Oriental has a beach?? (shhhhhhh)
See the teeny weeny 50' wide strip of white sand? That's Oriental's town beach. You won't see it on any town map because it's a secret... one of the many that locals may want you to discover only gradually after you've displayed, perhaps, a kindred appreciation for their unique humor and what some would call an eccentric display of creative imaginations at work -- once you do, they open up like steamed clams! If you are not open to 'it', you may never 'get it' and you'll miss a deeper and richer experience for it.
View from 'the beach'Look closely, this
has a very official-looking
State seal on it
In addition to sporting one of the prettiest views of the widest river mouth in the Continental U.S., at Pamlico Sound, it is purported to be a 'Wildlife Nesting Area' for an exotic creature. I had glanced at this sign several times and wondered why one would put a public beach atop a wildlife nesting area, but, only upon the 20th or so visit did I bother to read the details: North Carolina DRAGON (Draco Guardianas Carolinus) nesting area? Like a flash backward slide show, I saw the anals of my memory bring forth a variety of related pictures that I had filed away under 'find explanation later'. Like the DRAGON bumper stickers and license plate frames I'd seen during every visit to this unusual town, the dragon T-Shirts at local souvenir shops, and my brother's casual mentioning of 'missing the New Year's Dragon parade' in Oriental last winter. Oh yes! Wasn't that a DRAGON floating in the little duck pond near my favorite coffee shop in town?
'Sure enough' I thought as I walked the few blocks down to the Tiki Bar and The Bean -- 'downtown Oriental'.... (for an up close photo of this gorgeous glass in-laid floating sculpture, click onto http://www.towndock.net/dragonlaunched_1.html).
Now I felt I really needed to get to the bottom of this and one of the regulars on the porch of The Bean (he always greets me with a "Welcome to Walmart" when I walk up the stairway for a good cup of Java) sent me to 'The Dragon Shoppe" for the whole story on the Dragon theme of Oriental. 
The sign for "The Dragon Shoppe" was one of those snapshots I had tucked away and I knew exactly where I'd seen it. The young girl behind the counter must have thought I was a little odd when I walked in quickly, just a little exerted from the 4 block jog in the steamy 90 degree air and asked, 'do you know the story of the dragon'? Unfortunately, she had no idea what I was talking about. Feeling more defeated than I should admit, I turned to go when I noticed a framed newspaper clipping at the edge of the countertop by the door entitled, "The Story of Oriental's Dragon". Aha!
So, it goes: Nobody knows why, but, sometime in the early 1960's a fun story began to spin about the ship for whom the town was named, "The Oriental", that was wrecked off the coast around nearby Bodie Island (the federal transport sank in 1862 and Rebecca Midyette found the name plate on the beach -- the whole town liked the name, so, 'Smith's Creek' became 'Oriental'). The ship, coming from the exotic lands of the Orient was carrying dragon's eggs, the insiders say. Apparently, dragons have a one hundred or so year gestation period. By 1965, the 'toddler' dragon felt old enough to come out to play on New Year's EVE. Thus the New Year's Eve Dragon parade of Oriental was born. Nobody knows where or how it found a mate, but, their offspring, not nearly as shy as its 'Dad' (the one that only comes out once a year), hangs out day and night at the Duck Pond flaunting its sparkling dragon scales to all who pass by.
So, what's the story with this red polka-dotted baby dragon that hangs out at the nesting area? When are all the nests going to spurn the plethora of eggs buried at the beach? Has somebody yet to spin a few explanations or are these answers just more secrets I need to dig deeper for? to
I walked back to the duck pond to take a closer look at the bronze plaque at the duck pond's edge. There are 50 names of 'Sponsors of the Dragon' that donated money to the talented and playful sculptor. There are countless townsfolk that donated their weekends, cranes, canoes, and time on meetings and launchings (an earlier dragon lost its buoyancy and a monumental 'operation and overhaul' took place). So, this is no single whim of an eccentric, quirky vacationer. This is the real mission that magnetized the playful imaginations of a collective consciousness of the entire town!
Oriental seems to be a place where 'playing make believe' by 'grown-ups' is accepted if not even applauded. Yes, it was just plain fun to research and write this story. I think they may have very big secrets here worth seeking out -- like playing make believe is STILL a whole lot of fun for ALL ages! Probably quite good for the heart and soul, too.
(I promise that I'll be the first to tell you when the eggs hatch on the beach).
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