Friends of Fort Macon

We are located only two-and-a-half miles from Fort Macon, and Fort Macon Road this time of year has little traffic.  It is thus a perfect place to run, one mile on the road, past the landmark Bridge House, and then A Place at the Beach, and Tar Landings Villa, and then Fort Macon Park itself with its dune-side and sound-side trails starting and ending at the Picnic Area (which they call The Bathhouse).  Last year we often hiked these trails on days when we were not running and we hope to do so again this year.

The Fort is a piece of Civil War history and is the second most visited State Park in North Carolina.  As runners, we especially like it because it has convenient rest rooms and water fountains mid-way during a five- or six-mile run, and we have also enjoyed events there in past years such as a musket-firing demonstration and a bird walk.  Because of this, Martha decided to become a "Friend of Fort Macon," making a donation last year, and now we receive the newsletter from time to time.

The Park was hit hard by Hurricane Florence, as Ranger Randy described in his newsletter last month.  "The waves were crashing through the Bathhouse eastern beach access and my residence (near the Coast Guard station) flooded from high tidal water coming out of the marsh.  My kids took advantage of the flood water to cast net the front yard for small fish which included (and this amount of detail is typical of Ranger Randy) mullet, sheepshead, sharptail goby, and other common marsh minnows."  Randy and his kids moved some of the valuable exhibits in the Fort from waters that filled the moat and interior of the Fort.  The power had failed and thus the pumps keeping the moat dry did not work.

Morehead City received nearly 24 inches of rain from Florence, which is an amount that is simply impossible for me to comprehend.  We have had four- and five-inch rains in Highlands, but the water drains quickly away, on its way to either the Savannah (on our property) or Tennessee river basins.  The effects of damage from Florence are apparent everywhere - hammering and construction equipment is background noise every day we have been here, and blue tarps on roofs are apparent everywhere.

Two of our favorite entertainment venues in past years - Atlantic Beach Cinema and Carteret Community Theater - are still not open and may never open.  And a local told us that 400 people were still homeless, living in churches.

Today we attended a Friends of Fort Macon monthly meeting, held (Dutch treat) at the Tsunami Grill in Morehead City.  Following lunch, Park Ranger Ben (who did the musket demonstration last year) gave an interesting presentation on other State Parks in the area.  At one of the parks, he had found a Pygmy Rattler, he said, and he wanted to take it home with him - he is something of a herpetologist, apparently - but was dissuaded because it would have been illegal to remove such a rare snake from a State Park.  I have to confess that I am not as enthusiastic about rattlesnakes as he is, and had it been found on our property Ben would have been appalled to learn that I would have likely dispatched it with a musket (or similar firearm).

The Tsunami Grill was a large mostly-Chinese buffet, similar to one we know in Brevard called the Twin Dragons.  Our two fortune cookies were unwrapped and cracked open, and the narrow strips of paper within (can we still call them "fortunes?") said:

A small house can hold as much happiness

As a large one

Book lovers

Never go to bed alone

We have settled in after only four full days here.  The running has gone very well for both of us.  After a five-mile run on Saturday, I ran a good three-miler on Monday, and this morning I ran a four-mile run that has to be one of my best runs in a long time.  I felt strong, my knee did not hurt - it felt as if I was turning a corner on my running, finally.  Looking ahead, there are 5-Ks, 10-Ks, and half marathons on the horizon, and this morning all of them felt within my grasp.