Awoke early and cast off at 7am. Sun came up soon after and painted a beautiful morning sky
Within minutes we were in the Alligator-Pungo canal and settled in for a 21 mile run. We were part of a flotilla 
With boats in front and behind us stretching out to the horizon on both sides, all heading south. We did pass one barge heading north 
But the 3 hour trip was otherwise uneventful. In another 2 hours we had sailed (actually motored since there was no wind to speak of) to Beljhaben and tied up at the town dock 
After a quick lunch we took a walk around town, met a nice lady who ran the “Welcome Center”. She explained that Belhaven called itself the birthplace of the ICW. It turns out that the last piece of the ICW - the Alligator-Pungo canal was completed in1928 and a big celebration was held with dignitaries from the armed services, Washington, the News Media and evening Hollywood attended. There were many speeches and it was such a good time that it was repeated for many years on the anniversary of the dedication. It was forgotten after a while but is now being resurrected as Belhaven is refashioning itself as a tourist destination with new restaurants (one of which we’ll try for dinner) there are several Ned and breakfasts that we saw on our walk around town and one mansion that was recent rebuilt by the townsfolk (all volunteer labor) which is now used for weddings and such. It is on the waterfront and quite elegant 
We invited ourselves in and had a nice tour
We continued our walkabout (the entire walk encompassing most of the town took about 1/2 hour, not counting the stop at the Mansion
The restaurant for tonight’s dinner is “Spoon River artworks and market” and rated one of the best restaurants in all of North Carolina. We’ll see
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