Normally we would spend several days in Elizabeth City hitting several of the breweries and restaurants, but the USACE was closing the Dismal Swamp Canal down for several days of maintenance so we had to zip through the canal on the 19th.
It was just as well as there was a cold front blowing through with light showers throughout the day, so a good day to motor up through the protected waters of the river and canal.
The Pasquotank River north from Elizabeth City, along with the Waccamaw in South Carolina, are the two prettiest sections along the entire 1000mile long ICW from Norfolk to Miami. We love to take this route and see the cypress forests bordering the river and listen to the birds. We always see ospreys here and occasionally bald eagles. (We also see snakes in the Pasquotank) There are reports of more alligators being sighted up this far north but it was a fairly cool day so I expect they were huddled up.
At the head of the river we enter the Dismal Swamp Canal through the South Mills lock. Going up 8 feet to canal height. At Deep Creek lock to the north we will drop back down 4 feet to the height of the Chesapeake Bay.
Through the lock before the rain came so we were happy.
