Oriental, North Carolina

If you would like to get into the conversation with somebody in Oriental, just walk from the town dock to the coffee shop across the road. In the morning java craving residents of Oriental are congregating on the porch sipping hot liquids and shooting the breeze. They are friendly and helpful bunch. One gentleman suggested that we could just plug our now-empty battery into the Pirates Queen's socket, she wouldn't mind would she? And she, right at his side, said not at all. In fact she proved to be our most valuable resource there, offering us to use her bathroom and a shower, something we never say no to. We end up becoming friends with couple of young people, Russ and Nikki who worked in this outfit and we even crashed pad that night, after hanging out and having pizza together. We walked around the town that day, looking for a second hand shop, where I found a small solar panel that could help us with our constant electricity shortages. Tobi tried on a gorgeous dress and then we slipped off to the local bookstore where we picked up some classics. In the evening we hanged out with Nikki and Russ. We went to see their place and then to the opening party of the Tiki Bar, where it started to rain cats and dogs. Nikki and Tobi decided to have a little fun. They went sliding through the mud and grass to end up in the puddle of water. Girls had lots of fun with the mud and rain and all, but Tobi was quite upset when she heard some rude comments from the bar. Some folks just have to rain on somebody’s good times to feel better about themselves.

Next morning Tobi went to Farmer's Market and happily sat in the bakery nearby sipping coffee and enjoying a delectable still-warm pineapple-coconut-cream cheese bun waiting for the Market to open. The pastry was heavenly, although she would note later on that in REAL heaven she'll be able to eat something that sweet without getting a sick sugary feeling. Eventually Tobi went back to the Market and bought some eggs, tomatoes and cucumbers. Tobi then met Dawn, The Pirate Queen, who gave her a ride back and then let us use the car to run to the grocery store to get some bread. We were touched by kindness of those people and sadly said our goodbyes when we pulled out of Oriental’s town dock to sail away.

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