Location: Southport, NC
Today Dad and I struggled to re-acclimate ourselves to life off the dock and back on the water. Although the boat was now more organized from being in a single port for a few days, it was still hard to get back in the groove. As we left a Canadian sailor we had met on the dock set sail behind us. We played leap frog with him for a few miles down the ICW. Having a brief conversation with him in the lulls, we discovered that his final destination will be Cuba, Dad is extremely jealous. Now that I think about how close Cuba is to our travel stops, it seems foolish not to go there as well. Unfair. Once we turned the engine on we left the Canadian in the dust. We no longer have the luxury of traveling at our own pace, Corinne gets to Charleston onThanksgiving Day. However, friends of ours had warned us to pass through Lockwoods Folly at high tide. We could have made it to the Folly, but not at high tide so we stopped short in Southport. The harbor at Southport was very small, the size of a cove. Docks lined the shore, two were restaurant docks, those at the very end were the public docks and they were full. Our cruising guide indicated that we could anchor right in the middle of the harbor, the trouble was that it seemed we would be in everyone's way. I would say that there is room for two boats to anchor there and hopefully no large trollers trying to leave the dock. Luckily a couple on the dock shouted to us, asking if we wanted to raft up. They had a cool 70's power boat, white with seafoam green trim, with a generator, washer and dryer on board. The couple told us of all the cool spots to go to before the sun set. Dad and I followed their directions and took a short walk downtown. Every local we met informed us that Southport is affectionately known as "the east coast Hollywood." The movie Safe Haven was filmed here, the pride and joy of the community apparently. The town didn't reveal any obvious movie making qualities however. It had some cute stores and sweet shops but nothing Hollywood-esk. We did find out that they would be holding a Charles Dickens festival the very next day in Southport. I don't know what exactly that would entail but I was dying to go. I think Dad wanted to as well but after discussing it and listening to the weather we knew that we didn't have an extra day to spare here. Before getting back on the boat Dad met a shrimper on the dock. We had a long conversation with him. He had been in the Navy, lived in Groton for a bit, and was incidentally an extra in Safe Haven. Contrary to what the Southport locals said about the major film presence in the town, the shrimp business seemed to be the life and soul of the area. We bought three pounds of shrimp from him for ten dollars. Back on the boat we steamed them and Dad made a sweet and spicy Cajun sauce. I've never had to pick the heads off a shrimp before I ate it until now. It was very time consuming but there was no doubt that these shrimp were fresh. We went to bed lamenting the time we could've had here if we stayed longer but grateful that we had full bellies and that I had something to write about.
Spotted: at a wine & coffee shop they had a chocolate dipped bottle of wine, the owner told us how the candy store across the street sterilizes the bottles and dips then for her.
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