William Carter, reminiscent of the proverbial "old salt" often sought out by tourists visiting eastern North Carolina's coast, held a cigarette in his hand long after the tobacco was gone. He scratched his white beard and waved his hands toward the Swansboro causeway lined with docks and busy with boats of all kinds. Heavy traffic droned past on the double bridge leading to the once sleepy fishing village.

The tiny waterfront streets lined with shops and engulfed in salty sea air called him to his boyhood home 12 years ago. Sitting on the verandah of the Harbor House gift and coffee shop, he looked over the sand bars that littered the calm causeway as shrimp boats, sail boats and motor boats eased by as he reminisced to the Olde Kinston Gazette about his childhood home -- Swansboro.

Carter says Swansboro's economy was once based on commercial fishing and party boat fishing. As a child, Carter and other youngsters of the village would work from early morning until dark packing mullet for the commercial fishery.

"I was here when they built the two bridges many years ago," he said. "That's when the Mullet Festival originated. When they were building the bridges, the townspeople gave them a dinner party in appreciation of their hard work. It became a tradition - the Mullet Festival."

Carter's Uncle Charlie, now deceased, ran a party boat for tourists wanting to go fishing in the quiet little village of Swansboro. His uncle was a bit "weather beaten," and he too resembled an "old salt."

"He didn't look very friendly, but he had a heart of gold," said Carter. "Although he had retired from the Coast Guard and was running a fishing boat, he still got sea sick. That's just how he earned his living."

People would come to Swansboro on vacation to get away from the rat race of modern life and try their sea legs on the fishing party boats. But the best thing about it was that they were fishing with an "old salt."

When asked just what an "old salt" is, Carter said: "He's someone who has worked on the water all his life. That's an old salt."

Around the age of nine, when telephones first came to Swansboro, Carter and his friends would leave the fishery after a long day's work and walk down the street to Yana's Drug Store for hot dogs and an orangeade. Yana put butter on the hot dog buns, and Carter says you ordered three of them - not one. Nobody makes them like that any more, he says.

"It had that nice clean Coca Cola smell," he said. "They had a door prize when they first opened up, and my mother won an ice cream cake the size of this table (huge). They had put the cake on dry ice. We threw it into the water and watched it smoke. For a nine year old, that was a big event."

After he returned to Swansboro as an adult, Carter went to a Rotary Club dinner during one of the town's fishing tournaments. A strong wind of about 75 miles per hour had driven everyone inside. But they waited for the wind to subside rather than giving up and going home. Carter said that's because the fishermen have "salt water in their veins."

The sport fishermen come back every year to the tournament, but it seems like Swansboro always has someone who is cooking fish. For years, Carter said he tried to figure out what that unidentifiable aroma was that he noticed in the heavy salty smell of the air in Swansboro. He says he finally figured it out. It is "hush puppy mix," and it's always there. "Some days it's heavier than others, but you always smell the hush puppy mix," he said. "Somebody is cooking - you bet they are."

Swansboro has evolved into a quaint trip back in time. The gift shops and antique stores are built close together and near the narrow waterfront streets. The salty air and a soft warm breeze conjure visions of pirates on majestic sailing ships preparing to bury treasure somewhere close by.

"Kids see my gray hair and ask me about pirate stories," he said. "People have searched far and wide for Black Beard's bootie, and now some of it has been found. I tell them (the children) that yes, there is some Black Beard treasure around here. You just have to look for it."

Carter fears that developers will some day come, remove the many docks lining the waterway and block off the water front access. "Years ago, you couldn't find Swansboro on a map, but now you can't find a place to park," he said. "I never thought we'd see a place like this (the beautiful two-story Harbor House with its waterfront verandah), and I welcome the change. You have a million dollar view of the waterfront here.

"This place is disarming," he continued. "It's a low-stress place. You can leave your door open, and nothing will happen. I don't think you can ask for a better place to live."