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12:49p If kids are outside, it must be summer. Here, campers at the Oriental United Methodist Church summer day camp take (supervised) archery lessons and take part in a fossil hunt:

click image for the big view

10:25a New hours for new biz At Wits End on Hodges St – now open every day but Monday, noon til 7p.

They’ve added something new for hot summer days: a sno-cone machine.

8:28a He’s an import from Delaware. He looks like a film star. He’s a sailor. Titan is Mister June.

7:47a 5-10 knots of wind on the Neuse. Today’s weather is the same as yesterday’s – 90s in the day, low 70s at night.

2:02p A few minutes ago Oriental Police Officer Nic Blayney sent in a found boat. It’s a PortaBoat with an outboard – found at Teach’s Cove. It looks like this:

A couple hours ago the Provision company posted the same. Lost.

Reunited. All is better now in the dinghy universe.

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I once was lost but now am found

12:25p Oriental misses its online gauge. Water level gauge that is.

North Carolina has water level gauges at coastal locations and on state rivers. Oriental has had one since 2013 – but it was destroyed by Hurricane Florence last September (along with the Lou Mac Park pier.) That pier was restored last month. The water level gauge is attached to that pier – so Oriental is ready for the gauge’s return.

TownDock contacted David Herlong this morning, wondering when that gauge is returning. David Herlong is with the NC Department of Public Safety, Flood Warning Program. From David:

Oriental also has a Kings Tide Gauge by the original town dock. It works fine – but it is just a measuring stick in the water. You have to be standing there to see the level.

• 2013 article on Storm Surge Gauge Installation
• 2018 article on the Kings Tide Gauge by the town dock

Meanwhile, TownDock.net does have other coastal and river water gauges online.

8:15a The Croaker Festival is this coming weekend. Your brilliant parade entry is still needed – click here brave reader.

What happens at the festival? Check out the online Croaker Festival Guide.

Saturday the bridge will close 3p-11p for the fireworks (the fireworks are launched from the bridge.) The best plan is to be where you need to be before 3p on Saturday… but if you need the detour plan, Pat Dixon made this Bridge Detour Map:

(click map for the big Detour view)

7:34a Back to that sunny & high 90, low mid 70s forecast. Rinse and repeat for the next few days.

Winds are almost still this morning. On the Neuse today a lazy 5-10 knots.

11:25a There’s a tie dye t-shirt party today. Lili writes in from New Village Brewery:

8:23a On Friday the traffic report was a duck warning. This morning’s TownDock Highway 55 helicopter traffic report involves another animal.

Rabbits.

Spotted on the Oriental side of the bridge (near where the old Trawl Door building stood) a mom rabbit and two young rabbits, oddly hanging out on the road.

We now return to our regularly scheduled programming.

3:15p New summer hours at The Piglet: til 9p weekdays, Friday and Saturday nights open til 10p.

It’s kinda magic when you live in a town of just 900 – and you can make a grocery run at 9:45p.

Have a 1st through 4th grader that needs a summer mission? Leslie Kellenberger writes in:

11:22a It is only 76 degrees at this writing. Luxury.

There’s wood fired pizza today at the brewery (and tunes tonight.) On the waterfront O’Town serving lunch & dinner on the deck.

8:35a. Today will likely be the coolest day for a while. Highs just near 80. Enjoy.

Croakerfest is next weekend. It all happens due to a crew of volunteers. Some of those volunteers are Garbologists. You could join their lofty ranks. Bob Nolin writes in:

Here the fancy vehicle you get to be around:

7:01p Something strange is happening. The wind is blowing from the north – it’s been about 10 days since that last occurred. North winds tonight and Saturday will bring cooler air and modestly higher water levels.

• Neuse River marine forecast
• Oriental NC forecast

9:10a Watch out for Highway 55 crossing ducks near Endurance Seafood this morning. Just a few minutes ago:

8:32a You look like a fine red-blooded American. From Jean Jerger:

8:11a Dry and cooler air has a collective sigh of relief over town. Today will reach near 90, then Saturday just 80 as north winds deliver some cool.

The Croaker Festival is just one week away. The parade. Fireworks. Elephant ears & deep-fried ice cream.

This weekend is comparatively calm. Rick Huff plays tonight at The Red Rooster (behind The Silos.) New Village Brewery has the Surf Shack Food Truck in town today. Saturday its Marvelz Wood Fired Pizza, with Dan Jam Phillips making music Saturday night in the beer garden. The brewery hosts a Tie Dye T-Shirt Party Sunday afternoon from 2 til 5p, with Bob the Bass providing Tye Dyed tunes.

Also: Mermaids are waiting to be viewed. You can make your own patriotic crafts. It’s all in What’s Happening.

5:52p Make that 35mph.

5:11p It’s breezy out there. High wind peak hit 32mph a few minutes ago. The winds are from the south & southwest – making waters levels low.

12:54p Today’s forecast high is the low 90s, but according to the Oriental Weather station it feels like 100.

That’s that heat index business – what it feels like in the shade when the relative humidity and temperature are factored together, according to the National Weather Service. And it could get up to 104 today.

This afternoon there’s a 40% chance of thunderstorms, some may be severe with damaging winds. Those severe winds again a possibility tonight – along with a 70% chance of rain.

Peak winds today (so far) 24mph at 11:37a.

7:20a The Oriental Tourism Board invites business owners and non-profits to participate in a meeting this morning 8:30a @ Brantley’s Restaurant. The goal is sharing ideas and to provide an ideal venue for business networking. The focus of this meeting is how local citizens can work together supporting the Cycle NC event that will visit Oriental in April 2020.

10:23a Croaker Festival is coming. Every year the town celebrates the humble Croaker fish with a weekend long festival.

Competitions for baked goods and Croaker Queens (and a Miss Minnow), a parade through town, the Marine Band, food vendors offering the finest in festival food options, and at the end of it all – a giant firework display launched from the Oriental Bridge (the fireworks close the bridge for a while – see right.)

It’s all happening the weekend of June 28-30. Check out the scenes from last year’s Croakerfest.

9:29a High 80s today, but with 60% chance of rain in the afternoon. More rain is forecast through Friday, but the weekend is looking sunny and clear.

Weather on the Neuse is SW winds at 10 to 15 knots.

11:46a Amron Wagoner, Oriental born and raised, is heading west. Colorado bound. Read her story here.

11:24a Tuesday and it’s in the 90s again.

Tonight, you can learn a Carolina classic at Town Hall: the Shag. Pamlico Arts is sponsoring the free event where locals Jack and Roxanne Bond will teach the participants how to dance the Shag to Carolina Beach Music. Lessons start at 7p.

Summer Children’s Theater Workshops are filling up. There are spaces left for the completed 1st/2nd grade group and the completed 5th/7th grade group. There’s one week left to register. Contact Yolanda for more information.

It’s a warm Monday. 90. Warm enough to ponder August for a moment.

August is bringing some music. Music that will help make October music happen.

OK, here’s the explanation:

Saturday August 17 Zoe & Cloyd come to Oriental’s Old Theater. Zoe & Cloyd is fiddler & vocalist Natalya Zoe Weinstein and award-winning songwriter, multi-instrumentalist & vocalist John Cloyd Miller. The couple come from very opposite ends of the Appalachian mountains

Natalya comes from a lineage of klezmer and jazz musicians. She trained classically in her home state of Massachusetts before moving south. John is a twelfth generation North Carolinian and grandson of pioneering bluegrass fiddler, Jim Shumate.

This show is a dual fundraiser for the Ol’ Front Porch Music Festival and Oriental’s Old Theater. Tickets $22 in advance, $25 at the door. On sale online at this link, and at Nautical Wheelers starting July 1.

Here’s some Zoe & Cloyd:

9:26a Missing a male dog? A well behaved lad was found at The Bean Friday. No ID – he is now at the shelter in New Bern.

9:03a Be nice to Dad today. You can do it.

Sunny & 90 today. In fact the forecast is sunny & 90 every day for at least the next week.

It’s a sentence that sounds wrong to say. But we’re gonna say it.

Brace yourself.

You can learn to shag at Town Hall.

6:35p dub Addis is Ethiopian Roots Reggae… playing now til 8p at the brewery. The scene tonight:

12:17p Get a free all-beef hot dog at The Piglet for the next couple hours – cooked up by Piglet owner Billy Flockhart:

Speaking of dogs, three PAWS dogs seeking to be adopted are at New Village Brewery this afternoon – til 3p. You might meet a new friend. Today is a PAWS fundraiser at the brewery – for every pint sold a $1 goes to PAWS.

9:18a You can taste wine. See mermaids. Drink beer to help dogs. Boogie to reggae. Hear a scary story.

It’s all in What’s Happening.

9:07a That felt good. The overnight low touched 57 degrees. But you can put the quilt back in the closet now. Tonight’s low about 70, then 75 for the evening low starting Sunday and staying that way for at least a few days.

Today’s high near 80, then daytime highs will be consistently near 90 for at least the next week.