Shackleford Banks and Cape Lookout

So we decided one weekend to go see the Shackleford Ponies.  We took the ferry from Harker's Island on the Outer Banks and got dropped off on Shackleford to go look for the wild horses.  As luck would have it the horses were there to greet us as we stepped off the ferry.  But they didn't stay in that spot for long so off we went searching the Island for more horses. 

You wonder how they can survive out there - but they must be doing okay as they have been living there for 400 years!

 There are different groups - each stallion has his own brood of mares.  Separate yet together on the same island.

 We were going further and further into the interior of the island looking for more horses and came across a spot where they clearly hang out.  The grass was all trampled down which resulted in a large cleared area.  And... we stumbled upon this horse skeleton.  Hmm... maybe this is not someplace we should be.  A bit too much intrusion?  So we eased on out of there.

 Cape Lookout in the background.  Can you see the little foal?

It was a great day!  There is just something special about those horses that live out there without any intervention from us.  Wild as wild can be.  Nice.

New Bern, North Carolina

Finally, we made it to New Bern, NC.  Nice little town that is situated right where the Trent and Neuse Rivers come together.  At one point it was the state capital.  New Bern was settled by Swiss and German immigrants and since their "leader" was from Bern, Switzerland they decided to call their new home Bern as well - or more precisely "New Bern".  And since Bern is the German name for Bear they also decided to adorn their town with bears.  They are everywhere - we never did count them all but I assure you they are on every corner!  Below is a sampling of a few.

The bears will even greet you as you come through the door at City Hall.

This is the New Bern Grand Marina where we stayed - short walk into town, very convenient.

 

 In addition to bears New Bern has many beautiful churches.  I love old churches and steeples so I always end up with alot of church pictures.  This is one pretty church and a cool steeple.

So this is the end of the line for awhile.  We will resume in spring of 2017 and make our way up to Maine.  By the end of 2017 we will have traveled the entire east coast of the US.  Stay tuned!

Traveling down the ICW

This is what much of the ICW looks like around the barrier islands of Georgia and above.  Flat and marshy.  I am going to just include some random ICW photos in this post to give you a feel of what it looks like traveling the waterway.  There are a few ocean pics as well.

We are guessing this boat possibly was blown up on land by a hurricane.  But who knows?

We had a fair amount of company at times -all returning north after the winter.

We traveled with these folks for awhile - they were headed to Cape Cod.  Beautiful boat!!

 This is a swing bridge - it just spins around and lets you go through.  

 This huge container ship looks like its aground but its not - its actually heading out to sea.

 

 This boat however is aground - not sure what happened here.

 One of the more interesting parts of the trip was traveling thru the portion of the ICW that is actually part of Camp Lejeune.  They do live firing across the waterway and you must have permission to transit the area.  You have to call the base the night before you plan to travel and talk with whoever is in charge of the firing range that day.  They will give you permission - or not for your travel.

Another hitchhiker - he joined us one day while out on the Atlantic.  Stayed till we arrived in port.

We saw many shrimp boats with all the birds looking for free food - I always think its neat to see.