We survived boating the Cape Fear River!!!

Look close and you might be able to see Jammin Jane!

Our travels to Wilmington, NC were a bit interesting from goat sightings to abandoned shrimp boats. One portion of the ICW (Lockwood Folly's) was on our radar as being a section to be cautious with lots of shoaling. We did great and benefited by having our buddy boats go through first and report on depths.

Cute goat getting a sun tan. Ben spoke goat to him and got nothing but a bit of a head turn! 

Haven't seen this before.

Lockwood Folly's, pretty shallow here.

We (along with Kevin, Jill, Bob and Liz and our new buddies Dave and Nancy) resolved to spend three nights in downtown Wilmington, NC. We only traveled 14 miles on Cape Fear, which technically is 14 miles out of the way as we were off the ICW. The Cape Fear River is 202 miles long and is a black water river. Which is a river that is deep and slow moving traveling through swamp and wetlands. Decaying vegetation release tannins in the water causing it to be acidic and have the color of tea or coffee. It also can leave stains on the hull of the boat. The Cape Fear River was not what I was expecting, I did not hear any banjo's playing nor did it resemble the rivers we traveled down months ago. Turns out it is very industrial, at least on this stretch, with quite a bit of military fly-bys and ship traffic. We even had to wait while a couple tugs were turning a massive ship around so we could pass by them. It was a sight to see!

We even got to tour a tall ship!

But even more surprising was that Wilmington is one happening college town!!

What do you do in a college town????... Act like a college kid, of course!!

Wilmington, NC is a very fun spot!! We were docked right downtown and within walking distance to all the fun. Three nights here pretending we were in our twenties was a blast! We had amazing oysters, shopped the farmers market, worked our way to almost every bar in town (trust me there are A LOT), hit the taco food truck late night and did a bit of shopping (and made purchases at the Cotton Exchange). It was very hard not to shop as every corner had a great boutique loaded with the perfect outfits!

Kevin had a birthday while here and we celebrated in style. We tested all the local watering holes, AND found a table with six stools, at the roof top bar. Lucky us!

Me and Jill

Bob and Jill late night

The Crew (L to R) Jill, Nancy, Kevin, Dave, Liz, Jane, Ben and Bob. We were in the basement of an old hotel that was haunted. No ghost visits while we were visiting...sad face. 

The girls  

late night

I almost forgot to mention, Ben bought a banjo!!! Bob bought a ukulele!! Neither of them know how to play, YET! I LOVE the banjo and he already sounds good. Bob does too! Rock on! I'm on the hunt for a fiddle...

This will be our last stop (until we catch back up) traveling with Kevin and Jill on Chasing 80. They need to have some boat work done in Annapolis and will begin their travels north, moving daily. We will be moving north just not as fast so we will take our time until we reach them in the near future.