We spent our Fourth of July in Oriental, NC. The associated local festival is called "Croaker Fest" - named after a very abundant local fish - and it was a blast! Joining us for the day (and several other days) in Oriental was the Robeck family from s/v Raptor. (Jaime, Andy, Owen, Carmel, and Addie). We've so enjoyed meeting this family, it is certain that looking back on this trip someday, their friendship and company will stand out as one of the top highlights and memories. The parade through town started at 10am, complete with handmade floats and lots of candy throwing - Ava and Reed declared it on par with Halloween! From there, we walked the few short blocks to the festival grounds, in search of shade and fun kid activities. Croaker Fest did not disappoint! We spent 6 hours at the kids activity park where a very boisterous "referee" led the Limbo, Twister, Watermelon Seed Spitting, Hula Hoop, Tug of War, and Water Balloon Toss contests. Each game had several variations so that every age could participate and have a lot of fun doing so. For the grown-ups, it was great to see the kids interact with the locals. Ava even made a few new friends and sang some songs in the karaoke tent (Taylor Swift songs, of course). There was also a "shark tooth" table - really a flat bed trailer with sand from a local area that contained thousands of shark teeth fossils. The kids could have sat there for hours digging through to find teeth of all shapes, sizes, and colors. We had some lovely dinners that lasted well past sunset at the dock. The kids fished and swam in the pool and made some great summer memories. Life is good!! | |
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Beaufort, SC, is a lovely city, with moss-covered live oak trees, historic streets, and a slow, deliberate pace. We set ourselves up for a week-long stay at Lady's Island Marina, a well-run, friendly, and economical stop. Eric had important maintenance projects and we all were looking forward to exploring the area a bit.
The marina is home to is a great mix of both live-aboard and transient boaters - all are very welcoming and helpful. Each night on the deck over looking the docks, people would gather with their "sundowner" cocktails for conversation - usually about boats and boating, of course. We always pick up great tips on the area, upcoming stops, as well as advice from veteran Bahamas cruisers that we can store away for our upcoming return trip. The marina provided bikes or a loaner car to run shopping errands or to explore. We took the opportunity to visit one of Karrie's former co-workers, Julie Granberry, who was in the area on vacation with her family in nearby South Edisto Beach. Such great hospitality from their whole family for our short visit! Ava had fun swimming at the beach while Reed, still in his cast, took advantage of great internet at their vacation house to catch up on important video game developments! Ha! While in Beaufort, a record-breaking heat wave settled upon us. Without AC on the boat, daytime heat indices of over 110 degrees meant we were in a constant search for ways to stay cool. The marina office was turned into a temporary lounge and we made good use of the public indoor pool across the street. We have all learned the art of fan placement in order to get a good night's sleep. Karrie even made a makeshift air conditioner out of a styrofoam cooler, ice and a fan. It was good while it lasted but the ice melted quickly and it really raised the humidity on the boat so it wasn't used more than once. The best part of our stay in Beaufort was meeting and getting to spend several days with another sailing family! The Robeck family of five have been sailing on their San Juan 28 since last October. Reed immediately hit it off with Owen, 9yrs, and Ava enjoyed playing big sister to Carmel, 7yrs, and Addie, 4yrs. And Eric and I found kindred spirits in parents Jaime and Andy. We left Beaufort a few days before them but since we are all headed north toward the Chesapeake so are sure our paths will cross several more times in the next few months. Another highlight of the stay was that Reed had his cast removed. He is now cleared to swim, a great rehab activity to get his arm back in shape after 5 weeks in a cast. The timing was perfect as the heatwave made having a cast on quite unbearable. We ended up extending our stay in Beaufort to 10 days, partly because the heat wave made it very difficult to get much work done during the day, but also because we all really enjoyed all the city and marina had to offer. |
AuthorsWe are Karrie, Eric, Ava, and Reed Sanderson. Our house is in Seattle but our home is wherever the four of us are...and for the next two years, our home is Night Music, a Tartan 37 Sailboat. Archives
June 2016
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