Plying the Crystal Coast...

…under a Black Flag, of course.

The weather in Virginia Beach was warm and calm – unusually so for this time of year. So we decided to head south toward the Crystal Coast and the old town of Beaufort, North Carolina for an overnight trip.

We went in search of pirates. To be specific, we went in search of the most notorious pirate of them all – Edward Teach, AKA Blackbeard.

I had heard that his flagship, the Queen Anne’s Revenge, had been discovered lying on a sandbar just outside Beaufort Inlet, known in Blackbeard’s day as Topsail Inlet. Underwater archaeological recovery efforts had been going on for about ten years and I wanted to see some of the artifacts myself.

So we set out on a clear afternoon, down past the Great Dismal Swamp, where “black bear crossing” signs stood. I didn’t want to meet a black bear here. I had seen a bear skin not long ago – one of the biggest bear skins I had ever seen and was told that they grew that large in the Great Dismal. So I had no intention of making any stops along those sodden shores.

After a four hour journey and well into the sunset, we arrived in Beaufort. It is a town of very charming, very old houses and many, if not most, are B&Bs. But most of those are closed during winter months. So we settled into the nearly equally as charming and very friendly Inlet Inn, situated directly across from the harbor.There was a view of Carrot Island on the other side, with its population of wild horses. Rachel Carson did her pivotal environmental work on that very island years ago.

Our room was wonderful, complete with a long, old-fashioned window seat, into which my son settled with a book immediately.

The next day we visited the North Carolina Maritime Museum and saw the small collection of artifacts the museum currently holds from the shipwreck. It seems Blackbeard probably scuttled the Queen Anne’s Revenge deliberately, having blockaded the port of Charleston, South Carolina so recently with it and now it was too much a recognizable liability for him. He removed most of the valuables before leaving the ship and scattered his crew, probably so as not to have to share the treasure and in order to make an easier getaway. Because of his having cheated his crew, there was ready testimony against him when some of the men were caught.

The QAR was formerly a French slaver, La Concorde, refitted by Blackbeard after its capture by him into an incredibly effective pirate warship. Some of the artifacts recovered include a small amount of African gold, which helps to identify the vessel. The divers have also found a part of the ship which has since been raised – study of this part will also help to confirm the identity and will also be on exhibit when the museum completes its new annex. There is also a ship’s bell, pewter plates,

navigational and surveying tools, and lots and lots of cannon.

There is also this peculiar and very telling object.

It is a penile syringe, used to administer mercury into the urethra in hopes of securing a cure for venereal disease. During Blackbeard’s blockade of Charleston, one of his demands was for medical supplies and treatment for venereal disease was among the supplies requested. I think it is difficult to have a more intimate view of a man than to view his very own penile syringe – even at a distance in time of nearly 300 years.

Blackbeard had a favorite place to stay in Beaufort – an inn called the Hammock House, which is now the oldest house in Beaufort, having been built in 1709.

Today it is a private residence. Back in Blackbeard’s day it stood much closer to the creek – so close in fact that one could tie one’s boat up to the trees in the front yard. The course of the creek has changed since those days and now it sits at some distance from the water’s edge. It is said that he married young Mary Ormond here, but it is also said that he had 14 “wives” along with the wife and child he is supposed to have had back in England. Apparently Blackbeard was susceptible to Love and to women.

Blackbeard obtained a King’s pardon for his piratical activities – and needed it, too, after his attack on Charleston. He likely obtained the pardon through the Governor of North Carolina, Charles Eden, who was probably receiving payment and goods from the pirate as well. The Royal Navy eventually killed Blackbeard by order of Governor Alexander Spotswood of Virginia, who refused to tolerate Blackbeard’s operating so close to Virginia shores. After all, Blackbeard was in charge of a fleet of ships and several hundred men and could have easily destabilized the fledgling country, which depended on maritime trade so heavily. Although Blackbeard had received a pardon, he was settling into a new community of pirates rather more comfortably than the Governor liked just south of Virginia. The decision to attack Blackbeard was controversial, out of the Virginia Governor’s jurisdiction, and it is possible the Governor eventually lost his job over the action.

After viewing the exhibit, we toured the rest of Beaufort, and then headed back to our “headquarters” in Virginia. It had been a good raid.