Traveling South! YAY!

After a great visit with family and several wonderful Christmas celebrations, we left Maryland on Saturday morning and began our journey southward. Although it was tough leaving our family and saying good-bye to the most beautiful granddaughter on the planet, we were looking forward to getting back to our home.

On our way back to Alabama, we stopped for the weekend at Dan & Debbie's in Winterville, NC. They always open their home to us whenever we are traveling through their area. We'll leave here early, early tomorrow morning for the long drive to Summerdale.

We arrived at Dan & Debbie's about 5pm Saturday evening. They had a great spaghetti dinner waiting for us. Can you get better friends than this? I don't think so. After dinner, we sat up talking, trading Christmas stories, then it was time for bed.

When we were here in December on our way to Maryland, we had visited Washington, NC, a quaint town on the Pamilico River. Dan & Debbie had also told us about New Bern, NC which is an historic town about 45 minutes from Winterville that they have explored some and thought we'd like. Since the weatherman said it was going to be a beautiful, sunny day today, we decided to head over there. New Bern sits at the junction of the Trent & Neuse Rivers and is the second oldest town in North Carolina. It was founded by Baron de Graffenried in 1710. As a citizen of Bern, Switzerland, the Baron name the town "New Bern" in honor of his home.

New Bern has plenty to offer history buffs; walking tours of historical homes, churches & cemeteries, Civil War history and African-American history. There are also trolley tours and museums to explore. We decided to take the historical homes walking tour. We figured we'd be back visiting Dan & Deb often enough to do other tours another time. And it was such a gorgeous day, we had to be outside!

Most of the homes we saw were of historical value to the area. Of course, there is the prerequisite "Washington Slept Here" at one of them. :) Others were singled out for their particular architecture or builder. All of them are exquisite.

One of the homes, the Charles Slover House, was selected by Union General Ambrose Burnside as his headquarters during the Civil War. This home was later purchased in 1908 by Caleb D. Bradham, who invented a drink we know as Pepsi-Cola. We also saw Mr. Bradham's pharmacy where the invention took place in 1848.

Another home that I have to show you is the W.B. Blades House, built in 1903. It is just simply a gorgeous home. No one we know lived there - Mr. Blades was a lumber magnate in his day, but we wouldn't know that until we're told. It is just a beautiful home. I've only shown you one view of the house. To see others, go to our Webshots site; the link is listed at the leftside of the blog.

As we walked along the river front, it was reminiscent of Charleston's Battery area. The town has built walkways and park-like common areas along the Neuse River and it is very scenic. The houses that sit at the river front are historic and very well maintained. A very peaceful place indeed and we had a great day enjoying the town's beauty. We'll definitely be back to explore the other tours offered.

Unfortunately, we'll have to say good-bye to Dan & Debbie once again, but we are grateful, as always, for their hospitality and friendship. Randy & I are very aware of how blessed we are with the friends God has given us. We do not take them for granted.

Next time, I'll be posting from Summerdale, AL! Can't wait to get back and catch up with our friends there - I'm sure there's lots to hear.

Take care of one another. And be sure to say something nice to someone today. Until the next time . . .