We finally left Charleston Tuesday, June 4, and made it to Georgetown SC for one night (more about Georgetown in photos). As we were getting back on the ICW from the Georgetown marina Wednesday morning we were stopped by a Coast Guard boat. Two men boarded our boat to do a routine safety check. We have been very diligent about making sure we have all the safety equipment and documentation needed, so they were done in 10 minutes and we passed with flying colors. They even said our engine room was cleaner than theirs!

Then it was on to a marina on the south end of Myrtle Beach for one night with not much there except a great goodie bag when we checked in. There WAS an alligator behind a boat along the channel wall the next morning, but I wasn’t able to get a photo of it, so you’ll have to take my word for it😊

We then spent two nights at Myrtle Beach Yacht Club, which is actually in Little River SC. We were given a pass to the Officers Club, a private restaurant above the marina office, and had great wings there. We have been eating so much seafood that wings were a real treat. A man came in while we were there and asked how much membership cost. Our server said it was 35. He asked 35 hundred? She said no, $35. He asked per month? She said no, for a year. There’s obviously some reason they have to have a membership fee, but it is just a token amount.

It was on to two nights in Southport NC then. Southport is a very interesting town – a cross between an old town with great old houses and a fishing town. Several movies, as well as the TV series Dawson’s Creek, have used Southport for shooting locales.

We have spent the last three days at Harbour Village Marina in Hampstead NC because of weather. No restaurants here, but we got pizza delivered last night from a local pizza place – New York style cut into big wedges you could fold in half to eat. Tomorrow we head to Beaufort NC, passing Camp Lejuene on the way. We’ve seen military helicopters and jets flying over the marina the past three days.