Through the Carolinas and on to Virginia -- May 17, 2005 We are aboard "Reverie" docked at Tidewater Marina in Portsmouth, Virginia after making the trip northward through the Carolinas on the Intracoastal Waterway (ICW). We spent more than our usual time in marinas, but did anchor out enough to see some great wilderness areas and some new and interesting birds; we even got in a little sailing. One of the really fun things on our journey has been meeting up with old friends and we were able to do that twice: once ashore and once "at sea". The cruising actually took only a little over three weeks of travel as we also took time for a road trip back to Michigan the first week of May for the wedding of Jim's nephew. The weather was interesting, as we seemed to be chasing early spring north and catching it more than once. We know this because of the clothing we wore, one day we would be in shorts and short-sleeve shirts and the next in three to four layers with a biting wind. We did have a minimum of rain and bad weather. The trees and shrubs along the way also reflected the changing weather: the azaleas in Savannah were past their prime in mid April but absolutely gorgeous in Beaufort, NC two weeks later. We left Savannah at Mile Marker 590 on April 16 and motored to the north end of Hilton Head Island where we stayed at a marina. The annual MCI Heritage PGA Tournament was underway at Harbour Town, so the blimp was watching over us as we passed! We anchored out the next two nights; and, per our bird book, discovered that we were seeing Wood Storks for the first (and only) time. The "Lowcountry" of South Carolina provided most enjoyable scenery. We spent only one day at Charleston and took a Carriage Tour of the historic district (the tour we'd had in Savannah was much better!). About this time we learned that friends from Columbia have a condo in North Myrtle Beach and could meet us for the weekend, so we pressed on. We had two nights of great wilderness anchorages and even saw an alligator before arriving at North Myrtle Beach for three nights. We had first met Dale and Rebecca in a Newcomers Club in a small Wisconsin town back in 1972 and have had a Christmas-card relationship ever since -- it was so good to see them again! We learned that there is more than golf in Myrtle Beach -- there's also shag dancing and bocce ball! Not to mention walking on the beach, eating and lots of talking. After our great weekend, we crossed the border from South Carolina to North Carolina on April 25. The next section of the ICW was one of limited anchorages and lots of motoring. From Cape Fear to Cape Lookout and past Camp Lejeune Marine Base, we stayed at three different marinas. By Thursday it was good to go past Morehead City and out to open water where we put up the sails and scooted over to Cape Lookout. We anchored in the bight and had it nearly to ourselves -- the dolphins here gave us the best dolphin show of our trip! The next morning we boarded the dinghy and were over at the Cape Lookout Lighthouse and National Seashore before 8:00 -- we had a beautiful morning with the entire Atlantic beach all to ourselves! Did we ever feel smug when the tour boat arrived just after 9:00 as we were heading back to our boat! With a storm front predicted, it was time to head to the dock in Beaufort where we stayed for two nights. It is evident that Beaufort, established in 1709, has an active Historical Association. Among many sites in the city that they maintain and manage is the "Old Burying Ground". They provide a map showing and describing marked 'graves of interest' and we found this walk to be most enlightening. Even better, though, were the beautiful flowering shrubs that were in full bloom throughout. We also visited the North Carolina Maritime Museum which among other things has the largest seashell collection imaginable.
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