I’ve mentioned before about how returning to the same places means you’re remembered and you can fall into a pattern of folks excited to talk to you about your travels. Carolina Beach NC is one of the places we stop each year for a variety of reasons.

First there is the practical, two hardware stores, both with propane. An easy to walk to the grocery store, and it’s a town of many cafes and restaurants.

We tend to darken the door of Malama Cafe each day that we are there and since we try to stay for two or three weeks in each direction that ends up being about a month there each year. The result is that the folks haven’t seen us in 6 months and are excited to hear about what we’ve been up to.

The sail down is an easy one. We left Oriental NC about mid day so we could be outside in the ocean before dark, then a simple autopilot run on a single tack all night long. Then inside at Wrightsville Beach and a two hour run down the ICW to the little harbor that is Carolina Beach NC.

There is plenty of room to anchor, but after dragging our anchor in Hampton VA and the only other spot we ever dragged was here in Carolina Beach we decided to spring for a mooring. $180 for the week and I could just sleep and not worry one bit.

Our two big repeat visits, other than the hardware store and grocery store, were of course Malama Cafe where everything is awesome and everyone is friendly, and then to Island Burgers and Bites which is right off the dinghy dock. In the corner of an old gas station, it’s the best-kept secret in town. Perfect burgers. And since you eat outside on a raised deck I am able to pull off the bun (diabetes) and toss the bun bits to the birds so we end up with “dinner and a show” and my blood sugar numbers don’t move at all making it a place I can eat as much as I want.

We also tried out The Sea Witch and were very excited to find a solid restaurant that was pet-friendly. One of my projects for this next year is to find out where all the pet-friendly places are and to adjust as needed for when I eventually get a dog.

I was tempted to stay longer but the perfect weather window presented itself for us to sail from Cape Fear all the way south to St. Mary’s River and Cumberland Island which is where the wild horses are.