Oak Island North Carolina has been a family destination since we were expecting son John. So more than 30 years. Every year we would drive down from Pittsburgh, and then we moved to Longwood, and we would drive up from Longwood. I always knew we were getting close, on the drive between 17 and Southport. Which meanders its way along the Cape Fear River estuary.
Year after year, we made the drive frequently. But in all those years we never stopped to see historic Brunswick Town. One day, it was just daughter Anne and I in the car. And I said to her, let’s go on this little side trip and see this Brunswick Town. So we got off the main road and we went down a little windy country road. Not far down the road we came to a big body of water on our right, that I later learned is Orton Pond. “Stop here, Dad,” said Anne. She wanted to take some photographs. So I pulled off, and we sat there at the side of the pond. Which was about eight or 10 feet lower than where we were parked.
And she took the pictures from the passenger seat of the car. Neither of us got out.
After taking a few photos she turned to me and said, "I wonder if there any alligators in this pond?" At which point I focused my attention on the water and couldn’t quite believe what I saw. Because floating right there, not more than a foot or two off the shore, was a gigantic alligator. Both of us exclaimed about the fact that he’d been there all the time. In fact he showed up in some of the pictures that Anne had already taken.
When we got to the beach house Judy‘s mom and Judy were there. And I was telling them about this close encounter with the gator. And I said, "I wonder if there’s anything posted online about it." So I put in the words 'Brunswick Town' and 'gator'. And sure enough, a video came up, which has been on the Internet for a long time thereafter, but I can’t find it anymore.
In it, a husband and wife have parked us where we were parked. They got out of the car. And the wife says to the husband, "Where should I stand?" She was right around the passenger front headlight. He said, "There is good." So she stood there with the backdrop of Orton Pond behind her. And then her husband called out in a very loud voice, “Hey Charlie! Hey Charlie!”
At that moment, from far across the pond, you could see movement. He focused in on it. Sure enough it was a big gator. He called out once or twice again and the big gator kept swimming directly to them. And ended up in the water in exactly the spot we had seen him the day we had stopped. I was fascinated. And figured that probably people over time have been feeding this gator, and the locals had dubbed him Charlie.
Later in the week, our daughter‘s fiancé Steven arrived by air the Wilmington airport. We went to pick him up. On the way back to Oak Island, I took the little side detour again. And parking where we parked before, I tried what the man in the video did. I called out, “Hey Charlie! Hey Charlie!”
And what I saw next was exactly the same as what was in that video. From far across the pond here came this giant alligator. And made a beeline directly for us. Until he stopped just offshore.
Which is plenty close enough.
Charlie on the edge of Orton Pond
Charlie hovering just underwater near the shore, not the signpost
This is what is on the signpost
Charlie is hoping you will ignore the signpost
A look at Charlie's profile
Here's a different video than the one I describe. Same gator. Same location.
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=EFcUXjROhHM
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