2017-10
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a favorite photo from this past week
Sharing a Moment |
New Bern, North Carolina
Campground: Flanners Beach National
Forest campground. Neuse River Recreation Area. $13 per night,
senior discount. 30Amp. Central water and dump station. 14 over the
air tv stations, average Verizon signal.
Now you know before I headed out from
Pee Dee St pk I had too find a little something to write about. I
could have gone to Myrtle Beach which is about an hour and twenty
minutes from the park. But I'll have my share of shoreline
adventures in the next week or so, so instead, I went into the small
town of Mullins where they have a tobacco museum. The history of the
spread of tobacco is most interesting. South Carolina was one of the
largest producers of tobacco and the town of Mullins had numerous
warehouses where tobacco would be auctioned off to the highest
bidder. Today, the tobacco companies purchase the tobacco before
it's even planted in the ground for the season. And many of the
tobacco companies have moved off shore, due to all the lawsuits
against them. My tour guide told me his family was given 7,000 acres
of land in South Carolina by the King of England. Lots of history
there. And the tour was filled with little bits of information. The
tobacco seed is one of the smallest seeds of any plant and a small
thimbleful would be enough to plant an entire field. My tour guide
did not go into the history of the American Indian who gave the first
samples of tobacco to the Europeans. It's interesting to note that
there is no evidence that the Native American Indian was ever widely
addicted to tobacco. Using it only for special occasions, the peace
pipe ceremony being the most well known. The healer/shaman were the
only ones who were addicted to tobacco as they would have used it
most often for their various rituals and practices. Numerous
examples of people who lived to be 100 or more and smoked were
provided to show that tobacco isn't all that bad.
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hanging tobacco to dry |
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painting of the last tobacco auction performed in town |
Distance traveled: 169 miles
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from Pee Dee St Park SC to New Burn North Carolina, MAP |
New Bern, NC
Traveling through North Carolina, along
many country roads, as usual avoiding the major highways, it was a
hopscotch pattern of roads that only a good GPS signal could
navigate. Passing through the occasional swamps dotted with cypress
trees, small farms and rarely a cross roads town. I would be driving
for most of 4 hours before I got to my National Forest destination,
not far from New Bern North Carolina and the Marine Corp Air Station,
Cherry Point. One of the military bases I used to visit as a
Logistics manager for the Water Survival Trainers.
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down the road from my National forest campground
is the Marine Corps Air Station, Cherry Point |
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Flanners Beach National Forest campground |
Not many National forests have
campsites with electric hookups so finding this one is a real gem of
a find. It's also close to the outer bank islands which I'll visit
in the next day or so. My campsite isn't terribly large, but does
have lots of vegetation surrounding it, providing me with as much
privacy as I care to have. Besides, I'm directly across from the
restrooms and showers which I'll take advantage of on this leg of my
journey. Especially since I don't have a water connection at the
campsite, instead using my on-board holding tanks.
New Bern
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Tryon Palace |
A fifteen minute drive from my campsite
and I'm in the historic town of New Bern. It sits between two rivers
and contains tons of historic homes, almost all of them well
maintained and many available on tour. The Governor's Palace (Tryon
Palace) is the highlight of the museum experience and is part of a
$20 package to see it and a number of other historic buildings. I
also took a trolley tour, another $20 for a 90 minute tour. I
started my morning at the cafe in the Regional History museum where
one picks up their tickets for most of the tours. Had to have a bit
of breakfast and coffee before heading out to all the tours.
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the guided tour begins |
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two wings off of main Palace, this is the only
original building remaining... no tours of inside |
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guest bedroom |
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Tryon Palace library |
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all rooms are recreations of the original
as the building burned to the ground |
Here are my impressions. The Tryon
Palace, 1770, 1st permanently capital of North Carolina is
an impressive looking building. Unfortunately it is a recreation of
the original which burned down in 1798 and was rebuilt in 1959. none
of the original furniture, wall coverings or even paint colors are
true to the original. Overall a bit of a disappointment for me as I prefer to see the original bldgs restored....
The trolley tour came next. We sat for
about 15 minutes at the starting gate as our tour guide enjoyed
telling stories and hearing her own voice. Traveling through the
historic district stopping at a dozen buildings and a grave site
where we got out of the trolley but never actually entered the grave
yard. Our guide continued to tell her own personal story of
discovering New Bern. The route only encompassed about 4 or 5 blocks
and was a disappointment overall.
Taking a break from touring I enjoyed a
good seafood lunch directly across from the history center, where I
continued my tour. The museum almost feels like an afterthought as
one walks through a large multi-story high, expansive entry space
(filled with nothing except the reception desk) back through a wide
hallway where I come across dark glass doors on either side of the
hall. I finally pick the history museum door. The history museum
consisted of a lot of static enlarged photos, board displays and
multiple audio buttons of your choosing. Overall a disappointment.
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house tours |
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historic house tour, ship-lap siding is original |
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the Tailor's House, part of tour |
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Brad's Drink, original name of Pepsi-Cola
founded in New Bern NC
getting ready to celebrate the 150 yr anniversary |
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lots of different style homes |
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houses along the trolley tour |
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So many churches abound in the downtown area |
Back outside I toured two more historic
houses. The John W. Stanley House which had been moved at least
three times and was one of the most original of all the homes on the
tour. Though at one time the home was converted into the towns
Library. Once again the furnishings were not original to the house
but were period pieces. This is the home Washington slept in while
on a tour of North Carolina in 1791. Walking on the NC pine floors
and touching the banister that George Washington would have used once
again brought me “in touch” with history as only a tour like this
can do.
The last house was the George Dixon
House, a local tailor. The story revolving around a successful
tailor and his use of indigent children who were scripted to his
service because families could not afford to keep them, or as
training a program for a career as a tailor. All went well until
Dixon overextended himself in building and furnishing the house, just
as a depression took hold. Little was known about Dixon as almost no
records could be found about his life. So what little has been
gleaned through research helps to fill in the story surrounding this
house.
New Bern is the town where Pepsi-Cola
was invented by Caleb Bradham in 1898 and was originally called,
“Brad's Drink”. Later, even though the drink was wildly
successful, the enterprise would go bankrupt. No Pepsi-Cola
manufacturing remains in town, however I understand once a year the
board members of Pepsi arrive in town for a meeting. The board
members fly in on their private or corporate Lear Jets and the town
is very grateful that a large company still remembers it's beginnings
here in New Bern NC. Ironically the restaurant that I have lunch in,
has Coca-Cola prominently displayed on all of their tables.
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New Bern, historic theatre, still in use |
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many buildings downtown appear to have apartments
still in use on the second and third floors |
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Brad's drink, before being renamed Pepsi-Cola |
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a wonderful downtown restaurant |
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a lucky bird has made his nest
in a pent-house setting |
Even though I would have to rate the
tours relatively low, the town itself has a vibrant downtown shopping
area and overall it's a great town to tour on ones own. With lots of
photo opportunities of historic homes, waterfront scenes and even a
train passing through the heart of town.
Atlantic Beach
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some were for sale |
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a beach-side restaurant |
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rarely seen along valuable ocean front beaches.
Atlantic beach still holds onto a simpler life |
About a 45 minute drive and I've
arrived at Atlantic Beach on a barrier island called "the Outer Banks" off of Morehead City on
the mainland. I already like this beach-side community as it appears
frozen in time back to the 60's and 70's. A mix of beach houses,
festively painted mobile homes lined up like a Bahamian village and
of course the miles of beaches. None of the tall high rises that one
sees on more popular beach destinations. At the end of the peninsula
is Fort Macon and public beaches, both are my destination for the
day. A quick tour of the fort which should have been built earlier
than it's 1826 date as the Carolina coast was vulnerable to
Blackbeard and other pirates, successive wars with Spain, France and
Great Britain. Beaufort was plundered by Spain and the British in
1747 and 1782. The fort would eventually be taken over by the Union
soldiers during the Civil War. But enough of that, to me the best
part was a romp on the beach. With umbrella for shade and lots of
sunscreen I couldn't have asked for a more perfect day at the beach.
Warm and breezy, walking along the waters edge, the water
surprisingly warm for the end of May. Boats of all kinds traveling
through the inlet, sailboats, cabin cruisers, fishing boats of all
sizes and a few commercial sized vessels as well. The feel of warm
sand on bare feet. What a life. Couldn't stay all that long, having
had numerous skin cancer surgeries, but every moment was special in
the sun by the sea.
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Fort Macon |
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WWII soldiers in training at the fort |
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main entrance to the fort |
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and finally, a perfect day to be at the beach |
Next stop: Winsor North Carolina
more photos:
3 comments:
What an interesting history of tobacco. Interesting how different the selling of tobacco is today!!
I am like you....I love and prefer things to be original. History is so amazing. Just think...being in the same room George Washington was in.
Pepsi Cola history was interesting as well.
Thanks Doug. Your blog not only provides interesting reading (today I started the day with coffee & your blog),I also learn something from each post. Your writing style makes it so easy to put myself in your shoes & see the towns & buildings as if I were there. Big thanks!
Hi Doug! My name is Rachel and I work for a company called Campspot - we're an online marketplace for campgrounds, RV Resorts, and Glamping destinations. I'm working on a blog post about treehouses on Campspot.com and was wondering if I could include your first photo - crediting you as the photographer! My email is rachel.garant@campspot.com if that's easier for communication! - Thanks!
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