Beaufort, SC Again Nov 11-14

We liked Beaufort the first time on the way north, and found we like it even more with this stay. Our favorite restaurant here is Emily's which has a good selection of tapas. We toook the courtesy car to the ABC store and local food store. We were only going to stay 2 nights, but on the day of our planned depature it was extremely foggy, plus we had already decided we would like to spend some more time in the town.
On Friday the 14th we left with the tide change as the current in the marina is wicked makng manuvering difficult. Our destination was Hilton Head Island. Weather was reasonable on departure. It turned foggy as the day wore on to the point we could only see a few hundred yards by the time we arrived at Harbortown Marina. Thank goodness for radar, chartplotters, and depth finders. I have a whole new respect for mariners that navigated without these modern tools.

Charleston Again Nov. 8-11

This time in Charleston was a bit more relaxed as we had done many of the tourist things on the last visit. We made one very big mistake on Sunday. We chose Hyman's Restaurant for lunch as it was picked by Southern Living magazine many times as the best seafood in the southeast. the meal was so disappointing Debby is going to cancel her subscription to the magazine. Our alternative would have been a jazz brunch at High Cotton which we will do on the next visit. The picture was taken at the roof top bar at the Vendue Hotel at sunset.
Great view from there of Charleston Harbor.

Waccmaw River and Georgetown Nov. 6-8

The trip from Southport takes you to the Waccamaw River which is the most scenic part of the trip on the Intracoastal Waterway. It was particularly beautiful this time as we caught the last of the turning leaves on the cypress trees on a clear sunny day. These pictures are taken from the osprey marina which is just off the river at the northern end.
From Osprey it was a short trip to Georgetown. We had stopped here on the way up and liked it. There is a nice boardwalk on the water front where we finally got a picture of both of us.

Southport, NC Nov. 1 - 6

We left Beaufort on the 1st of November headed for Southport, NC with an intermediate stop at Harbor Village Marina which is near nothing (although it is a very nice marina). We had not stopped in Southport on the way North, and were eager to see it. It sits at the mouth of the Cape Fear River with direct ocean access, and has been consistently voted one of the top 10 towns in the country for retirees. The first day there we did not leave the boat as it rained all day long. We did get out the second day and liked it enough to stay a third day when a Farmer's Market was scheduled. Debby felt the shops in Southport were the most unique of the trip. We found several good restaurants for lunch. PJ's has special significance as that is the name of our grandson.

Beaufort, NC Oct. 28 Nov 1

Beaufort is another very early town in NC having been founded in 1709. Unlike many of the places we have been visiting it is right on the coast with easy ocean access. Like the other places it has a well defined and contained downtown historic district with many historical homes and businesses. We have had our first taste of cold weather with lows in the high 30's and highs in the high 50's and strong winds. So far the reverse cycle AC on the boat is working well so we keep warm on the boat

The marina is located on the town waterfront, so every thing is very convenient. The tidal current in the marina is pretty wicked when you combine it with the strong wind. We did not see it happen, but one boat on its approach tagged our burgee flag staff and bent it over 90 degrees. Obviously it could have been much worse. Beaufort Town Docks are dedicated to transients. As such they keep a "fleet" af 4 courtesy cars which enabled us to restock food and more importantly liquor. The cars are a hoot. Three of them are 1990 vintage Buick Estate Wagons complete with faux wood paneling on the side (or what is left of it).

We had intended to leave on Friday, but the bar at the marina was having a big Halloween Party complete with a blues band called Infectious Disease. In fact 3 bars in town were participating with costume contests rotating between them at 11, 12 and 1 o'clock. We decided we couldn't pass this up, so we stayed another day. Her is Debby with some of the better outfits. Also, Debby in front of one her favorite stores (note the name).

Oriental - One Last Time Oct. 26,27

We are now officially headed south again. We have had such a good time in Oriental we decided to stop one more time to visit our friends there. Sunday night at the marina restaurant, Toucan, they have an entertainer, DaveCollins, who along with his 14 year old daughter puts on a great show. He is straight out of a 60's rock band complete with head band and sun glasses. He plays a number of songs he wrote himself and at the end of the evening gave us a copy of his CD with the original songs.

Monday night is "Boy's Night Out" at the Tiki Bar. As you can see by the picture Debby did not observe the protocal even though she was entertaining the wives on our boat. All-in-all two very good nights.

New Bern Oct 19-26

We have really enjoyed our stay in New Bern. It is a larger town than most of the others, but it is concentrated in roughly a 6 block square area with both nice shops and classic old homes. This was the first capital of the colony of NC. It was established as a town in 1710 by Swiss settlers although English were here as well. Many of the homes date from the 1700s to early 1800s.

I left Debby here to travel to CT for a meeting at P&W for 2 days early in the week. She was able to to get her hair done for the first time since we left (a new record) and was very pleased with the job. The local airport was only 10 minutes away and provided easy service to Charlotte.

We were going to leave on Thursday, but found they were having their annual "Ghostwalk" this weekend and decided to stay to see what that was all about. Turned out to be a fun event. About 15 venues were open, most of them old historic homes, both Friday and Saturday night. As you toured each place they had locals dressed in period costumes acting out skits as ghosts of people who lived in the town during varius periods and describing what it was like at the time they were alive. It was a great way to get an historical perspective and also a lot of fun. it is a popular event as you had to wait in line at each place. Nice to see so many people walking the town at night. Like others we have visited here in NC this is a very friendly place. Most people are from somewhere else and eager to express there happiness with having relocated whether it was recent or 30 years ago.