and burgers!  We also enjoyed meeting a bunch of cruisers, a lot of them are "loopers" gathered in the Captain's Lounge for docktails that evening.  To identify which boats are doing the Loop, you look for the AGLCA (America's Great Loop Cruisers Association) burgee flag flying on the front of the boat!  We are seeing quite a few more now that we are closer to Virginia where the AGLCA rendezvous will take place.  There is much exchanging of boat stories, adventures and mis-adventures at these cocktail get togethers.  It seems everyone has a story that you think will never be topped!

Restaurant

     We got up early the next morning to cross the Albemarle Sound to our next destination.  This is a good size body of water, often we were out of sight of land.  After the crossing,  Loopers have a decision to make to continue the trip to Norfolk, Virginia.  Either you can take the Dismal Swamp route or go to Coinjock!  What a choice!  I did not think I wanted to travel in a Swamp!  Even though we heard it is beautiful, but rather shallow and narrow.  We chose to go to Coinjock.  Just saying that name out loud made us giggle a little.  Coinjock's claim to fame is their Restaurant where they serve the famous 32 ounce Prime Rib Dinner!  That is 2 pounds of meat!  We plan to eat there tonight and whatever we order, we will probably split!  I will ask about the name Coinjock!

Coinjock Marina

Coinjock Marina had loads of locally made jellies, pickled eggs, etc!