Thursday, July 22, 2010

My Home Town-Belhaven, North Carolina

I thought I share a little about my home town, where I grew up.  But first, I wanted to let you know about yesterday's pic.  That was a pic of a Atlantic Bottle-nosed Dolphin.  Several times a year they swim up in the creek behind my parents' house.  They are chasing the plethera of speckled trout, mullets, and other tasty fish.  They were actually partially breaching and blowing water, but my camera just wasn't fast enough to catch all that.  They are nice to look at, but they ruin the fishing.  You can forget catching anything when they show up.

I grew up in the small town of Belhaven, North Carolina.  It's a lovely little town nestled right on the Pungo River.  It is only 8 miles from the Pamlico Sound and sits at only seven feet above sea level. 
I actually grew up at Pamlico Beach, a small waterfront community about 13 miles southeast of Belhaven.  It is really country living, but quite the peaceful life.  There's no hustle and bustle of city life.  You won't find night clubs or twenty-four hour grocery stores.  In fact, there's only one grocery store, Food Lion, in this quaint village of approxiamtely 2,000 inhabitants.  The big industries are tourism, bed-and-breakfasts, and fishing.
One of the more popular bed-and-breakfasts is River Forest Manor.  It is a beautful plantation type home converted into a B-N-B with a restaraunt.
My family occasionally visits for a seafood dinner after church on Sunday.
There are a few small shops downtown.  Tourists can often be seen strolling down Main Street on golf carts seeing the sights and lovely homes along Water Street.  There are a few small eateries, as well, in the area.
With any community so close to the rivers, sounds, and even the ocean, fishing for a living is quite common.  I, myself, come from a long line of family members that fish or have fished for a living.  My grandfather started with a small boat and a handful of crab pots when he was only 12 years old.  He is 78 years old today and still fishes for a living.  Of course, I have also made money at fishing, as has my dad, my mom's dad, my mom's grandfather, and many uncles, aunts, cousins, etc. 
In fact, the first job I ever had was on a fishing boat.  I was six months old.  My mom put me in a fish box, and I sat in the wheel house watching the large steering wheel turn from side to side.  My grandfather gave my mom $20.00 because I was on "wheel watch".  I could do an entire blog on commercial fishing, so I will leave that topic here.
Living near the water means there are many opportunites for water sports.  There is always fishing with a fishing pole.  Speed boating and sailing are quite common, as well as water skiing, hydrosliding, and personal water crafts.
There's a history to Belhaven, along with some of the surrounding small towns.  North Carolina is on the central eastern seaboard of the United States where many of the early settlements were.  One of Belhaven's historic buildings is the town hall.
The town hall houses the police department, the town museum, and the town hall offices.  There are nearby historic towns and districts, too, such as Bath, N.C., North Carolina's oldest town from 1789.  It's roots go further back, but that is when it was recognized as a township.
All in all, Belhaven is a nice place to live, particularly is you like the peace and quite of a small town.  There are drawbacks.  It's about a 40 minute drive to the nearest Wal-Mart in Washington, N.C.  As previously mentioned, there are no 24 hour stores.  Some of the stores even close by 7 p.m. And where my parents live, it is a  20 minute drive into town.  But that is a small price to pay for the peaceful, picturesque place to enjoy life.

27 comments:

LindaG said...

I thought of you when we ended up at the Washington Flea Market on Sunday. ;)

Beautiful place you all have. ♥

Callie Brady said...

Seems like a wonderful place to grow up. I love small town life.

Anonymous said...

Lovely photos and real interesting! :) xxx

Nekkid Chicken said...

Sounds like a wonderful slice of heaven.

Anonymous said...

Dear Randy and Mike, I was fascinated to have your explanation of yesterday's picture having no idea that dolphins would swim so far inland.

Both Belhaven and Pamlico Beach look to be totally idyllic, peaceful and very attractive. How wonderful to be far away from all the trappings of big city life, the disadvantages of which can so often outweigh the advantages.

I was also most intrigued to know of your and your family's background in the fishing industry. A very far cry from life in the army and keeping chicken!

Becca's Dirt said...

What a nice place to grow up Randy. It looks like such a quaint little place. That is a very small town - like the area I live now. I would love to visit the area - maybe one day. Have a good day.

PS thanks for the encoraging words.

Chicken Boys said...

I now live in Winterville, just outside of Greenville, NC. Greenville is about 250,000 if I remember correctly. A decent sized city, anyway. We have two Lowe's and the prospects of a second Wal-Mart. We often visit my parents just to get a break.

Edith Hope-It is quite different from the army and raising chickens. I've lived a fairly eclectic life. I lived in the country and the city. I've lived in the north and the south. I've been in 48 of the 50 states and traveled to six other countries. I find life to be interesting; around the globe, around the country, around the state, around the corner. I enjoy learning about....well life in general!
~Randy

John Going Gently said...

like seeing a NORMAL ROCKWELL painting crossed with Forest Gump!!!
great memories

LemonyRenee' said...

Thanks for the little look-around, Randy. My little guy would love to talk fishing with you someday. He lives for his annual birthday trip which is always somewhere near the Maryland coast. He tries to catch crab for hours and hours with a chicken neck. This year, he's well on his way to talking his dad into buying a couple traps. ;)

Sounds like you've had an interesting life so far, Randy . . . working at 6 mos!

LemonyRenee' said...

P.S. LOVE the new look!

Christine H. said...

What a charming and beautiful place.

Geoff W said...

I love the buildings also the fishing, we charter small day trip boats which travel about 3 miles out but dont really catch anything big.

Carol............. said...

This is my first visit to your blog and enjoyed myself reading your posts!

Congrads on becoming an uncle!

Aaerelon said...

I don't get it. You went to post a picture of your town and there's nothing there. :P Looks like a nice place. Those plantation style homes look nice but always make me feel uncomfortable. I think it's more because they reek of money than the other thing... Enjoy your newly appointed uncleage!

BadPenny said...

Oh I love your background !
Thanks for sharng this - I like the story of you getting paid for wheel watch !

Gill - That British Woman said...

what a beautiful place, I would love to visit there.

Gill in Canada

fromsophiesview said...

Thanks for that....I really like geographic positioning stuff...off to the beach...cheers!

Phillip Oliver said...

It looks like a beautiful town. We live near a river but nothing like that. It is spectacular.

Joanna@BooneDocksWilcox said...

thanks for the tour, maybe I can see it for myself one day

Marie Anne said...

I'm not familiar with Belhaven, but have lived several other places in NC. I'd give most anything to go back.

Beautiful town - thanks for sharing your piece of the world.

Donna said...

Beautiful place to have grown up in Randy!! And Happy Birthday to GrandFather!! How neat is That?!!
This was a Cool post! Fun to find out more about you!
Happy weekend to you!
hughugs

Jim said...

Randy, thanks for sharing your 'little corner of the world'. Never been to NC...it looks and sounds like a great place to live. Fishing is a mainstay here for some as well....you'd survive here as well!

Jim said...

Oh yeah, your 'new look' is great!

Mami said...

That's a wonderful place you grow up. thanks for sharing your home town.

Nancy K. said...

What a beautiful place to spend one's childhood! Do you go back often?

Marie Anne said...

Me again!

I'm passing two awards on to you and you need to stop by http://gallongarden.blogspot.com/2010/07/awards-day.html to pick them up!

Houdini said...

Great post - looks like you need to invest in a boat - it'd be much quicker to get everywhere!? Hope you guys are well ;-)