Church in Swan Quarter

My love of churches is such that wherever I go they are the buildings that I am most aware of, and drawn to. I love to study the architecture, to look at the variations in structure that still keep the traditional church character. The arched windows, stained glass, pointed gables, etc. C loves churches and old buildings in general, too, and so we were perfectly happy to spend our honeymoon driving from town to little town, looking at old, often crumbling, buildings.

This is the first church we encountered, located in the tiny town of Swan Quarter, where we arrived on the first day of our honeymoon, with several hours to kill before we could catch the ferry over to Ocracoke Island. We busied ourselves "touring" the town, which consisted of this crumbling church, a couple of newer churches, an old and sketchy sort of restaurant, plenty of farmhouses, a decrepit dock full of old fishing boats, and a "wildlife viewing area." We ate lunch in the center of town, where someone had built a two-level gazebo, and then wandered about looking at all the interesting things like

this old car (extra credit to those who can name the make, model, and year!):

this pile of crab traps that looked like some sort of contemporary art sculpture:

these boats:

each other:Most of all we liked the old church, which was very mysterious with its gray paintless wood and equally abandoned looking semi trailer and boat parked alongside it. Bees nested in an upper story, gaining access through a broken windowpane. Key blanks were scattered around the front steps. The heavy summer heat of the South and the general lack of passersby added to the mystery of the place.

But soon it was time to catch the ferry, and soon C and I were off to our island getaway. After a 2 hour ride, which we thoroughly enjoyed--watching diving pelicans and passing sailboats--we arrived on the small island and easily found the place that would be our home for the next 4 days, a charming and spacious house right on the water of the island's bay, or Silver Lake as they call it. There we had a gorgeous view of the boats coming in and out, and all the water activities, which we could watch from a deck overlooking the harbor. Soon I was frying up pancakes and we were watching the sunset. A wonderful way to start the honeymoon!