10/30/13

I forgot to post a picture of our next boat.  Now all we need to do is hit the lottery so we can afford the fuel. 

Lady Deborah in Oriental, NC

After leaving Mile Hammock Bay, we could still hear the "Jarheads" blowing shit up.  We finally got out of range of their noise around 9:30 a.m.  On the way to Southport, we had to wait for a couple of bridges to open.  We just couldn't seem to get the timing right.  It was a total of 57 miles from Mile Hammock Bay to Southport.  We stayed at Southport Marina for three days getting work done on the boat that our marinas back home "screwed up".  If you ever think about having work done by BOE Marine in Stevensville, MD, I would highly recommend against it. 

The ICW in North Carolina is lined with houses, mostly large.  There certainly are no economic hard times here.



A sampling of homes on the ICW in North Carolina.  Most have their own docks with travel lifts for their boats.

While in Southport, we saw Fort Johnston, which dates back to Revolutionary times.  It was a Confederate fort during the War of Northern Aggression and John's great, great grandfather was actually stationed there.  He was captured during one of the Union assaults and sent to a prisoner of war camp in Elmira, NY, where he spent three years, which had a death rate as high as the famed Andersonville Prison in Georgia.  The only thing left of Fort Johnston today is the Officers' Quarters. 

We found a local fish house and bought two pounds of fresh shrimp that spent the previous night in the Atlantic.  The town is lovely with beautiful homes throughout.  A two-bedroom, 1 1/2 bath home here goes for $299,000.  Apparently this is a retirement community that has a climate similar to northern Florida due to the close proximity of the Gulf Stream.  The residents claim that their winters are actually warmer than northern Florida.

Miss Deb on "Thor".

As you can see from the above picture, the residents of Southport are prepared in the event those Damn Yankees come calling again.

It's a pretty slow lifestyle, as this local resident indicates.

Gotta love a Pelican.

Leaving here and heading to Barefoot Landing, SC.

Note:  Click on the location below to see where we are.