12.04 "Whoa!"

A horse obeys the sign hanging on her barn

I found this scene on "Teach's Cove Road," which runs the spit of land between Smiths Creek and Kershaw Creek to Dewey Point, right across the creek from Oriental.

The road is named for Captain Edward Teach, AKA "Blackbeard" the pirate.

Notorious buccaneer and frequent North Carolina resident Blackbeard,
pictured with his trademark lighted fuses protruding from beneath his hat

Legend has it that Blackbeard would occasionally camp out the peninsula "for relaxation," and that he buried some treasure below a now-vanished tree on the point:

"Teach's Oak is located almost at the water's edge on a peninsula farm lying between the Neuse River and two creeks, Smith and Green. Large and ancient, and now gnarled and bent, the old tree was many years ago named after the infamous freebooter. Local tradition avers that Blackbeard posted a sentinel in its branches. There is evidence that the area has been dug up in the search for buried treasure, but none has been found."

- Blackbeard the Pirate - A Reappraisal of His Life and Times, Robert E. Lee (Blair, 1974), p. 172

The location of "Teach's Oak" and Oriental are shown on the map below:


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