Good Times in North Carolina

South Carolina ICW

As we cruised out of South Carolina on Thursday (May 8), we left behind the wooded inland waterways and turned back to the ocean. Much of the North Carolina coastline in this part of the state is thickly covered with housing.

North Carolina beach development

We spent Thursday evening in Southport, NC, a town near the mouth of the Cape Fear River. Southport was founded in 1792 as the town of Smithville. Apparently the name was changed in the 1800's in hopes of promoting the town as a major port; however, aside from some ferry services in the town and a few marinas, the name change doesn't seem to have had the desired effect. As usual, we hopped on our bikes to explore. The town had a "Mayberry" feel to it that we liked very much--very cozy houses, lots of American flags.

We also spent some time in the "Old Smithville Burying Ground," yet another instance where poor Lon had to put up with my fascination with old cemeteries. I suppose it's because I wonder about the stories of the people buried so long ago. It's noticeable how short life was in the "good old days," and particularly striking how many graves of children are present.

Betty Hancock "Our darling baby"

Percy Cameron Smith
"Budded on Earth to Bloom in Heaven"

On Friday we cruised north on the Cape Fear River to our next stop, the Carolina Beach State Park Marina on Pleasure Island, part of the Wilmington, NC metro area. The beach towns here are packed with houses and hotels/motels/guesthouses, but the beaches are nice and not yet as crowded as they are likely to be in a couple of weeks. The marina was not only in a quiet and wooded site, it was very inexpensive and close to a grocery store. The last is important when you're using bikes as transportation to provision the boat!

CARIB II at Carolina Beach State Park

Stilt home in Carolina Beach

Pat on Kure Beach

But the very best part of our time here was the opportunity on Saturday to meet up with our nephew Peter, who is in the Navy. He and three military friends drove to the marina on Saturday. We let them use our dinghy to go to the beach for a few hours, and when they returned we had wonderful conversation over dinner. I hope those young men enjoyed the day as much as Lon and I did.