Oriental, NC

Arrived at Oriental, NC this morning and stayed at the new Oriental Harbor Marina. A very nice facility! Walked the entire town in two hours including the smallest West Marine we've ever seen.

In preparation for visiting here, we both studied up on our Japanese and Chinese but, after a full day of walking around, we saw no one from Japan, China or Korea! Even went to the Oriental Women's Club but none there either.

Actually, a merchant ship (Oriental) was destroyed in a gale near here in 1862. The ships' name board washed ashore and the name of the town was changed from Smith's Creek to Oriental.

Oriental bills itself as "The Sailing Capital of North Carolina". There are over 3,000 boats calling Oriental as a homeport...in a town with a population of 830!