Bonus morning out

Photos

Tuesday, February 3, 2015

This morning we had originally planned to be at a lake, some lake, any lake before sunrise to try to catch a mass fly-off of tundra swans for the fields for the day. Clay unilaterally decided not to do that and I didn't argue. Breakfast was served starting at 6:30am and we were not the first to arrive. It was probably 6:45am though before the biscuits and meats arrived on the buffet, so there was no point in arriving early. I had a pancake and Swiss Miss with coffee along with 3 pieces of bacon and a cup of yogurt. Clay had some cold cereal with a banana and then some hot food and juice.

We were checked out and on the road before the sun was fully above the horizon, but it was light out. We tried to drive straight to Lake Phelps at Pettigrew State Park, but once again we were foiled by no street names on the maps and a lack of signage. Even knowing where to look for roads we where not finding them and finding other unnamed or named roads that were not on the maps or shown on the GPS. We spent a lot of time with the GPS showing us off-roading! Since we did not find the near, or west side, approach to Pettigrew State Park, it was further away that we had thought and if there were ever any birds on Lake Phelps they were long gone when we arrived. Lake Phelps is the 2nd largest natural lake in NC. It is only 9 feet deep at its deepest point. I believe Lake Mattamuskeet was equally shallow. Anyway, the visitor's center was closed when we arrived but we picked up another map by the door. It was 29F and very sunny but we didn't linger outdoors here. We drove around trying to orient ourselves with the new map and drove by Somerset Place. It wasn't open yet either but we didn't come for that. We were still hoping for more birds. Now, we know where to take Judy though for her plantation fix, if she ever comes back up to visit us again.

We set off again to try to get to Pungo Lake. We never made it again. But, we got our first bonus of the day! As we sat at the corner of the barricaded Allen Road and Shore Drive studying maps and trying to figure out what to do without going back to a frozen mud Pat's Road, Clay saw something moving in the canal beside us. I looked and it was an otter! I put down the map and 2 more appeared. Clay was trying to get his camera. As I rolled down my window all 3 river otters popped their heads up and just stared at us. I am afraid I squealed! The otters vanished and swam off down the canal. I know because I chased their bubbles down the canal by running along the road! We hung around some more quietly and hoped their curiosity would bring them back, but no such luck. Neither of us knew before seeing river otters on Lake Mattamuskeet's wildlife list that otters even lived in NC. We can only ever remember seeing wild otters in the Pacific at Moonstone Beach and Clay saw some on the Mississippi River. So, that was very exciting and helped make up for failing to find any birds this morning. Oh, we also saw a big fat raccoon walking down Shore Drive.

So, we decided to just head back to 64 and drive home that way. We stopped off to see Plymouth's Historic riverfront downtown first.

Clay had plans for lunch. He let me choose. I had picked Abrams BBQ from Clay's NC BBQ map. It was in Tarboro. Clay had me Google it on his phone as we sat at that intersection and it started a lunch buffet at 11am. It looked like we could arrive just after that time and we did. I picked it because people reported that they had chicken pastry! I picked a winner!

We stopped on the way at Mackey's Ferry peanuts shop where we bought a tub of rancid dry roasted peanuts. Yeck! I am not sure I can recommend a stop here, maybe we just got unlucky. They had an array of free peanut samples and a wide range of other products so maybe Clay just picked up the wrong thing.

When we got to Abrams at Tarboro a little after 11am, we saw the sign and got our 2nd bonus of the day. Cheese biscuits! I should warn you though that this regional delicacy is evidently considered a breakfast food. Abrams stops serving them at 11am. They were not on the buffet so we asked if we could order one. Not after 11am. We were disappointed, so the waitress offered to see if any were leftover from breakfast. She asked how many we wanted. Just one to share and have a taste. She came back with 2 hot and steamy, cheesy biscuit balls on a plate and told us there was no charge! They were gooey and heavy and different than anything we'd had before. But I'm not sure if either of us loved them. Maybe we were just too stuffed already for anything that heavy! They were good though and we were happy we got to try them. Clay had fried chicken and bbq from the buffet. I had chicken pastry and mashed potatoes and hush puppies. It was my white plate. Speaking of plates, that would be my only complaint. Paper plates! Abrams hush puppies were the best either of us have ever eaten anywhere. They were ethereal! I will never eat another hush puppy without comparing it to these. We both eat too many! Clay thought the bbq had a strange flavor, not bad, just not a normal bbq taste. He asked for vinegar, I never saw any bbq sauce and she brought him 2 different kinds of vinegar. He thought a little vinegar made the bbq better. When I finished my white plate, delicious by the way, I went back and got a bbq plate of brown food. I immediately tasted the difference and could actually see it. You usually see red pepper flakes in que, but not black pepper flecks. This bbq you could see the black pepper in it too. It tasted of black pepper! I didn't dislike it, but was surprised that Clay did. At home, he grinds a crunchy layer of black pepper over every dish I serve him, so I thought he really likes the taste. But, I guess not. I thought the vinegar improved it too, but I also liked it. Dessert was the only weak offering in both our opinions. There was sheet cake, peach cobbler and banana pudding. We both got more than our $8.99 (I believe that was the price!) worth of lunch. We were so stuffed we skipped dinner at home!

So, that's the end of our swan story.

Photos