PORT AFFAIR: The Port of Washington Project exhibit opened with much fanfare Thursday night at the Turnage Theater Gallery. The project, centered around a Douglas Alvord mural of waterfront Washington circa 1880-1920, celebrates Washington’s past as a major center of maritime activity. The exhibit features paintings, archival maps and photos, maritime-related items and other snippets of history documenting Washington’s importance to North Carolina Commerce. Pictured below are Bath resident Jim Preston and his donkey, Charlie Brown, on West Main Street, outside the Turnage Theater, demonstrating how goods were moved from ships at the waterfront to warehouses and stores downtown during the heyday of Washington shipping; dressed in Victorian clothing, Washington Harbor District Alliance Director Beth Byrd and Little Shoppes owner Rebecca Clark got in the spirit of the era. (Above) Against a backdrop of Douglas Alvord’s mural, the crowd was thick with history lovers at the Port of Washington Project opening exhibit.