The Dismal Swamp, NC to Virginia

We made it to Elizabeth City- the beginning of the Dismal Swamp part of the ICW. It isn't like it sounds, we really liked it on the way down. Very peaceful and pretty and the most important: NO POWER BOATS!!!! So no more being rudely waked by yahoo idiot power boaters for a little while.
We visited Charleston for a few days. We walked in from the marina dinghy dock (this has to be the biggest marina we've ever seen so they really don't keep track of things or notice what goes on so we did manage to sneak showers!) and we went to a visitor's info centre. Well they are really fronts for those vacation time share things. But it worked out well. They showed us their presentation and their time share package and the kids were so good about and patient. And then at the end we said no and they gave us free tickets for a ghost tour, horse and carriage tour and the SC aquarium!! So the first was the horse and carriage tour. It was great, what a beautiful city. Can't describe how gorgeous Charleston is and the tour was good. The vacation club uses the best carriage company where the drivers dress up. The kids loved it. Then at night we did the ghost walk. Pretty neat, saw the dungeons where Blackbeard was imprisoned and a restaurant/microbrewery where the previous owner grusomely killed himself and now haunts it. It was a full day, also a festival was going on so there was a good reggae band playing a free outdoor concert. Pretty cool. The next day we saw outdoor art show, then the SC aquarium which was very well done. Very pretty, nice exhibits, they focused on SC and didn't overextend themselves. Lots of the displays were wetlands and ocean life we've seen on the trip so it made us whistful to be in the Bahamas waters again! Then we ate at the haunted microbrewery- didn't see the ghost though!
So overall a great stay at Charleston. Then we moved on and spent many nights anchored in cypress swamps- very peaceful and yes we have great bugscreens so we did okay. Stopped near Beaufort NC at Spooner creek- you're basically anchoring in a concrete pond with mansions all around. They have a dinghy dock and a short walk to Walmart and everything we needed to stock up. We needed dinner so we got a bucket of chicken at Walmart- get this- it was 4 pounds of chicken- 4! And they charge $8.00!!!! I don't think you could ever find 4 pounds of chicken for 8 bucks in Canada!!! Pretty wild.
Then on through the most crummy part of the trip- lots of huge rivers- the Alligator river, and some sounds- very wide open to the ocean- Albamarle and Pamlico. But the weather was with us and no problems. So now we're in Elizabeth City, NC. And like I said likely tomorrow we'll start the Dismal. Elizabeth City is great, they love the cruisers- complete opposite to Florida who hates the cruisers. The dockmaster drove Rob for gas and was nice enough to drive me to the local vet clinic. I realized I've run out of heartworm meds for the dogs for July-Nov. They were super nice and I was able to buy it at way cheaper then Cnd prices and without having to bring in the dogs! Whew, another weight off of my mind as every stop I haven't been able to find a clinic and even this one was miles out of town. So Maggie and Shadow are set for the rest of heartworm season now!
We went to our favourite dine-in movie theatre here. It was great, you have a phone and call in your order and it comes while you watch your movie. We saw Ocean's 13- it was very good, much better than Ocean's 12 but not quite as good as Ocean's 11.
Today they are having powerboat racing and we have a front row seat being at the free docks and on the water. The boats have all arrived on trucks and they're setting up concessions, etc. The boats look like things straight from Nascar- pretty cool. We all discussed that if you crash in one of these likely there isn't much left of you!
That's all up to date for now, hopefully I'll find good computer access in the Chesapeake as that's where we're off to next after Norfolk. Hope everyone is well at home. We have decided for sure to bring the boat all the way back home so that we can use Snowday as an up north cottage for fun. We're enjoying our family time now even more so than on the way down. Much less stress than the Bahamas too as no more stressful storms/winds, etc. So we don't want it to stop hence the decision to just keep going north. Look forward to seeing everyone soon, likely in August! :)