The NC family spent Halloween together in Beaufort, NC, a coastal city with ties to Blackbeard. Grandma Mary rented a house with room for everyone- both sets of grandparents, Scott and I and the boys, Melissa, Sarah and Kate, and Ian and his girlfriend Michelle. Saturday was a gorgeous day and we explored the waterfront, saw wild ponies, and carved pumpkins for the annual pumpkin carving contest. Close to dark, after a spooky early dinner, we headed out for a little trick-or-treating and then went on the local Haunted Ghost Walk. Connor got the idea of trick-or-treating quickly and they were SO cute, if I say so myself. They were dressed as a fireman and a dalmation fire puppy.
I had been excited for weeks about their costumes and even overspent on Connors costume after I saw it in Costco and then they sold out. The week prior to Halloween, I was worried Connor would refuse to wear his costume...he is starting to get a little particular and testing his limits. He seemed to have lost interest in the costume after trying it on once or twice, but the idea of candy...a new interest...made him excited to get dressed. They both gladly got into their costumes, loaded into the wagon, and looked for a house with a light on. After the ghost walk, we hit a few more houses on the way back to our house. It got late, and even though he was tired, Connor still wanted to find more houses.
Unfortunately, back at our house at the end of the island, GGBob waited patiently for any trick-or-treaters to come by for candy or to see our pumpkins, but no one happened by. When we all gathered back at the house, we voted for the pumpkin contest. If I remember correctly, Mannix won for cutest with his Mr. Potato Head pumpkin, Ian and Michelle won a prize (most original or best overall) for the drunk pumpkin, and Melissa and Julie won a prize with the pirate themed pumpkin with a ship on it. Enjoy the photos- remember you can click on each photo to see it larger.
The Story of BlackBeard and his Coastal Playground
While in the Bahama's, Edward Teach began his odessy as the most feared pirate on the high seas and came to acquire the ship that he renamed "The Queen Anne's Revenge".
In New Providence, Teach met Capt. Benjamin Hornigold whose crew he joined in 1716. In very little time, he became Hornigold's protégé, and soon was given a captured sloop with six cannons to command while still serving under Hornigold.
It was during the latter part of 1717 that Hornigold and Teach encountered a large ship off St. Vincent flying the French flag. Hornigold and Teach both fired from their sloops across the bow of the French boat and killed many on board. The ship, known as the "Concorde" surrendered. She was actually a dutch built 'flute' that had come into the possession of a St. Malo frenchman. The boat was rich in booty, and with Hornigold's hold now filled with treasure, Teach asked if he could be given the command of the captured ship. Hornigold knew he was reaching the end of his pirating days, and with the wealth he had accummulated, he could retire. He agreed to give the ship to Teach and to retire to New Providence. It was the last time he would see the man he had trained well to become the vicious pirate Blackbeard.
Blackbeard honed his piracy skills, selecting bigger and better targets. But his greatest feat was yet to come. In May 1718, Blackbeard decided to blockcade the harbor of Charleston, South Carolina. He stretched his vessels across the harbor and made demands of the town for money, supplies and medicine. The blockade wore on for weeks, and without firing a shot, Blackbeard slowly received what he came for. The humiliation of the town at the hands of pirates made the citizens determined to stop piracy and send a lesson to any who practiced it. Four months later, they got their hands on Stede Bonnet, Blackbeard's sometimes pirate friend. The people of Charleston hanged him.
Blackbeard gave his new ship the name "The Queen Anne's Revenge". He sailed the vessel until June of 1718, when he sailed it into the Beaufort Inlet, known at that time as the Topsail Inlet. It was there that he intentionally ran the ship aground under the pretense of cleaning off the hull. In reality, he was plotting yet another theft of booty, but this time it was from his own crew and his then ally Stede Bonnett. He took the treasure and his favorite crew members and abandoned the ship in the inlet to be taken by the tide.
After Abandoning "The Queen Anne's Revenge" and the smaller vessel "Adventure" in the inlet, Blackbeard ane the remaining crew took the other ships up Pamlico Sound to the town of Bath. There he received a pardon from the Royal Governor and lived in Bath for a time making friends with the locals and the wealthy planters.
The lure of piracy was too much for Edward Teach, and he soon fell back into sailing the North Carolina and Virginia coast looking for ships to plunder. He had settled on Ockracoke Island, near Cape Hatteras, as his outpost. It was here that Lieutenant Maynard of the Royal Navy found Blackbeard anchored at his favorite spot on the south side of the island. His ships crept up on Blackbeard's and a fierce battle broke out between them. Both sides took heavy casualties, and eventually Blackbeard was killed in battle overwhelmed by the training and firepower of the Royal navy. Blackbeard's head was cut off and his body thrown overboard where legend has that it swam around the ship several times before sinking. The skull was displayed as a trophy on Mayard's arrival in Bath and in Virginia.
