A brief stop in Wilmington, NC......

Halloween greetings from Wilmington, NC!  Somewhat appropriate that we are on the Cape Fear River today, isn't it?  There was another type of scare awaiting us here that I'll tell you about shortly....



As you can tell, we made it safely past the ICW shoaling areas we've encountered so far.  Mark's evasive maneuvers, sharp eye for odd patterns in the water (which can indicate depth changes), resourceful use of online navigation information, and inherently salty intuition were collectively invaluable in keeping Quality Time afloat and moving southward.

Typical ICW view looking forward:



Typical ICW view looking aft:




We stopped for lunch last Sunday with some fellow Virginians in Wrightsville, then anchored that night in Carolina Beach.  A dinghy ride, a walk on the beach, and yet another beautiful sunset.







At dawn, we decided to take a short diversion north up the Cape Fear River to visit Wilmington, as other boaters had recommended this charming city to us.  The Cape Fear River is renowned for its strong currents, but we arrived around noon to our marina on the north end of town.  Armed with Google Maps/smart phones and bikes, we decided to head out to explore the downtown area and find a grocery store to restock on our perishables.



Mark is apparently significantly less aware of neighborhood "vibes" than I am, and it was quite clear we were very, very out of place as we headed towards town.  And the fact that I could not determine who was dressed up for Halloween and who was not did not help put me at ease.  After at least 6 very uncomfortable miles on the bikes, we made it to a local Food Lion.  Despite Mark's protests, I put my foot down and insisted we use Uber to get back to the marina.

While driving us back to the marina, the driver wondered aloud and unprompted "I wonder why my GPS is taking us through the worst part of Wilmington?" - turns out it was because that was the only way back to the marina.  These were the same streets we had travelled earlier on our folding nerd bikes, made even nerdier by the addition of a milk crate (held on by numerous bungee cords) to the back of each bike for our intended groceries.  Let's just say I was quite motivated to keep my bike moving, and it was a wonderful feeling to be Uber-ed back to the safety of Quality Time.

Since we now don't feel comfortable leaving the marina on our own, we are in the process of planning our next move.  We will likely move to a different marina closer to downtown Wilmington, to spend one more night exploring the city and enjoying one of the nice restaurants there.  Then it will be southward again, as we get ever closer to the South Carolina border.

Thanks for joining us on this adventure - hope everyone is doing well on the home front.  We love hearing from you, so please feel free to call/text or leave a comment or question on the blog.  Happy Halloween and once again, GO TRIBE!!!!