Oct. 28- 31 2017 - Beaufort, N.C., Mile Hammock Bay, Southport

We said goodbye to New Bern around 7:50 and headed out into the Neuse River and Adams Creek.  We docked around 12:30 at Homer Smith's Docks in Beaufort, N.C.  Mary and Scott (Mascot) and Art and Pam (Tinacious) followed us in.  We all went to lunch and then wandered through all the fun stores here.  When we checked in, the dockmaster gave us each 2 lbs of fresh shrimp (since this is a big fishing area), so we had fresh shrimp for dinner.

Sunday we had a great visit with Tara and Jace Brannon.  We knew Ryan, Tara and Jace (who was just a baby) in Houston.  Ryan is in the Coast Guard plus he was sort of our personal mechanic for the boat and jetskis.  They are now stationed in Morehead City, N.C., but Ryan was out of town so Tara and Jace drove over to see us.  We hadn't seen Jace since he was a baby and he was an absolute delight.  Since it was cold and rainy, we just stayed on the boat and had hot dogs while Jace spent his time on the bridge and in the engine room.  We had a great time with them.

Monday we left Beaufort at 8:30 (making the first bridge opening) and had a nice, but chilly day on the water.  We anchored at Mile Hammock Bay (one of our favorites) and spent a relaxing day on the boat.  Scott and Mary (Mascot) came in about 5:30.  Tuesday, we pulled up the anchor around 7:30 and took off.  In this part of the ICW, bridge openings on the low bridges becomes important.  We have a list of all the bridges and the times that they open.  The trick is to get there close to opening.  We had to hustle to get to the first opening today, but the others were just tall enough for us to fit under.  The day was beautiful and we are beginning to see a lot of dolphins.  By the time we docked at Southport around 2:15, it had warmed up and we were able to shed a few layers of clothes.  After docktails at 4:30 and a weather briefing at 6:00.  We walked by Kay and Robert Creech's house to say hi to them.  Since it was Halloween, there were kids all over the place.  After that we all walked to the only restaurant open on the waterfront for dinner.

Beautiful view from the bridge, although a little cloudy

I think this colorful house belongs in Key West

Downtown Beaufort

More downtown Beaufort

Jace checking out the engine room - his daddy would be proud

We have a similar picture when he was a baby

Tara and Jace

Jace with his new BFF

Jace was intrigued with all the seagulls - he took this picture

They brought us a pumpkin and pumpkin cookies (yum, yum)

Sunset at Mile Hammock Bay with Mascot 

Gorgeous sunrise as we were leaving Mile Hammock Bay

Calm, beautiful water and homes along the ICW

Some of the larger homes

Back to Southport - we were here on our way north

The waterfront of Southport

Dinner at Fishy Fishy with Mary and Scott