Celebrating Independence Day Down East | Eastern North Carolina Now

    My home in eastern North Carolina is famous for a number things; not least of which is the celebration of Independence Day - July 4th. In my home county of Beaufort, there is the annual, and most traditional, Town of Belhaven’s Independence Day Parade and subsequent barbeque at the Mayor’s home in Belhaven. As a local elected official, I try to ride in the parade each year, and to enjoy Mayor Adam O’Neal’s sumptuous feast of barbeque pig and chicken, with all the customary Southern side dishes that completes this culinary event that is as much of hospitality as it is about food.
Preparing the Mustang for Belhaven's Independence Day parade: Above. Having the traditional Independence Day lunch with the Mayor, Adam O'Neal; here pictured with his sister, Amber Slade: Below.     photos by Stan Deatherage



    Former Beaufort County Commissioner, and Belhaven native, Chris "Noel" Cayton discusses the history of Belhaven, and our nation on her birthday, with "First Father" Roy O'Neal at Adam's celebration.

    This year, with the Independence Day occurring on Sunday, the Town of Belhaven elected to celebrate the bulk of these festivities on the preceding Saturday. As schedules are by nature always in a state of flux, and mine is certainly no different, I took this opportunity to head further east; as far east as one can go in North Carolina; to the Outer banks village of Duck. The balance of this article is an expose of early July Down East, explained in the best and most convenient medium currently known to Man - the digital image.
Adjacent to the Mayor's home, and a landmark in Belhaven, is the River Forest Manor: Above. Looking east toward the mouth of Pantego Creek, which acts as a shoreline to Belhaven, and the wide Pungo River: Below.     photos by Stan Deatherage


Looking west toward the headwaters of Pantego Creek and the waterfront homes of Belhaven: Above.     photos by Stan Deatherage

    Take a seat, and take some time to enjoy a few pictures, with spare explanations, of how I spent July 3 through July 6, 2010. On that short trip, we celebrated the birthday of this great nation as we celebrated the natural beauty of this beautiful state; Down East.
On the way to Duck in Dare County is the Lake Mattamuskeet in Hyde County, the largest natural lake in North Carolina. The shallow lake is host to a varied population of waterfowl. It was most appropriate on my Independence Day vacation that I spotted a pair of Bald Eagles that make this partially submerged island their temporary home: Above. The lake is a perfect nursery to the abundant aquatic life that serves as readily available food to the visiting waterfowl: Below.     photos by Stan Deatherage


The Lake Mattamuskeet Lodge was built as a renovation to the original lake drainage, pumping plant that had operated for approximately two decades as the pumping station to execute the Lake's reclamation to dry farming land. During the Great Depression the pumping plant was renovated by the Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) into a hunting lodge, which was completed in November, 1937. It was then named the Mattamuskeet Lodge: Above. Along the top of the pump dike at the head of the 70' wide, navigable Outfall Canal is a walkway, where people fish for enormous Blue Crabs: Holdovers from the backwash from Wysocking Bay, when the drainage of the great lake did, on occasion, fail: Below.     photos by Stan Deatherage



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