NEW BERN, NC.  Interesting drive from Shawboro.  As we drove away from there, the sun finally came out and has been out ever since.  I guess we were not meant to see the Outer Banks, but the drive here was much more pleasant in good weather.

As we saw in Shawboro, the water level here is very high, and this was the case along every back road and highway.  Lots of water and always right up to the edge of the road.  The park manager here said that right after the hurricane, the water was up over the top of the chain link fence out front of the park by U.S. 17.  That means that about 3 feet of standing water covered the area from across the highway back to the Neuse River.

Note the Chain Link Fence By the Highway
Click on Image to Enlarge

On our drive here we crossed several sizable rivers, the Pasquotank, Little, Perquiman, and Chowan that all flow into the huge Albemarle Sound which leads to the ocean.  After that it was the Pamlico and Neuse Rivers, which flow into the even bigger Pamlico Sound.  Water everywhere and very low land elevation.  Not a good combination in a bad storm.

When we arrived to check in, we found the temporary office to be in a small travel trailer while the work to complete the renovation of the main office building, showers, and laundry continued.  We have our own shower and laundry, so we are fine.  The manager reminded us that on Nov 13th it will be only two months since the storm hit.

This afternoon we went grocery shopping at the nearby Food Lion.  I had thought that this chain of stores had gone out of business since they disappeared in northeast Florida, but Virginia, Maryland, and North Carolina are full of them, which is excellent in that their competition is awful.  They will likely take over the area.  They are very good stores, almost as good as Publix.  I had not remembered them to be that good when they were in Florida.