So at the end of the Dismal Swamp we have spent 2 & ½ days here at the free dock in Elizabeth City. NC. We got to visit the Albermarle Museum yesterday and have got our steps in, in the last two days.
The nights have been cold and am glad that I brought winter leggings, warm socks and a fleece blanket that Nathanael made Eric several years ago as a Christmas gift. Each one of those items have become beloved gear in my bed.
The wind has been up so we did not sail out today.
This city is one that was smack in the middle of the Civil War. Families were split with some supporting the confederates and some the unionists. Today I saw churches of the same denomination with the black congregation in a smaller building on one side of the street and the white congregation in a much larger building across the street.
During our visit I came to meet two wonderful people, Miss Alice & Valerie. Miss Alice, on the first afternoon we were here asked if I was comfortable and did I get what I needed. So I asked her where the grocery store and laundromat was and she gave me the directions. She came back the next evening to make sure I got everything I needed. I hadn’t got the groceries yet so she offered to drive me. It was a couple of miles and we had a lovely time. So we hit two grocery stores and a post office. She was patient and always told me to ,’take ‘yo time, I’m not is a hurry.’ She felt the Lord had given her a car and she was to use it.
Now Valerie on the other hand is homeless, her mama had died in the spring and she became homeless not long after. A sad story. Valerie called me Miss Val and offered to do some cleaning for a little money. Now we are living on a boat, my square footage is at its minimum compared to Rothesay Road. So I asked Miss Alice what might I do and she thought about it. Between stores she said, ‘Miss Val I’s been thinking that a Bojangle Gift card will be the perfect thing for Valerie. She got two pieces of chicken, biscuits and a drink. That’ll fill her belly.’ I love Alice! A woman generous, thoughtful and such a warm woman full of joy. Again speaking of thankfulness she is a woman obviously living on very limited means yet wanted only to bless others. …. so that’s a little story from Elizabeth City.