Magnolia had only made it halfway along our path though North Carolina but we have had more than twice the fun! We were able to connect with my friend and former colleague Pete Saunders in near Myrtle Beach. We was kind enough to come out and photograph Magnolia as we passed under the Sunset Bridge.

After our visit with Pete we were onto Southport, NC. Southport was another one of those places we wanted to visit in the fall but missed. We arrived at the Southport Marina, got Magnolia settled and began our exploration!

The Marina at Southport is a top notch facility and we thoroughly enjoyed our stay.

The high-point of our Southport visit was meeting up with Joe & Christine Volpe. Joe is a former colleague of our friend Kathy Tennar. In addition Joe is the former CO of the USS Mobile Bay, a sister ship to Ticonderoga which I was a crew member on. It was a great visit!

We had a blast and shared more laughs than any four people deserve!

Sadly it was time to get Magnolia moving again. With the foul weather in the mid-west we will spend the week looking over our shoulder as we head up the coast towards the Chesapeake.

Magnolia lies as anchor near Figure Eight Island in a wonderful anchorage just off the ICW. We will be getting underway in the morning and spend tomorrow evening Camp Lejeune Marine Corp Base.