Monday, October 16, 2017

Salt Water Apples

Native Outer Bankers have an impish sense of humor. I heard this story recently about one of the deckhands on the Hatteras Inlet ferries.

Some years ago the US Coast Guard was slow to mark a shoal that threatened to ground the ferries and other vessels. Local watermen and/or ferry personnel decided to mark the channel themselves. They cut several saplings and positioned them on the edge of the shoal to warn mariners.

On one crossing a ferry passenger noticed the saplings, stopped the deckhand, and pointed to them.

“What kind of trees are those growing out in the water?” he inquired.

“Why those are apple trees,” the deckhand answered. “But they’re not the kind of apple trees you are familiar with. These are salt water apple trees. The apples taste great, but they are a little salty. We pick them in the late summer and early fall.”













The passenger seemed satisfied with this answer, and vowed to return in September to taste those delicious salt water apples.

This month's Ocracoke Newsletter highlights several noteworthy staircases in historic island homes. To read the newsletter, and see photos, click here: www.villagecraftsmen.com/news092117.html.

1 comment:

  1. That's hilarious. No wonder we're called dingbatters, sometimes! :-D

    ReplyDelete