DOLPHINS!!!!

We left Oriental on Monday morning with a repaired water pump and our mail. We traveled 7 miles across the Neuse River; up Adams Creek, to anchor in Cedar Creek. We rowed the dinghy around to met our neighbors; Chuck and Allie in their beautiful Island Packet 38. Left the anchorage at 0630 on Tuesday to make some southerly progress. To start our journey, we were chased through Adams Creek by a tug pushing a barge all the way to Morehead City, NC. Then on the ICW, we saw DOLPHINS! Very exciting! We sailed for 12 miles down the Bogue Sound; which was especially nice since we had an adverse current. By 1500, we set the anchor for the night in Swansboro, NC; a very cute town. Went ashore to check out the shops, and talk to the locals. Met our neighbors, Yvonne and Jonathan, on sv Speranza, and then went ashore for pizza at The Trattoria. Our server was a Filipino from NJ. We were up bright and early on Wednesday for a long day. Our goal was to make Wrightsville Beach, a 60 mile trip. The challenge was to time the bridge openings which was a new experience for us. We needed to go through 4 bridges; 2 that opened on the half hour, and 2 only on the hour. Our timing wasn't helped by the fact that we made a wrong turn off the ICW. Fortunately, we realized our mistake and only went about 2 miles in the wrong direction. My worry was that it was going to be dark by the time we reached our destination. All worked out; and by 1700 we were anchored in Wrightsville Beach. It is 2100 and Jim is already asleep on the settee.