On Sunday Oct. 11th a very brief weather window opened allowing us to make the long passage from Pungo River, across Pamplico Sound, and down the Neuse River in both safety and comfort. And after 8 hours of continuous sailing we were relieved to drop anchor in a small cove off Adams Creek for the night. The next morning we were up early and off on a short 3 hour cruise up the Neuse to the town of New Bern. The weather forecast for the next 7 days was predicting really foul conditions--cold, wind and rain. We had been told by several other cruisers that New Bern was a delightful place and worthy of a visit. And since we had no desire to sail into adverse weather, decided to stopover at that town for a week and experience all that it had to offer.
The “New Bern Grand Marina” is part of a Hilton complex that dominates the “olde towne” which was founded in 1710. Since we were staying here for a week, we got a great deal on the price of a slip and were welcome to use all of the Hilton’s amenities which were luxurious to say the least.
On Tuesday, after a great breakfast in an Amish cafe, we took a 2 hour trolley tour of the town, learning much of its history and seeing some beautiful old neighbourhoods. New Bern was originally settled by Swiss immigrants and was the 2nd oldest colony in North Carolina. For many years it was the state capital and the site of a magnificent “palace” which was built by the first governor prior to the American Revolution in 1776. That building and its amazing gardens have been restored along with many colonial homes and the “olde” section of town of which it is a part--along with its many restaurants, galleries, and churches--is absolutely delightful.
We spent the better part of Wednesday exploring the Palace and its grounds. The building itself was beautifully furnished and its formal gardens were still bursting with colour and life when we strolled through them. Docents were available to take us on a personalized tour of the palace and costumed “actors,” ready to explain what life was like for 18th century servants and craftspeople, were at work in the outbuildings which housed a kitchen and blacksmith shop. We felt that our experience here was every bit as good as our trip to Williamsburg Va. had been in 2007 and we had a great day.
On Thursday we visited two fully restored colonial homes, walked through one of our favourite neighbourhoods admiring the beautiful architecture and gardens and took the “river walk” back to the boat. The next day was more of the same. This time enjoying a “Pepsi” in the corner pharmacy where it was invented in 1898 and seeing a film there explaining the history of the Pepsi Cola company in the context of its New Bern origins. In the afternoon we explored a lovely old Episcopalian church, poked about in shops and galleries and Vince lost himself in an amazing hundred year old hardware store which had changed very little over the years.
On Friday we made our way to the Farmers Market which was really more of an old fashioned bazaar. We were able to stock up on some meats for the boat and met a woman from New Zealand selling shell art and jewellry. She had cruised the world for years with her husband but had now settled down in New Bern. There are a lot of actual “liveaboards” on boats here at the Hilton Marina. These people live on their boats and many have jobs in the town. As much as we appreciate this place, I can’t possibly imagine actually living on a boat here over the winter. We have experienced a few very cold days this week and even inside the boat, we were not entirely comfortable. I suppose they have heaters. That would make a big difference. I know they have cable TV hook-ups at each slip and that all the people on boats here that we’ve met have TV--except us of course. But we do have a great selection of books and we have yet to be bored. After the market experience we treated ourselves to lunch out at a favourite restaurant and spent the rest of the day at the convention centre next door where they were holding a fall “Home and Garden” show. On the way back to the boat we ran into two other couples that we had met weeks ago at different anchorages and had a good chat with both of them.
Tomorrow we understand that the sun--which we haven’t seen for a week now--is promising to come out. If so, we’ll push off towards Charleston where we hope to be in a weeks time. However if it doesn’t make an appearance, we’ll stay here until it does. As romantic as our trip must seem to those of you facing a Canadian winter, believe me when I say that it’s no fun at all sitting out in the cockpit on a cold, cloudy, windy day for 6-8 hours on end. And if we can possibly avoid that scenario, we will.
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