Having lived in the Great American Desert all my life, I get excited when I see water.
Here on the plains of northeastern Colorado, we use an eyedropper for our water breaks. Tumbleweeds carry canteens. Fish have to adjust to breathing sand part of the year.
That’s why, on my vacation to North Carolina, I was busy making googly eyes at the enormous Tar River (it looked like the ocean to me) and all the boats at the docks.
I nearly missed the day’s highlight.
My friend didn’t miss our highlight. She lives in North Carolina and so was more jaded about water and fishing boats. (She and her husband celebrated our tumbleweeds when they came to Colorado, though. Just sayin’.)
We were on a boardwalk on the water’s edge when a man stepped out of a sailboat tied at the dock and called to us.
I Almost Missed Our Highlight
My friend stopped. I was shooting photos of boats and water and I almost missed the big moment.
This man had a crushed white shirt and equally rumpled khaki shorts. He pointed to a furry ridge on the eastern horizon. “See that island? It’s Goat Island. Privately owned.”
“Woo hoo!” I figured we were going to get some great insider information.
He studied the island for a moment. “You can’t go out there anymore. But I have a documentary about it coming out on Netflix next month. The guy who bought the island is a friend of mine.”
This was getting more interesting. A surprising gold mine for my curious tourist brain.
I Was Fascinated
“There used to be a tunnel out to it, but that collapsed.” He looked back at us.
“Oh, who built the tunnel?” my friend said.
“Blackbeard. We had to use submersibles to get to the island.”
Wow, the ancient history of the East Coast is fascinating. Blackbeard. A movie on Goat Island. This was better than the names painted on the fishing boats.
Then the man leaned out a bit and pointed at me. “You have an amazing glowing spirit around you. It’s so strong that I can see things about her.” He nodded at my friend. “She’s Pocahontas, you know. And she has a very important life decision to make today.” He stared at her. “Be sure to take that seriously. It’s life-changing, what you need to decide today. Very important.”
Then he waved his hands in the air. “Well, after all that, I need to go smoke some more grass. Maybe two.” He turned and disappeared into the cabin.
Big Decision Time
We both gawked at the boat for a moment. “So what’s your big decision going to be?” I said to my friend.
“Hmmm. Big decision.” She twisted her mouth to the side.
We never found out about the Netflix documentary on Goat Island or the collapsed tunnel built by Blackbeard. But my friend’s big decision found us a place that served tasty fish for lunch.
Water adventures are amazing!
