TOP TOWNS LIST

We are having such a good time visiting towns on the Great Loop.  Our favorites are walkable from the dock or marina.  They have restaurants and art galleries and interesting shops.  The people are friendly and chat with strangers.  They are safe.  We have been welcomed everywhere, but these towns stand out as places we'd like to revisit. They are in the order of our trip, which started on the rivers in Tennessee.

1.  Columbus, MS.  We visited here twice.  We actually had to take the loaner car into Columbus on our first trip.  The second time we anchored in the river downtown and walked up their River Dock to town.  Columbus is full of people at night.  It feels active and energetic.  There are several good restaurants.  

This is a panorama view of Columbus downtown with colorful, old fashioned storefronts.

2.  Tarpon Springs, FL.  Would we have loved Tarpon Springs as much if we had not discovered it after doing the overnight crossing of the Gulf?  We'll never know.  I was very happy to be on land.  This town is full of Greek life - restaurants and history, sponge divers and sponges.  Another great plus is the connecting walkway/bike path and trolley between Tarpon Springs, Clearwater, and Dunedin.  

Sponges for sale in Tarpon Springs

3.  Key West, FL.  What a fun town!  We walked all over it several times.  We ate great meals and soaked up the sun and the history.  Music pours out of restaurants and bars.  It is a festival, especially when you go down to Mallory Square for sundown. Seeing all those folks celebrating the end of the day is a treat.  From Key West you can also visit the Dry Tortugas National Park with its fort and snorkeling. We stayed a month and wished we could stay longer.  Next year - two months!

A fortune teller working in Mallory Square.

4.  St. Augustine, FL.  The docks and town marina are in the middle of town.  Visitors come onto the docks to take pirate cruises, sunset cruises, and watch reenactments of history.  The town has several blocks of shops and restaurants and colonial history. Having the fort beside downtown is unusual.  You can wander out to the fort and tour or watch school children.  

This is a whaling ship that's been newly built.

5.  Beaufort, SC.  This is a charming spot with delicious seafood and fun shops.  The downtown marina is in the middle of all the action.  The natural beauty of the marshes adds a great backdrop to a small seaport.

While we were in the city marina in Beaufort, SC, the Blue Angels put on a show right over our boat.

6.  Oriental, NC.  The houses and walkable streets right near the marina make for a great stroll.  There are several restaurants and an gallery of local artists.  There's a farmers' market on Saturdays.  Local folks greeted us and visited.  

There are 900 people and three times that many boats in town.

7.  Annapolis, MD.  We stayed in Spa Creek and just walked over the Spa Creek Bridge into charming Annapolis. There were dinghy docks available, and boats docked right in the center of town too.  I felt as if I were walking brick colonial streets.  The Naval Academy tour is inspiring.  Seeing the earnest cadets on the street is great too. It's fun to visit this town on a boat because it is nautical from the get go!

There is a Wednesday night regatta.

8.  Charlevoix, Michigan.  This is a wonderful city on Lake Michigan.  Charlevoix is a protected marina bordered by a city park with a concert pavilion.  This summer there was music in the park on Tuesdays and Thursdays. There was also a yoga class and a farmers market there.  On the other side of the park is the charming town with restaurants, a movie theater, a grocery, shops, and breweries. If you walk up Park Avenue to the top of the hill, you find the mushroom houses, an architectural style unique to this town.  This town is full of energy in the summer.

Looking at the marina from the park.