After hitting our starter with a hammer, we made it to Belhaven Waterway Marina without difficulty. After docking, we walked the town of Belhaven which took all of five minutes. But Ace Hardware took a whole hour to tour. What an eclectic store! The first three aisles had wine, fine wedding gifts, and ice cream. Then there was a huge collection of the latest Carhartt fashions.

Sprinkled in with this unique mix was typical hardware store stuff. Who knew?! Apparently Ron and Sandy from S/V Adagio, because once again we bumped into them. This is how it goes when sailors journey down the ICW. There are only so many miles we can make in a day on a sailboat, and only so many towns that can support our need for safe havens, fuel, and good grub.

More rain was predicted for Day 15 so we stayed put. It rained so hard that the marina’s owners personally drove me to the Food Lion rather than loaning me their courtesy golf cart. Nice people! Afterwards, I tried and tried to launch our blog but internet connection was impossible on the boat. So I moved my office to the marina’s internet room, adjacent to the laundry room, and had mild success there.

After a day of rain and more rain, it was tempting to stay on the boat and cook a cozy dinner—after all, I had just been to the store and options were new and exciting (well, maybe I shouldn’t go that far). But several friends had HIGHLY recommended that we dine at Spoon River, next to the hardware store.

It had been closed when we arrived, so we hadn’t been able to preview it. But our nose presses against the glass earlier in the day had given some merit to the rave reviews we were hearing. But was it really that good? It’s a town of 1,600 people after all.

Well, we went, and we are sooooo glad we did. Worth every penny and more. I’m not one to take foodie pictures, but I did.

Everything was outstanding. Amazing wine collection, which is simply accessed by visiting their “store” and selecting the bottle you want. Theresa, the owner, visited our table and offered a generous sample pour of a new varietal from Spain she recently discovered: Bobal.

We left with a bottle to take back to the boat for another time. Wow!

Spoon River, we’ll be back!