MOREHEAD CITY - FORT MACON

Trip Day:              37         Latitude:          34°43.07' N                        Locks Today:    0

Miles Today:        0        Longitude:     076°42.34' W                        Locks Total:     6

Total Miles:    1,008       Location:     Morehead City, NC  / Portside Marina



Today we began our visit to Morehead City by touring Fort Macon.  Fort Macon ,which guards the entrance to Beaufort Harbor, was built between 1826 and 1834. Local secessionist militia forces seized the fort on April 14, 1861 at the outbreak of the Civil War. On April 25, 1862, the Union forces and gunboats bombarded Fort Macon for eleven hours before the Confederates ran up the white flag and formally surrendered the fort.

Fort Macon was used in the War Between the States, the Spanish American war and World War II. In World War II the military used the fort to guard against German U2 submarine attacks.

View of the entrance to the harbor from the Cidital of the fort which had rows of cannons around the perimeter. 

The fort layed abandoned for decades before the State took posession in the 1920s and undertook a major restoration.  The local preservationists have done an amazing job of making the fort come alive for a visitor.



Just a peek at the dunes and the Atlantic.








We had an amazing dinner at Floyd's; fried green tomatoes with grilled shrimp, tomato basil crab bisque, delicately fried oysters, blue cheese grits, prime rib, good wine . Dessert will have to wait for another night.

The highlight of our day has been the people we have met.  The owner of Porside Marina, Denard, has been so helpful and full of information.  His great-grandfather was a Confederate soldier at Fort Macon during the eleven hour battle.  It only takes a few minutes talking to Denard and his wife to feel like family!  Another sailor at the marina, Webb, drove Ron to West Marine for parts.

Tonight while we had dinner at Floyd's we met a group of people from New York and New Jersey.  We told them about our adventure and they shared stories of New York and convinced us that Pecan Pie is high in protein and, therefore, should be consumed often.