Swansboro, NC

09/19/2026

⚓️ Blessing of the Fleet 🌊

Ahoy, Swansboro! Join us on October 9 at 6:00 PM for a special evening honoring our community’s rich maritime history and remembering the watermen who have passed.

📅 October 9
🕕 6:00 PM
📍 Casper’s Marina / Swansboro Waterfront

Boaters are invited to gather at Casper’s Marina at 6:00 PM. A radio channel will be shared just before the ceremony begins so those participating on the water can listen along.

Together, we’ll remember those who have passed as the names of watermen are read, Taps is played by a Swansboro High School trumpet player, prayers are offered, and a beautiful biodegradable wreath is placed upon the water in remembrance. 💐

Whether you join us from the waterfront or by boat, we hope you’ll be part of this meaningful Swansboro tradition as we come together to honor the lives that are part of our maritime heritage and celebrate the waters that connect our community. ⚓️💙

09/19/2026

North Carolina has a habit of making things that sound made up.

Purple honey is one of them.

Every so often, mostly down in the Sandhills, a beekeeper will pull a frame from a hive expecting that familiar gold and find something closer to grape jelly staring back at them.

Real honey. Made by real bees. Naturally purple.

And here’s the best part.

Nobody can say for certain why it happens.

Folks have blamed everything from kudzu to berries to sourwood and the aluminum rich soil beneath it. A 2024 study pretty well cleared kudzu and berries, but even the researchers stopped short of solving the mystery. Something appears to be happening after the nectar gets back to the hive, but exactly what turns it purple remains one of those questions nature has decided we don't need the answer to just yet.

It’s rare, too.

Two hives can sit right beside one another and one will make regular golden honey while the other turns out purple. A beekeeper might find some this summer and then not see another jar's worth for years.

Folks who have tasted it describe it as sweeter, fruitier, sometimes almost grape like.

Which feels about right for North Carolina.

We got mountains that turn blue in the distance, rivers named after folks nobody remembers, barbecue arguments that have outlived generations, and apparently a few bees down in the Sandhills that looked at regular honey and decided that wasn't interesting enough.

So they made it purple.

And ain't bothered explaining themselves since.

09/17/2026

Putting the Swans in Swansboro! The Seaside Arts Council does the "Swans by the Sea" project, where they paint the fiberglass swans around town. This is the Friendly Swan located in front of Swansboro Town Hall.

09/07/2026

Oct. 10–11 • Swansboro, NC

09/01/2026