TOTAL MILES TRAVELED TODAY: 43 NM
DOCKED AT: SOUTHPORT MARINA ($1.88 /FT W/P OVERALL)
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| THE ""MISS JUDY |
SUNSET IN SOUTHPORT: 5:04 PM
HIGH: 62
LOW: 30
Folks, let me tell you that the bridge openings really dictate our schedule. The adjacent Surf City Swing Bridge opens only on the hour between 7 AM and 7 PM. We missed the 8:00 but were eagerly queued up for the 9:00 opening. The next bridge, the Figure Eight Island Swing Bridge, is a distance of 18 miles and opens on both the hour and the half hour. We stepped up our slow pace to a slightly-quicker slow pace to make the 11:00 opening then took our time getting to the Wrightsville Beach Swing Bridge for its noon opening.
Nearing the Wrightsville Beach area we appreciated the beautiful homes lining the channel as well as the whimsical “beach” scene with its dilapidated palapa, plastic palm tree and the requisite parking meter that so often restricts your beach time.
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| BEAUTIFUL HOMES LINING THE CHANNEL |
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| CAN YOU BELIEVE THE SETTING? |
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| WHAT MORE COULD YOU ASK FOR AT THE BEACH? |
Once south of the Wrightsville Swing Bridge we waved to the diners at The Dockside that specializes in seafood and super Bloody Mary’s rimmed with Old Bay spices.
THE DOCKSIDE MARINA AND RESTAURANT
The waterways were congested with families and anglers on this Thanksgiving holiday weekend. More than once Dan had to deal with passing boats that didn’t have the knowledge to slow down for us cruisers or just didn’t care. That certainly was not true of all the boaters we encountered though as most are truly courteous. We passed the community dock for our Wilmington home but it was pretty quiet today as many people already have their boats out for the season.
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| OUR DOCK FOR THE SOUTHEAST HARBOR HOMEOWNERS |
Moving on we took Snow’s Cut to the Cape Fear River where we headed south, away from downtown Wilmington. Now the Wilmington area is not only home to the University of North Carolina, Wilmington (Steven graduated from there two years ago) but also the battleship U.S.S. North Carolina, the largest domestic TV and movie production facility outside of California and the cutest little international airport. This airport is on the site of the old WW II POW Camp. Also, the eastern end of Interstate 40, the 3ed longest east-west major Interstate Highway, shows that it is only 2,554 miles to the western end in Barstow, California.
Tonight was spent in charming Southport, our last stop in North Carolina. Scenes from TV’s Dawson Creek and the movies Night’s in Rodanthe, Dreams of the Heart and I Know What You Did Last Summer were shot here. We discovered this little gem several years before Steven’s schooling brought us to Wilmington but our schedule never allowed us to dock here while cruising.
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| THE PIER IN SOUTHPORT |
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