Swansboro to Oriental (Grace Harbor at River Dunes)

dolphins today!

Short walk to find places to have Parker off leash for a catch

 

March 15, 2021

We left Caspers marina at 8:10 heading for the Oriental area.  We got fuel at Caspers (one of the best prices on the ICW) so we are ready to go.  It is a cloudy day after a beautiful sunrise.  The temperatures have cooled and we only expect a high today of 52.  We are getting closer to home.

very protected harbor, you  would not know it was rough on the way in

The yachts reflect the high end nature of the resort

This is the only short day we have planned for the rest of the trip, 54 miles.  We wanted to see this place as many people we have met have stayed here and it is supposed to be very nice. We arrived at 12:20.  We realized we probably should have gone another 20-30 miles today but wanted to see this place.

Grace Harbor at River Dunes is beautiful and Scott, the dockmaster is such a nice guy.  Because it is a Monday, and a cool, cloudy one at that, we were the only transients to come in that day.  We have use of the courtesy car for as long as we want it.  We plan on going in to the town of Oriental for some milk and bread.  

cozy on a chilly night

view from boaters lounge of our boat
even a shower with steam!

Funny thing, we had a man come to the boat and wanted to talk to us, he asked us if we were cleaning the boat or if we owned it.  Now we know we are have really been at sea too long and might be needing some more grooming!  Sandy didn't even have on his Roland Martin hat

This is the kind of resort that you would want to come back to.  Such great taste in making a homey living room/lobby that you would just want to sit down and spend some time in.  We peeked at the restaurant, and you can just picture yourself sitting down enjoying a great meal.  Alas, they are not open on Mondays in the off season so we are having spaghetti and meatballs on the boat!

                                                                 sorry, not adept at editing

Tomorrow we are going to Coinjock, we have just figured out it is actually 135 miles, way more than normal.  We have a lot of open water and two swing bridges to go through.  The Alligator Swing bridge does not operate in high winds so we have to keep our fingers crossed, the other one only opens on the 1/2 hour and not during rush hour at all.