The Great Dismal Swamp

Now there’s a name to invoke the curiosity.  Not the kind of name you would expect attached to a state park or a National Historical Area.  Sounds more like something that came out of John Bunyan’s ​Pilgrim’s Progress​, right next to the Slough of Despond.

But it is an actual area.  Once 1.25 million acres in size, this swamp was shrunk considerably when ditches and canals were dug to drain the swamp and to claim the land for agriculture.  A 22-mile primary canal was dug through this area connecting the Albemarle Sound to the Chesapeake Bay and is part of the Intercostal Waterway.  Opened in 1805, it is the oldest continually operating man-made canal in the United States.

This area is rich in history, particularly history connected with slavery.  The canals were dug primarily by enslaved people in very inhospitable conditions and the swamp was used frequently for hiding by escaped slaves, so much so that it is considered a stop on the Underground Railroad.

This was our first stop in our travels south today.  First, however, last night’s thunder caused by so many F-35 takeoffs died away at about 10pm, for which we were grateful.  Must be that fighter pilots need to sleep also.

We arrived at the Great Dismal Swamp at about 10am, planning to kayak the canal for a while.  If you’re looking for fast flow and exciting navigation in a kayak, you won’t find it here.  The canal has one curve in 22 miles and is otherwise straight for as far as the eye can see.  The bridge where we stopped can be moved out of the way for boat traffic to pass through, and the guy manning the booth appeared to be quite bored.  There was no boat traffic the entire time we were there.  The water is absolutely still.

But it was a pleasant paddle.  We spent a couple hours paddling a little over a mile north and then back again, and having lunch on the river.

One plant I’ve never seen before: the American beautyberry.  Probably because we have not done much travel during this time of the year.  This stuff is all over the place around here in the swampy areas.

About a half-hour farther down the road, we stopped at Merchants Millpond State Park.  Here is another name that really doesn’t give the right emotional feel for the park.  Rather than a pond, as the name implies, this was probably one of the nicest examples of a swamp that I have ever seen, with lots of big old-growth bald cypress trees, hanging Spanish moss, and shallow still water, creating what the brochures call an enchanted forest.  This would be the place to get out the canoe or kayak and wander around the old trees and hummocks.  It was getting a little late in the day so we hiked some of the shorter trails bordering the swamp, but this is definitely on our list to come back to next time we are in the area.

Looking back at it, we should have stayed longer.

Continuing south, we stopped to make dinner in the little town of Oak City, NC, population, 317.  Another town where a few homes and businesses surround a surprisingly large fire department building.  This town even has a town common, a large grassy area in the middle of town where outdoor events are held.  This was just across the street from the fire station.  We parked next to the town common and made dinner.

One successful experiment in the food department: meals in motion.  Deb made baked potatoes in the Instant Pot and we had them baking as we were traveling.  We stopped in a funeral home parking lot to prepare the potatoes and get them going.  Interesting funeral home, very small building, probably about half the size of my house, but there were probably 18 hearses parked around the back and both sides of it.  Must be they run an assembly line in there.  Or a disassembly line, as the case may be.

The potatoes were timed to be done when we arrived in Oak City, 25 minutes later.  They were delicious.  We demonstrated that we can successfully power the instant pot for that amount of time on the RV’s electrical system.  More meals in motion in the future.

We arrived in Greenville, NC, just before it got dark and did a little grocery shopping and got a Blizzard at DQ before stopping for the night.  So here we are at another Cracker Barrel.  When Deb called to make sure they allowed overnight parking, the manager, in response to her inquiry, told her, “Well, I won’t call to have you towed.”  I guess that’s permission enough.