Ocracoke Island Lighthouse, photo by D R Pico

My thanks to William Teach, a “modern day pirate (of ice cream),” and the distinguished host of The Pirate’s Cove, for filling in for me while Mrs Pico and I went vacationating on Ocracoke Island, in the Outer Banks of North Carolina.

I had been unaware that the Dread Pirate Blackbeard was really named Edward Teach, until I saw it on a banner in one of the tourist-trap souvenir shops in Ocracoke. The elder Mr Teach had been killed off of Ocracoke, something commemorated with an historical marker near the old Coast Guard station in Silver Lake Harbor, by Lt Robert Maynard and the crew of the HMS Pearl on November 22, 1718.

The present-day Mr Teach is a graduate of East Carolina University, the athletic teams of which are the Pirates! Thus, we must consider, and accept, that the host of The Pirate’s Cove is indeed the worthy successor to his ancestor(?) of twelve generations past!

Finally, East Carolina’s colors are purple and gold, which speaks to me, as my alma mater, Mt Sterling High School had the same colors during its distinguished history!