Day trip! Paddling to Keg Island

Even though we've been in Wilmington for over two years now, we're still discovering the city and surrounding areas. Yesterday we visited Keg Island, a long narrow bit of land in the Cape Fear river that is privately owned but open for visitors (thanks owners!). Being that the dogs love running free on sand and they've most acclimated to the shifting and bobbing action of the canoe, we took them along. I think they enjoy it - we still have to pick Scout up and put her in the boat, but Roxy jumps in without hesitation. Either way, they definitely love discovering what's usually at the end of a canoe trip, birds to chase and innumerable new smells and other doggy pleasures.

The island is only about a quarter mile out from the shore, so there wasn't long to paddle before we reached a small beach and set off to explore the island. It has remarkably tall trees along with some scrub and marshy grasses along the shore. It was late afternoon when we were there, with beautiful light and late summer heat still warming the sand. We walked as far as we could on one side, then returned to the canoe with the intention of paddling around the island. After we got into the canoe, though, we realized that Scout had injured her paw and was bleeding a little bit, so we set off back to the riverbank so that we could fix her up.

It was a really nice Friday evening jaunt - we also noticed a few camping spots out on the island we might head back to after the nights cool down again.