Water Shows That Best Plans Are No Plans

Since moving to eastern North Carolina, the Layton family has traded in its mountain hiking gear for watercraft as they find new ways to explore the region they call home.

By Nicole Bowman-Layton Albemarle Magazine

Goodmans Island via Google Maps

BERTIE COUNTY -- During a recent sunny day, my husband and I packed two kayaks and headed down to the Roanoke River in Bertie County.

We expected a quick trip, but as with all great adventures -- it ended up being a bit longer than we planned. It was a true three-hour tour.

We ended up going around Goodmans Island, which lies where the Albemarle Sound meets the opening of the Roanoke River. There’s two openings to the Roanoke, by the way. We didn’t know we were going around an island at the time. We just thought we found this cool path along a bridge then headed one way to avoid a fast-moving current that was downstream in the opposite direction.

Like many waterways along the Albemarle Sound, the Roanoke River offered a beautiful pathway into the interior of northeast North Carolina. Taking in the region in a different way makes you appreciate it more.

You could see rows of turtles sitting on logs; the same muddy water that has been used by generations of Americans for travel, trade and pleasure.

It’s almost a spiritual experience sometimes. My husband has seen porpoises in the Albemarle Sound during his kayak trips. He’s almost died a few times -- as the kids and I have driven to various places on the sound to pick him up -- stranded and exhausted. But every time, he comes back with a smile on his face and a new appreciation for this part of North Carolina we call home.

It can also be a metaphor for life. At one point, everything is calm, peaceful. Sometimes you get a wicked wind that makes the same water a perfect place for speeding with a sail -- a thrilling adventure. That same wind can really pick up, making you worry about whether getting back to land is possible -- that near death experience you learn from but never want to repeat.

It was like that with our tour, everything was calm until we hit where the rivers meet the sound. Then we had to make a do-or-die decision -- keep flailing around in our kayaks and turn back or keep going paddling to a point that my husband vaguely remembered on a map.

We kept going, hugging the riverbank as much as we could. Eventually, a row of cypress trees opened up, revealing an opening. We found shelter from the wind, and a long way home along the other opening of the Roanoke River.

Once we got out of that scary part, there was a bit of euphoria. As we counted down the numbered bird houses to our destination, we saw even more of what makes this region in North Carolina beautiful. And as the boat ramp and our car came back into view, there was a big sigh of relief. We made it.

Sometimes the best plans are not making plans. You make the best of your situation and just let things evolve as God intended.

As we navigate through this new normal during and after the coronavirus pandemic, I hope this edition of Albemarle Magazine will help you make the most of your time in one of the best regions of North Carolina.

30

Albemarle Magazine Summer 2020

Albemarle Magazine Summer 2020

31