Georgetown, Murrells Inlet and Myrtle Beach in South Carolina, Southport in North Carolina, and Carolyn's graduation in Kentucky

We finally left Charleston from Ross Marine at 9:30 Friday, April 24. It was neat to see historic Charleston from the water on our way out. The ride was beautiful with several birds following us and many homes with the incredibly long piers over the marshes characteristic of this area. We arrived in Georgetown about 4:30. The marina is in the heart of downtown and on their Harbor Walk. Georgetown is the third oldest city (1729) in South Carolina, behind Charleston and Beaufort. After exploring the historical sights, we ate at SoCo Grill. Later we talked with other loopers on the docks: Costas (boat Blessed), Diana and Jerry (boat Inspiration) , and Gary and Julie (boat Serenity).

Saturday, May 25, we has a short ride to Wacca Wache Marina near Murrells Inlet, South Carolina. This part of the ICW is on the Waccamaw River and Wacca Wache is from the Waccamaw Indian tribe and means "Happy Waters Happy Hunting". It's a beautiful setting with many cypress trees and turtles. They had the best price for fuel so we took advantage of that. Believe it or not, at this time $4.68 a gallon for diesel was a good deal. We ate early at Outriggers with Roylana and Yves (boat YKnotX) and later sat on their boat and listened to the band playing at  Outriggers. On Sunday, after home church online, we did laundry and rested. We then went by Uber to the town of Murrells Inlet with Gary and Julie (boat Serenity) to do a little shopping, walked the "Marshwalk" boardwalk, and ate at Wicked Tuna. We could see Myrtle Beach from there.

On Monday, April 27, we left Wacca Wache for Myrtle Beach. We stayed at Barefoot Marina in North Myrtle Beach on the ICW right across from a shopping and restaurant area called Barefoot Landing. This is a popular spot for Loopers as you can take the dinghy over to Barefoot Landing which we did. Our first stop was Lulu's for lunch. Lulu's was started by Jimmy Buffet's sister Lucy and we had previously been to the one in Orange Beach at Homeport Marina. We visited several shops and restaurants at Barefoot Landing, including a wine tasting at Coastal Wine Boutique . Thomas was our sommelier and we enjoyed talking to him about his time in the Air Force and port wines. The next morning before leaving we took the dinghy over again and then it was a short walk to the Atlantic at North Myrtle Beach. We met great people at the marina. Wendy (boat Dolphin III) was from Iowa. We also met Tuck and his wife Kathy. Tuck is the captain of the touring boat Barefoot Queen(see photo below).

Tuesday, April 28, we made our way to Southport, our first stop in North Carolina as we continue to make our way up the East Coast.  The first part they call "The Rocks", which is a little unnerving if you meet a boat because the sides are very rocky. We met no other boats and made it through there fine. The Little River bridge had a webcam so I pulled it up as we passed through when it opened and captured our boat going through (see third photo). This route also had a couple of inlets with shallow water, what boaters call "skinny water", so we needed to make sure we were not at low tide. We also follow "Bob's tracks" which helps. Every spring the Northeast wind builds shoals. Fortunately a friend, Brad, a fellow looper and Marine aviator, helped us load this on to our Aquamaps routing app.  It's a very specific navigation track.  This has kept us from running aground several times.  Once in Southport,  we stayed at the Safe Harbor South Village marina since it is close to Enterprise Car Rental. We needed to rent a car to drive to our daughter, Carolyn's, college graduation in Wilmore, Kentucky. We had dinner at nearby Joseph's Italian Restaurant. On Wednesday, Enterprise picked us up since their store was pretty close. We picked up some boat parts that had been ordered and did a grocery run and lunch at The Fish Factory.  Later, we explored downtown Southport, a place we need to revisit someday when there is more time. We went to The North Carolina Maritime Museum and went to several shops.  We also were treated to a Looper favorite get-together on "The Porch" that evening.   Former loopers, Kay and Robert Creech live right on the ICW in downtown Southport and invite all loopers to gather every evening after 5 for appetizers and comradarie. They are such sweet and generous people and we were privileged to attend. Robert also supplies a spreadsheet with all of the upcoming spots for the rest of the ICW to Norfolk. Our time on The Porch was with Yves and Rowlana (YKnotX), Lance and Sue (The Dash), and Jib and Teresa (To Boldly Go). 

On Thursday, we left for Carolyn's graduation weekend in Wilmore, Kentucky, near Lexington. She graduated Summa Cum Laude in Marketing from Asbury University! She will attend University of Kentucky Law School in Lexington this fall! Below are some photos for this wonderful weekend. The drive was pretty through the Great Smoky Mountains on  the way there and through the Blue Ridge Mountains (as we took a different route)  on the way back. Friday night was Baccalaureate and Saturday morning the graduation. Later that afternoon our friends, Patti and Jim, graciously  opened up their home for Carolyn to have a graduation party.  They are such a blessing and the party was a great gathering of Carolyn's friends. Next up on the Loop will be an anchorage near Camp Lejeune called Mile Hammock and on to Beaufort, North Carolina!