Southport, North Carolina
We’ve spent a little over a week just outside of Southport, NC, near Cape Fear. While Chris traveled to Boston for a photo shoot, the kids and I (Alison) hung out at Fika at the Safe Harbor South Harbour Village.
Heading into downtown Southport was a little bit of an effort for us. After about a 30-minute (2.1-nm) ride along the Atlantic ICW in our dinghy, Cuppa, we were able to pull up to town and tie up at the dock of an AGLCA Harbor Host.
We had to trek about 2.1 nm in our dinghy, Cuppa, to get to downtown Southport, where we could have ice cream and lunch and enjoy the library and maritime museum.
It’s been HOT. After visiting the hosts’ porch and armed with lots of info about this little town, we continued to drip sweat as we walked to Flava’s Ice Cream and got a cool treat.
From there, we went to our favorite place: the public library. It was air-conditioned, and we enjoyed reading books and playing chess. I did a little reading about the Civil War, as we hope to study more about it, the Revolutionary War, and the early American government as we continue up the East Coast this summer.
Playing chess at the nice, cool library. They had lots of books that we enjoyed on our visits!
We also enjoyed looking around in a few shops while in town. Ewan found a stuffed axolotl toy and I found a bottle of “the best ever” Bloody Mary Mix sold by The Christmas House. Southport has much to offer and has been the filming location for many movies and television shows. There is a lot of history here!
On our second trip into town, we went to the weekly Farmers’ Market. I was able to get some fresh corn, peaches, and cucumbers. Then, we visited the North Carolina Maritime Museum of Southport. They had a variety of fun scavenger hunts for the kids, getting them engaged in maritime history and enjoying what the museum had to offer. They also had a fun activity where the kids learned how to use a quill pen and signed a shortened copy of the Declaration of Independence. You can learn more about that in a blog post on our sister site, Loop Life Academy.
Port City Java was another good place to sit and enjoy cool air. The kids played more chess while I worked on preparing for a webinar about Remote Work on Boats!
Due to the long dinghy ride to town, we mostly hung out near Fika and the marina. The marina has two restaurants nearby, and Rusty Hooks Dockside Grill was our favorite stop. We enjoyed the air conditioning in the upstairs dining space on multiple occasions (the A/C unit on Fika is dying and needs replacement) and would escape there for cold drinks, food, and sometimes chess games. We also met a future Looper family for lunch and discussed our adventure.
One of our many stops at Rusty Hook. We were able to come in for cold water and cold cheesecake to cool off one evening. And of course… another game of chess!
A few days after Chris’ return, we continued our trek north on the Atlantic ICW. We looked for a marina where we could see the fireworks for Independence Day and spend several weeks while more business travel needed to happen. We’re now in Oriental, NC (our last state before crossing our wake in Virginia!) and will write about that next!