North Carolina

Great Loop Adventure Alligator River and Coinjock NC to Norfolk VA- Day 71 to 78

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We had originally planned to head to Manteo NC for a few days in the boat with hopes of exploring the Outer Banks via car but Mother Nature had different ideas. There was a big blow coming and it was forecasted to last several days plus we had to cross the Albemarle Sound, preferably not on a big wind day. After looking at all the options, it made sense to scoot across the sound when the conditions were decent. We scrambled around and changed our car reservations and made alternative marina reservations.

We did NOT want to get stuck at the Alligator River Marina for days on end. It’s basically a gas station on a busy road with a marina behind it … in the middle of NOWHERE. No services to speak of, no easy way to get a car rental and the drone of cars going by the boat was constant. UGH, there would have been mutiny if we had to stay here for days…well, except there was no way to get anywhere – LOL!!! This marina is a necessary stop before crossing the Albemarle Sound or trying to head over to Manteo and is just fine for one night.

The view from the flybridge at dinner was very pretty but not enough to want to stay here for days!

As luck would have it, we crossed the Albemarle Sound the next day with 2-3 ft wind waves and long easy rollers, mostly pushing us from our stern. We got into Coinjock Marina with no drama and spent the next six days there. This marina is well run, has a nice restaurant and ships store, laundry, etc. Otherwise, there isn’t much going on there either, kinda in the middle of nowhere also! Most boaters just stop overnight here on the way to Norfolk. The good news is that Dave had rented a car at Enterprise in nearby Elizabeth City. They brought the car to us at the marina, but Dave had to take the driver back to Elizabeth City. The only downside was they weren’t open on the weekends to return the car and didn’t allow after hours return – weird. So, that meant we had to stay until Monday but we were happy to have the wheels to tour the Outer Banks and nearby areas.

Heading our to cross the Albemarle Sound.
Albemarle Sounds – not a bad day. Escapade did just fine.
Rustic Coinjock Marina

Unfortunately, our AC continued to vex us which necessitated a trip back to the Walmart in Elizabeth CIty to buy a portable AC unit. With the main salon AC being unreliable, the pilot house AC could not keep up with the solar load and high heat so it was uncomfortably warm inside. The portable monster unit was easy to get vented out our sliding door…Janky, yes but at least the boat was cool enough to feel good about leaving the pets all day. Fortunately the stateroom AC’s seem to be working okay, so at night we were nice and cool.

Our first day touring the Outer Banks took us to Kitty Hawk. We all agreed that the Wright Brothers Museum was well worth a visit and the ranger talks were also very well done. So much to see there…What was fascinating to me was why the Wright Brother chose this part of NC to conduct their glider flights. They wanted Wind, Sand and Isolation. Kitty Hawk has all three and in the day, it was very remote and isolated. So remote, it was sometimes hard for them to find a boat to take them over there. Isolation meant no prying eyes to steal their ideas and future patents. Why sand you may be wondering ?? So when they crashed it would be soft – and crash they did. Over and Over and Over again. But that did not stop the Wright Brothers, they persevered until they got the design right. OCD geniuses – perhaps!

Sadly, much of the Outer Banks is nothing like what the Wright Brothers experienced. Much of it is now now miles of soulless strip malls, mediocre restaurants, beach houses packed in like sardines and crowed beaches. From Nags Head all the way north to Duck was exactly like this and very disappointing from a scenery aspect. To add to the disappointment, we had the worst BBQ ever that day for lunch – waaaah! We did find a few pretty places and a not too crowed beach to explore, so I am only showing you those pictures.

Honey cow, can it rain in North Carolina.!!!
Holy Cow can it rain in North Carolina… but once it was gone it was gone!

Our second day exploring the Outer Banks took us south of Nags Head to Manteo and we felt the area was redeemed! Our first stop was at the Pea Island Preserve…WOOHOO… this is what I was hoping to find in the Outer Banks. Pristine, unspoiled beaches, wildlife, birds and sand dunes galore.

From there we drove to Bodie Island Lighthouse and on to Manteo. I loved quaint Manteo, it’s waterfront walk, rustic marinas and scenic beauty. It would have been great to stay here on the boat as originally planned and I would highly recommend that Loopers put this down as a stop if Mother Nature allows!

We found a nice place for lunch in Manteo, strolled along the waterfront and were entertained by a group of young folks, bridge jumping into the cool water. The marinas here are just steps from town and the local Ford car dealerships rents cars.

Summer fun in Manteo!!!

We also explored inland from Coinjock – taking a drive to the Dismal Swamp State Park. A segment of the Atlantic Intracoastal Waterway, the Dismal Swamp Canal, which is fed by Lake Drummond, flows for 22 miles between Virginia and North Carolina. It cuts through the Great Dismal Swamp National Wildlife Refuge. 

Before there was a canal, there was swampland. It was Colonel William Byrd II who envisioned something more during the late 1720s. But it would take years for the idea to blossom into action as construction on the man-made waterway wouldn’t begin until the 1790s. 

The goal was to create a viable trade route between the Chesapeake Bay and North Carolina’s Albemarle Sound. It was the first canal that connected the two regions, then came the Albemarle and Chesapeake Canal decades later. Now, the Dismal Swamp Canal is part of something bigger — the Intracoastal Waterway — a network of aquatic passageways along the Atlantic Ocean and Gulf of Mexico coasts. 

The Dismal Swamp Canal is the oldest operating waterway in the country. Both the canal and swamp played a huge role in African-American history. Between 1680 and the Civil War-era, the swamp served as a refuge not just for wildlife but for hundreds, if not thousands, of escaped slaves, who lived off the land freely. 

Yep, that’s a narrow canal!

There are two viable routes for boaters to get to Norfolk from North Carolina. We had opted not to take the Dismal Swamp route as the canal depth is dicey for Escapade. The canal is supposedly dredged to 6 feet but is littered with stumps and deadheads just below the surface. We draft 4 foot 9 inches and didn’t want to risk damaging our props. This route is far from dismal, really it is quite beautiful but traveling at idle speed for 20 plus miles might have taken the bloom off the rose!

It was fun to hike around the area, we saw several snakes and a few birds. It was a hot afternoon and we were too late for any decent birding. We also chatted with a few boaters who were spending the night on the free dock at the Dismal Swamp Visitors Center.

On the way back to Coinjock, we stopped at Morris Farm Market – craft beer, live music and fresh produce – that is a trifecta of goodness in my book! This place was recommended by the bartender at Coinjock so he redeemed himself for the awful BBQ place he also recommended!

Morris Farms is very doggie friendly!
Maybe a little less child friendly – LOL. But there were loads of well behaved kids having a good time too.

Elizabeth City, which is up the Albemarle Sound had been on the cruise plan but was also crossed off thanks to the big blow. So why not explore it via car?

A quaint water front town, marketed as the “Harbor of Hospitality”, Elizabeth City has had a long history of shipping due to its location at a narrowed bend of the Pasquotank River. Whew, say that three times fast!!! Founded in 1794, Elizabeth City prospered early on from the Dismal Swamp Canal as a mercantile city. Later it developed industry and other commercial focus. While Elizabeth City still retains extensive waterfront property, it is linked to neighboring counties and cities by contemporary highways and bridges to support other transportation. It also hosts one of the largest United States Coast Guard bases in the nation.

We enjoyed a nice lunch at Hoppin John’s and a warm walk around town. Elizabeth City certainly is hospitable to boaters with three docks offering free moorage for two nights. We need a do over on the Albemarle Sound as there is so much more to see and do in this area.

Our stay was coming to an end, the car was returned Monday and we were hoping the AC repair team was coming. We had plans to have dinner at the Coinjock Marina Restaurant, celebrate Wallys birthday and then skeedaddle on Tuesday. Well, who’d a thunk that Mother Nature had other ideas?? AGAIN!!!

It had been windy off and on the past two days. Apparently, the wind had been blowing water up the C&D Canal, which was where we were headed. Word on the dock was that the water level was too high for two of the swing rail road bridges to open. There are really no other marina’s until after you get past these two bridges so boats were turning around and coming back to Coinjock. We figured all would be well in the morning – NOT.

Dinner was fun and we celebrated Wallys birthday with a huge tomahawk ribeye steak and a fine bottle of Leonetti wine we had stashed onboard. Later in the wee hours of the morning a massive storm came through bringing more wind, rain and a huge electrical storm. I woke up to see light flashing through the stateroom portholes and claps of booming thunder. I LOVE lightening storms at a distance but the furbags were not entertained, Bentley especially … poor buddy was shaking so I sat up with him for awhile.

We got up early on Tuesday, after not good sleep thinking maybe miraculously we could leave but not a creature was stirring, not a boat was on the move – AGAIN!!! The water was now higher than the day before. It had crept under the docks and was flooding the lawn in front of the marina. Not feeling optimistic, Wally made a call to the bridge tender. After at least thirty rings, a human picked up and informed us that “ donna know when da bridge gonna open-wadter too hi-havta wait til da wadter com down. Okay, despite not being able to leave… Wally repeating that back to all of us brought some much needed levity to the day.

Nope, no one’s going anywhere!!!

So Tuesday was a bit of a lost day, AC dudes were a no show and was told they would be out at 8:30 am on Wednesday. We played cards, read, did Wordle, walked the dock and chatted with other boaters. We enjoyed getting to know Rhonda and Bob on Hawks Landing. We swapped boat stories as our boats are both Carvers, same make but theirs is 45 feet and ours is 53 ft. It was fun touring Hawks Landing and meeting their cat Charlie. It was a bit like ground hogs day as we ate dinner at the restaurant again and asked for our favorite waitress Shelby.

New friends!! Hoping to see Rhonda and Bob in the Chesapeake Bay this summer.

Wednesday morning rolled in and AGAIN, not a creature was stirring, not a boat was on the move. The good news was that the wind had shifted over night, bringing water back down the canal. Word on the dock was maybe by noon “da wadter com down” and “da bridge gonna open”! Well, yippee skippy… the AC dudes also showed up, worked a bit of magic with a descaler and back flush on the salon AC unit. It was as working again but they agreed we also needed a new main water pump as we still couldn’t run more than two units at once without a high pressure failure. We debated having them just install a new pump but the boss/owner somewhere behind the curtain quoted us $2,000 plus installation for a pump we knew we could buy for under $800. So long story short, Captain Handy ordered a new pump and will be installing it in Norfolk.

Meantime, “da water com down” and boats were departing the dock like the great migration. It would be about 40 nautical miles to get to Norfolk but with with three bridges and a lock that only open on a set schedule, this was a tricky run. I had estimated that if we could leave around 1:30 and if the all the cards aligned, we could make the 4:00 pm lock opening before the last bridge scheduled changed for rush hour car traffic. No pressure!!!

I got some great pictures and video of Rhonda and Bob leaving which I texted to her.

Hey, where did everyone go????

So with a cool boat, we made smoke and got underway. It was actually a beautiful cruise, the last of any North Carolina low country and into Virginia we went. As fate would have it, leaving Coinjock late put the pack of boats that were on the dock a long way ahead of us. We had the waterways us all to ourselves. Being in the great migration of boats must have been really stressful. The C & D Canal is narrow and we were so glad we weren’t cueing up, waiting for the bridges to open with a pack of 25 plus boats.

Goodbye North Carolina – Hello Virginia.
That was tight quarters… yikes!

Cruising into Norfolk was surreal after being on the ICW for so long as the landscape is filled with huge commercial dry docks, barges and naval ships. Other than almost being taken out by a tug boat pushing a huge barge, we cruised into Norfolk with no other recreational or commercial boats. That was about 30 seconds of sheer terror when we almost came bow to bow with that big barge. It was a blind corner just as we started under a bridge. Since we were going very slow anyway, Captain Wally put the boat in reverse and did a quick 180 degree turn to starboard. I am here to tell you that tug horn was really loud.

We had a wonderful 2 weeks with our friends Dave and Tanya, another adventure to add to the books! It was a bittersweet goodbye but we’ll see them again in November when we are back on the west coast. It was extra special to have them onboard to celebrate Wally’s birthday!!!!

The other cool thing waiting for us in Norfolk was our SUV Ernie. Our Charleston friend Drake drove him up the day we arrived and thanks to some plane schedule confusion, Drake was waiting for us on the dock at the Tidewater Marina. We were happy to offering him our couch for the night and dinner in the marina restaurant.

All tied up at the Tidewater Marina in Portsmouth VA – what a great view of the Norfolk skyline from our boat.

Escapade has traveled just over 862 nautical miles on the loop so far. It’s crazy to think that there is still over 5,000 miles to go! We are taking a break here in Norfolk for 2-3 weeks and then we will head out explore the Chesapeake Bay. Stay tuned for more updates as we explore the Norfolk area.

Great Loop Adventure Oriental and Belhaven NC – Day 68-70

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After leaving New Bern NC we only cruised about 55 miles but the scenery was beautiful and it was nice to be in rural areas again. Both Oriental and Belhaven are very small towns with a combined population of just over 2,200.

We picked up our long time friends and fellow travelers, Dave and Tanya in New Bern on the 17th of June. They will to cruise with us to Norfolk – YAY!!! The four of us have traveled all over the world together and they have been on all of our boats over the years. We also all really enjoy good wine and food, cooking or dining out and are completely compatible in small space. Dave and I love getting in the kitchen together and crafting up a great meal. It’s so wonderful to have them onboard and we really thrilled that they are part of our Great loop Adventure.

We had a quick stop between Oriental and Belhaven for some fresh fish. This dock is home to a fleet of shrimp and fishing boats. My kinda funky!!

Oriental is another small fishing village so we only stayed 1 night. It was hot, hot, hot so all we really did was walk to a local restaurant for lunch and hang on the boat. We also met some fellow loopers, one couple has the exact same boat as us – too fun.

What wasn’t fun, was that two of our four AC units have been giving us fits… of course they had to stop working on the day we expect guests onboard. ARGH….. Captain Handy has tried everything to revive the salon and pilot house AC’s but t looks like we need a new water intake pump which we can’t get until we get to Norfolk.

The Belhaven Marina Dock Master Greg was able to get a mechanic to come take a look when we arrived in Belhaven. After conferring with Captain Handy and looking the system he said it’s likely that our 24 year old, original water intake pump has gotten tired and can’t keep pump enough water through to the two big units in the salon and pilothouse at the same time on really it days. It’s a bit of a specialty pump and of course it’s not something we can find in rural NC. The good news is that it will run the pilothouse or the two bedroom AC’s so we will be just fine until we can get it repaired. Never a dull moment, living on a boat.

I also want to give kudos to all the folks who gave advice through the Carver Voyager Facebook Group I belong to. This is when social media is the best – al group of knowledge boat owners with the are make and model of boat who can lend advice. SWEET!!!

Belhaven is tiny and it is amazing that there is an excellent Farm to Table restaurant in this town of 1,400. We really enjoyed meeting the owner of Spoon River had a great dinner there on Monday. Honestly, it was one of the main reasons I wanted to stop here and we timed it to arrive on Monday when they were open. I had made a reservation and was glad we did as the place was packed. The eclectic interior is filled with art that is all done by the owner.

I was skeptical about having soft shell crabs but figured when in Rome… they were delicious!!!

Belhaven is really a one night stop as far as things to do but we stayed 2 nights so the guys could go fishing with a local guide. They had a great time, caught some fish and saw some of the local estuaries. Sadly, according to the guide, this well known mecca for fishing is in decline. Sounds like the fishery has not been well managed thus resulting in many of the local fish populations to decline. With this in mind, the guys release all the fish they caught. Hoping some stronger regulations in size and number of fish being caught will help this area recover.

Despite being a bit rustic, funky little Belhaven Marina scored a 5 star review from me. The staff was excellent and were there on the dock to get you tied up. They had the fixed docks set up with large round fender to protect the sides of the boat. They also bring you a bag of information from the chamber of commerce about the local area. The harbor master Greg made an excellent recommendation about the fish hide as well. The setting was charming and all of a block into the small town. There is also a cute ships store, free laundry and showers, lawn games, a book trade library, a BBQ grill with propane and multiple gazebos and sitting area around the small property. Need to make a grocery store run… just borrow a golf cart and off you go! I thought it was sweet that shampoo, towels and hair dryers are all included at the showers and laundry soap and dryer sheets were free in the laundry room as well.

From here, our plans get a bit loose…the wind will dictated where we end up as we work our way north to Norfolk. See you along the way!

Great Loop Adventure Beaufort NC – Day 61 & 62

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What’s the difference between Beaufort NC & Beaufort SC?

The difference is about 375 miles or 6 hours. There’s a Beaufort in North Carolina and South Carolina. The big difference between them is in the way you pronounce Beaufort (This is not a trivial issue). Bless your heart, you will be corrected if you mispronounce either Beaufort!!!

Beaufort, North Carolina is pronounced “BOW-firt,” as in a bow and arrow. If you’re going to Beaufort, South Carolina, you must say, “BEW-furd. Ironically, both are named for an Englishman, Henry Somerset, the Second Duke of Beaufort, who never came to either North Carolina or South Carolina.

Originally we thought we’d have to skip BOW-firt but luck shown down upon us and thanks to a recommendation from some other loopers that we met in Beaufort SC, we got a last minute cancellation at the Beaufort Yacht Basin for 2 nights. How’s that for more irony??

Why was this such a stoke of kismet/luck you may wonder? The Big Rock Fishing Tournament has all but taken over Morehead City and Beaufort and transient boat slips are rented out a year in advance. This tournament is a big damn deal in NC. Almost anyone along the coast line understands how big a damn deal it is. Sport fishing is a huge passion in this part of the world and Blue Marlin are the prize catch. Entry fees for this tournament are anywhere from $2.5K to $40K and the prize purses for the biggest fish are huge. Cape Hatteras is legendary for these beautiful fish. This tournament is mainly catch and release but there is a prize for the biggest marlin boated over 500 pounds -$833,000 to be exact. Of course it has to meet the NC size regulations in order to keep it but wowie…. That’s some cash. I was please to read that Big Rock has a foundation and supports many local charities as well.

Most if the big boys are over at Morehead City where the tournament headquarter aka Big Rock Landing and the weigh in station are.

Here are a few interesting factoids about the NC marlin fishery.

WHEN: Blue marlin can and have been caught off Cape Hatteras every month of the year, the very peak months being July and August, with May, June and September a close second. 
HOW: Sport fishermen catch blue marlin by trolling artificial and natural baits. Boats pull up to eight lines at speeds ranging from 4 to 8 knots. Two of the lines are pulled close to the boat on the surface and are called flatlines. The others are attached to outriggers.

SIZE: The fish off Hatteras can be anywhere from 50 lb. babies to 1000 lb. giants, the average fish weighing between 200 and 500 lbs.
LIMIT: The blue marlin fishery has strict regulations in NC. The fish must be 99 inches or greater in length and only one fish can be kept per BOAT per day.

Honestly, this is a big $$ sport… the payouts are never going to cover the expenses of these 50 to 80 foot mega boats. These big sport fishing boats are expensive and they can burn 50 gallons of diesel fuel an hour. Most of the boats competing in the tournament leave the dock at 6 or 7 am and return around around 5 or 6 pm. So with todays diesel fuel prices being around $4.00 per gallon, a boat running 12 hours @50 GPH = $2,400 a day. The tournament runs 6 days so the average fuel bill is $14,400 – SHEESH!!!!!

So, can you tell I got a little caught up in the excitement?? I’ve been listening to the Big Rock live radio during the day and following the leaderboards online. Saturday the 17th was the last day of the tournament and it wasn’t quite over when I finished writing this post.

So what else did we do in Beaufort??? Well, we walked all over and took the marina golf cart the Piggly Wiggly grocery store. Worst grocery store I’ve been to yet on the loop… old, smelly and sad so aptly named I guess?? I found a few decent veggies to tide us over but eww, don’t like smelly stores.

We had a really nice linner (because it ain’t lunch and it ain’t dinner) our first day in Beaufort, sitting outside at the Black Sheep overlooking teh waterfront. Best wood fired pizza we had on the loop! We also visited the Beaufort Grocery Store for lunch the next day… really good chow and they sold me a loaf of fresh baked sourdough bread cause the bread at the Pig was a no go!

We also visited the North Carolina Maritime Museum, the Watercraft Center and the Beaufort Historical site and the Old Burying Grounds. We had hoped to take a ferry to Shackleford Island but it was so windy on Monday that we nixed that idea.

There was plenty to keep us out of trouble for two days and we were glad it worked out to stop here. Beaufort is a cute little town with loads of charm, well, except the Piggly Wiggly!

Escapade underway on the ICW… photo taken by a member of the Escapade on the Loop Facebook Group.

Great Loop Adventure Wilmington NC – Day 58 & 59

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Wilmington was a very nice side trip off the Atlantic Intracoastal Waterway on the Cape Fear River. Both days we transited the river the water was like a pond so the fear level for us was pretty low. The name Cape Fear comes from the 1585 expedition of Sir Richard Grenville. Sailing to Roanoke Island, his ship became embayed behind the cape. Some of the crew were afraid they would wreck, giving rise to the name Cape Fear. It is the fifth-oldest surviving English place name in the U.S. Cape Fear was also the landing place of British General Sir Henry Clinton during the American Revolutionary War on May 3, 1775.

One more bit of trivia for all you pub dwelling trivia players. The 1962 film Cape Fear and its 1991 remake were set at Cape Fear (although neither movie actually was filmed there).

Wilmington is a port city so there are massive container ships on the river. We had to sit and wait for a container ship to exit the loading docks and go to the turn around basin. The water sheriff controlled river traffic while a single tugboat moved this massive ship around. It was actually really interesting to watch the entire maneuver.

Most of the time we avoid getting this close to these big ships and give them wide berth. Especially when they are under full power out in the shipping channels as the bow and stern wakes are enormous. They can’t slow down or stop for us recreational boaters so it’s really dangerous. In this case, the sheriff was monitoring how close was acceptable and we stayed well out of the way.

Our approach to Wilmington on the Cape Fear River.

The population of Wilmington is over 117,000 so this was a big city for us on the loop. We tied up at Port City Marina and enjoyed two days of shore leave in town. We took a guided horse trolley tour, visited the Battleship USS North Carolina, strolled the beautiful river walk and enjoyed the Friday nite summer party at the Port City Docks. Of course, there is no shortage of great restaurants and shops to peruse in Wilmington. We had a fun lunch at the Beer Barrio… 30 draft beers on tap and a great taco menu.

Being a University town, Wilmington has a nice vibe and a younger demographic as well. The north end of the waterfront is all new construction with mostly mixed use condominiums. This area is no stranger to hurricanes and the Port CIty Marina where we tied up was fully rebuilt after Hurricane Florence whipped arse on North Carolina.

We really enjoyed the self guided tour of the USS North Carolina. This massive battleship participated in every major naval offensive in the Pacific theater of operations, earning 15 battle stars and is the most highly decorated American battleship of World War II. I really appreciated the crew stories that were on each one of the informational signs around the ship. These stories really bring home the actual day to day life onboard, some were sad, some made me laugh out loud.

As we explored the ship, I was thinking it wasn’t really that much different than our boat. Escapade has an engine room, electrical control panels, a galley, berths, heads, generator, anchors, windlass, pilot house with a captains chair… ok, so we don’t have any ginormous guns on deck or torpedos – LOL. We only hold 800 gallons of fuel and the battle ship could store 221,000 gallons of diesel fuel. Egads, I thought our fuel bill was huge!

It was also fascinating how huge this thing is and that most of the enlisted men were assigned a certain area of the ship and stayed in that area. They had divisions and most of the men socialized within their division, slept in the same area, ate at the same time, etc. I think I would have wanted to work in the supply room or the medical area which were of course the plum jobs. No thanks on the laundry room!!!

Oolala… the guys in the laundry area were allowed to work in their skivies because it was so hot.

I also loved how dog friendly Wilmington is. There were dog relief areas and bag stations all over and dog parks too. This is probably the tiniest dog park I have seen!

Our two days in Wilmington flew by and off we go again… see you at our next stop up the ICW!!

Great Loop Adventure Southport NC – Day 55 thru 57

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Charming, quaint, friendly, scenic and slightly rustic – all are very good descriptors for Southport NC. I really loved everything about this small town. Could it be tainted by being welcomed to town almost immediately after we docked at the marina both via social media and in person by the local Great Loop Harbor Host??? What’s more charming than having a local Great Looper show up at your boat with a warm welcome and an invite to come sit on the porch and visit.

Not many places can boast having a dock just for yoga!!

Yep, definitely tainted by that! These two are legendary in the America’s Great Loop Cruisers Association (AGLCA), not only for the local warm welcomes in Southport but also for all the ways they volunteer to support the AGLCA. These two life long boaters have put over 32,000 miles on their boat cruising and are a wealth of knowledge about the Atlantic Intercoastal Water Way between Norfolk Virginia and Florida. We met them two years ago at a Looper Rendezvous in Fort Meyers Florida where I attended their session on cruising this part if the ICW. I’ve appreciated and referred to his detailed handout about this route with all the stops and anchorage suggestions.

You are treated like family when you arrive in Southport… not only do they host “Porchtails” every evening at their home overlooking the water but if you need anything they are there to help you. Need a boat mechanic, parts, restaurant recommendation, a ride to the grocery store, doctor or dentist – they got ya covered. These are two of the finest people and so passionate about the Great Loop. We spent two very enjoyable evenings on the porch with them, other loopers and neighbors – it felt like we were leaving old friends when we said our goodbyes.

I love the Purple Martin nesting gourds and box that Kay and Robert have in their yard.

Besides the warm welcome, the Morning star Marina in Southport was a great place to tie up the boat. Not only is it a full service, beautiful marina, it is also just blocks from the downtown historical area and waterfront. We walked at least 4 miles everyday exploring Southport. The marina also has a loaner car which we took full advantage of twice. The car is available to guests of the marina for 2 hours a day or longer if there isn’t anyone else signed up for it. We did a grocery store run our first day there and also used the car to take a drive to nearby Oak Island where we walked on the beach and checked out the lighthouse.

Southport is a small town – population is just over 4,000 which just adds to its quaint charm. It isn’t a fancy water front village but it isn’t gritty either. It truly is unique and has its own sweet vibe. Nice restaurant choices… some right on the water and some just blocks away in town. Loads of cute shops and some amazing local artists whose work can be seen at several co-ops around town. The free maritime museum is worth a visit as is the local market that is held on Wednesdays. There is also a REALLY good seafood market – Potter’s, which is right on the waterfront. This 5th generation family business has their own docks and thus a killer selection of fresh fish. Believe it or not, I did NOT get shrimp. WHAT… I bought some grouper cheeks at the suggestion of the fish monger and made blackened fish tacos for dinner.

We found plenty to keep us busy during our three day stay in Southport. Oak Island was a 20 minute drive and we enjoyed a nice long walk on the beach. Not sure that walk worked off the delicious BBQ lunch we had at the Southport Smokehouse… we might have needed to walk there and back!

Southport will definitely be added to our list of favorite loop stops from this trip. Next stop Wilmington NC.