Golfers in the Sky, Cops on the Ride and Fishermen up before Dawn

We left Osprey Marina and started up a long river channel passing Myrtle Beach, pretty houses, many condos, and many boats.

A golf course along the way.

Look up! It's a golf chair lift, taking golfers and their clubs across the ICW to the back nine.

This boat and boat house need a makeover.  Likely caused by a recent hurricane.  The regulatory costs of removing a derelic boat is great.  So, they are abandoned.  Unintended consequence?

Beach with an ocean view.  We are on the intracoastal, but can often see out to the ocean through the inlets.

We first met Ken and Teri on Roundabout in Grafton, MO.  We saw them again at Thanksgiving in Mobile, AL.  We had not seen them since, until we met up again in Oriental, NC.

See Blue Moon in the middle of TownDock.net web cam photo.  We stayed at the town dock in Oriental, NC. Wild Raven's yellow canoe is on the deck.

We traveled with Roundabout to Hampton, VA.  Here they are crossing the Albermarle Sound.  This can be an especially troublesome crossing, but we had smooth water.

One year ago - May 2014 - I had just retired and we flew to Norfolk, VA. We took a car to Elizabeth City, North Carolina's Pelican Marina, and started our Loop.  What a difference a year makes in ability and confidence on handling the boat.

This year we stayed at Elizabeth City's free town park wall.  The Elizabeth City Police Department hosted an organization called 'Law Enforcement United'.  Each year in May, members of LEU join together on a bicycle ride along the east coast and converging in Washington, D. C.  The purpose of the ride is to raise awareness and pay tribute to fallen officers.

Elizabeth City Police Department stand at attention as they welcome Law Enforcement United riders.

We also watched a park wedding ceremony that evening.  And, it was the night for the 8th grade dance and many proud parents were in the park taking pictures of their children.

Enjoying a fish dinner with friends, Roundabout and Wild Raven and Phillipe, we first met him in Oriental, NC.

That afternoon we enjoyed a visit to the Museum of the Albermarle.  Below is an iron doubloon chest, from 1700.  This is a traditional strong chest to hold valuables during the Colonial period.  The contraption inside the lid is the locking mechanism.

Other colonial era exhibits.

It's 5:00 a.m.  What's that noise??  We look out our bedroom window to see many boats waiting for the bass tournament to start.

Denver, CO

We had an unplanned trip to Denver, CO, to say good-bye to our brother-in-law, Steve, that passed on too soon.  It is sad when a loved leaves us early, but we enjoyed seeing many of our family members.

A few family photos:

King with his sister, Kathy

Brother-in-law Dean

 Niece Tonya, and Great-Niece Hannah

Cousin Jim enjoying a nap.

Nephew Jason

All the Hayes extended family

Niece Angie and Great-niece Taylor

Nephew Clark and Niece Stephanie

Family candid photos

Nephews Clark, Cole and Chris - wearing Steve's favorite, OU shirts,

Sending messages to Poppy in Heaven.

Visiting Longmont, CO

We lived in Longmont, CO when we were in our twenties.  We met Gary and Vicki, our boat partners, and have been friends for over forty years.  We stayed with them in their lovely home and we drove on a site seeing trip to Estes Park, CO.  It has been many years since we've been to Estes Park, but not too much has changed.  However, last year there was massive flooding of the Big Thompson Canyon and into Longmont.  

Driving to Estes and enjoying the scenery.

Elk are alongside the road.

This could be our new favorite store, but we decided we'd better not go in.

 Now this is a favorite store!

 Vicki and Sharon enjoying the stores.

Some of the flood damage that happened last year.

Really pretty flowers in Vicki's front flowerbed.  They looked so real, King wanted a picture.  Actually, they are real.

We liked their fireplace - we want one like this for the boat.   Ha.

A fun lunch, trying to take a selfie!

We flew back to Raleigh, NC and drove back to Osprey Marina, near Myrtle Beach.  This is one of our favorite marinas, another must stop.  The marina also has a goat farm - fun to look at.  We were pleased to get a marina goodie bag with homemade jelly.

Beautiful Beaufort and Charming Charleston

Southern Beaufort, pronouced 'beau' as in beautiful.

Charleston Maritime Center, the marina where we had planned to stay was full due to a Sailing Regatta.  We chose to stay at St John's Yacht Harbor on the Stono River and we were so happy with our choice. We would definitely stay there again.

King enjoying fishing with the marina's one eyed cat, hoping for a handout.

Beautifully preserved historic Charleston homes line block after block.

More beautiful buildings, churches and homes.

H. L. Hunley was a submarine of the Confederate States of America and played a small part in the American Civil War.  Only 40' long, the Hunley demonstrated the advantages and dangers of undersea warfare.  She was the first partially submerged submarine to sink a warship, and also lose her crew before returning to base.

We left Charleston in cool and windy weather, a perfect day for a regatta.  We stayed out of the way of the sailing boats, but tooks lots of pictures.

We were tired and ready for bed, but not before one last picture.