Girls loop with us in North Carolina

As we headed north to meet up with Nicole and Dee, we spent 2 nights at St. James Plantation Marina. St. James is a community with almost 5,000 beautiful homes surrounding 4 professional golf courses. It was a very nice marina to get weathered into for an extra day. We then headed to Swansboro for a night. It’s a small town but John did get a haircut and we had a nice dinner. The next day took us to Morehead City Yacht Basin where we met the girls…….we were so excited to see them….it just filled my heart! They got settled onto the boat, then we drove to Atlantic Beach for a walk on the beach and a beer and a snack. The next day proved to be beautiful so we travelled into the Atlantic Ocean 11 miles to anchor at Cape Lookout, which was highly recommended to us by a local boater. It was a beautiful area to anchor, lots of beaches to walk, a cool looking lighthouse and many other anchored boats. The girls so badly wanted to go swimming (as that’s what we do in Michigan), but we saw jellyfish in the water and who knows what else is in there…..so they did not go. One thing we have learned on this trip is that we are really spoiled with the crystal clean waters of the northern Great Lakes.

After anchoring for the night, we headed to Beaufort, NC (“Bo-fort” not be confused with Beaufort “Bue-fort”, SC). We walked around town during a wooden boat show, did some shopping and had dinner with some looper friends. The next morning we were able to get the girls truck from Morehead City to New Bern, so it would be there when we arrived a couple days later. The next stop was Oriental, NC, a small town with a great little resort. We hung out on the lawn all afternoon and just chatted and relaxed with other loopers. We then travelled up the Neuse River to New Bern, NC. New Bern is a fairly large town, lots of shops and restaurants downtown, and its actually the birthplace of Pepsi-Cola in 1898 (interesting fact)! We had dinner that night at one of our favorite family restaurants…..Outback….., as not too many other restaurants were open on a Monday night (we have found this to be true in many towns that we stop). Tuesday morning the girls headed home, and we motored 72 miles to Belhaven, NC. Not much is in Belhaven, but it’s a nice place to stop as we make our way north.

After a night in Alligator Marina with several other loopers, we had a beautiful morning to cross the Albemarle Sound, we were lucky! We hear it can be very nasty if you don’t pick a good weather day. We travelled 85 miles that day, and had to time bridge and lock openings as we made our way toward Norfolk, VA. We waited 2 hours for a railroad bridge to open, so good thing we left at sunrise.

We are waiting for good weather to continue our journey up the Chesapeake Bay, as it can be as bad as Lake Michigan. More on this in our next post!

Selfie in Atlantic Beach

Leaving Myrtle Beach Yacht Club

Our spot at St. James Plantation Marina - we actually saw an alligator in the marina

Early morning start heading to Swansboro - sunrise on the ICW

Beautiful homes on the ICW

You never know what you'll pass along the way!

Passed by this beauty!

John walked into a local barbershop.....first time I've been with him for a hair cut!

The girls drove down from Traverse City to meet us where ever we ended up! We were very happy they made it safe and sound!

Underneath the Atlantic Beach Pier

Atlantic Beach Pier in the background

Our spot in Morehead City Yacht Basin.....amongst the large offshore fishing boats

Where we were anchored on Nebo

Waterline view of our anchorage with lighthouse in background

Walking Cape Lookout beach

A view of our anchorage

Cape Lookout beach

Cape Lookout lighthouse

Afternoon drinks at Moonrackers rooftop.....overlooking Beauforts riverwalk

Dinner at Queen Anne's Revenge with Joe and Lynn from No Rush

Ready to put the crew to work!

Actually, John and I have it down and the kids were bummed that we really didn't need their help....definitely have learned a lot about boating on this trip.