Week 26: Tryon Palace and Pepsi

June 26, 2010

Today marks the mid-point of my adventuring. To celebrate this momentous occasion I took my mom and dad along for the ride. The day started off with some delicious eggs, bacon, and pancakes that mom whipped up as she reminded me of the grump I used to be in the mornings growing up. To which I commented, “Let it go, I’m no longer grumpy in the morning since I don’t have to listen to dad singing.” We headed east today to the town of New Bern to see the Tryon Palace and the Birthplace of Pepsi. As we drove down the road, ma and pa told stories of my nephews who are hysterical. Two thinks pomegranate takes the poison out and Cor said to the window guy, “Can’t you hear?” But that’s a different story.

It took a couple hours to get down there. We went to Tryon Palace first. It was an old mansion built in the 1760’s for $80,000 that burnt in the 1790’s. George Washington danced here once. It was then restored in the 1950’s for 3 million dollars. The house is quite nice, but no pictures allowed. I turned of the flash, the sound, and the illuminator and shot from the hip. I may have got a few arms and legs in the picture, but not too bad. The house was quite fancy with marble carved fireplaces and plaster molding. The forks of that time only had 2 tines and the knives were quite wide. There were no closets as we know them today and the clothing would have been atrocious to wear – stockings, corsets, hoops, wigs. Then there are the chamber pots. Thank goodness Thomas Crapper improved the flushable toilet in the 18th century. No joke! His name was Crapper, but he did not invent the first flushable toilet. The staircase was amazing; no bottom supports required.

After touring the house, we went outside and toured the stables then the gardens. I’m sure we were quite a site. Three people running around, each with a camera, taking 100’s of pictures literally over 400. Welcome to the Shutterbug Family. We take pictures of everything – even each other taking pictures which we find hysterical. The gardens were quite spectacular. There was an English Garden with lots of shrubs and brick paths. There was an archway of trees, naked statues (I’m not sure what the draw to these things is), wells, and water fountains. There was also a flower garden with flowers as big as my head and a vegetable garden. After the garden, we visited the kitchen where I learned that you can buy a brick of tea as well as other vintage items. I just might have to order some of this tea in a brick. The cook in the kitchen said that they threw bricks of tea in the Boston harbor during the tea party not bails. You learn something new everyday! We left the house and went to tour the Hay House. It had the neatest kitchen in the basement which smelled of lemon and spices.

Three blocks down the road we went to the Birthplace of Pepsi, which is almost sacrilegious considering that my dad is a die-hard Coke guy. A pharmacist named Caleb Bradham invented Brad’s Drink in 1898 now know as Pepsi-Cola. The place is just a little store now and I was a little disappointed that they didn’t have a “real” drink fountain. I guess I’ll have to stop by Bells and Whistle next time I’m home for a trip-around-the-fountain. None the less, the store was cute and I drank a Pepsi. Along the way to and from the Pepsi shop were bear statues of all shapes and colors. I’m not sure what bears have to do with New Bern, but it was entertaining. Also was a little fire hydrant guy and a Bible-Banger guy handing out million dollar bills.

 

Now it’s back home for some evening grilling and relaxation. The grilling didn’t go so well. The hamburgers cooked forever and we all bit into them to find pink in the middle. Yuck! While we tried to cook them longer we ate the rest of the meal. The corn was delicious that we picked up on the way home. The burgers were still pink in the middle after this, so they got microwaved. But we finished off with some strawberry short cake.

Total pictures take for the day: Me = 148, Ma = 70, Pa = 203. Like parents, like daughter.

Week 25: Wild Horse running to the 1812 Overture

June 19, 2010

On my journey to the coast today, I saw some peculiar things: a tracker on top of a post and a giant gorilla. I was headed to see the wild horses today. In Beaufort, you can take a ferry to an island called Shackleford Banks. Once on the island, you can just wander around trying to find some horses. The island is 9 miles long and I didn’t have time to explore the whole thing. I walked around for about 20 minutes before seeing the first group of 4 horses. One was black and the other ones were a darker brown. A baby was with this group. I was surprised by how close you could get them. I could walk within 20 feet of them until they would slowly walk away. Once they started to leave, I followed them. At one point, mama horse must have thought that baby horse was not moving away from me fast enough. Mama horse hit baby horse in the butt with her nose. I was amused!

After that, I walked through the thicket trying to find more horses. For some dumb reason, I had worn my flip flops. I was thinking island, beach, flip flops. Well, there is only sand around the edges…duh! Oh well! As I walked through the weeds, a bird started to dive at me! I was ducking and jumping! Crazy bird! Then it hit me, “I must be near its birdy nest.” I walked a little quicker. I had to finagle through some brush and into another weeded area where even more birds were after me. They were quite unhappy! Somewhere along the way I either stepped in bird poo or a bird pooed on the top of my foot. Gross! I walked up a big sand hill for a view. I went the hard way and had a heck of time climbing up the sand. However, from the top I could really see quite a ways. I saw another group of horses! Climbing crazy hill = totally worth it.

I found my way to the next group of 7 horses. This group also had a baby with it. The baby was quite playful. There was alos a beautiful horse with a blonde mane. I snapped a bunch of pictures and then headed to walk back along the beach. I had missed my 2 PM ferry, so I need to make sure I was back for the 3 PM ferry. I was surprised at how warm the water was and it was quite clear also. I might have to repeat this trip at some point. Once I was back in my car I realized how fried I was. I headed toward home and the sun was still beating on my through the window. By the time I got to the amphitheater, I was a tomato! I had stopped at the store to buy some aloe to coat my aching shoulders and back.

The next stop was listening to the symphony at an outdoor concert with the Soapstoners. I had never been to see a symphony before. It was very relaxing and enjoyable. I missed the partying that occurred before I got there, but I had a glass of wine and relaxed as I listened to American the Beautiful and the 1812 Overture while the moon hung overhead.

Happy Father’s Day to the Worlds Greatest Dad! The most important lesson that you ever taught me was “You can never have too much toilet paper.”

Week 24: Miss Eva's Collection

June 12, 2010

I headed east today to the town of Belhaven. My sole purpose was to visit the Belhaven Memorial Museum. This museum is mainly a collection of Mary Eva Blount Way’s house, but Belhaven has added some local history over the years. Miss Eva collected a lot of stuff, odd stuff, unusual stuff, and bizarre stuff. When I arrived the door was locked. I was a little concerned because I had driven over 2 hours to get there and they were closed. I asked an older couple on the street about the museum. I talked with the lady for about 10 minutes. She said that it was a lovely museum and that I must see the dressed fleas and the dress of the 700 pound women. I wandered into the police department to inquire if the museum was going to open. The lady called the guy that opens it but got no answer. I left the police station and to my delight there was the old guy opening the museum. As it turns out the museum is run by donations. I just love that concept.

I entered the museum to see old-style light bulbs and fine antique china side by side. Clothing from the 1800’s hung over large display cabinets full of knick-knacks and old pipes. I wandered through the random isles and piles to find a collection of buttons by the thousands, eye-glasses, antique china and sewing machines. There were shoes from Holland and some cowboy boots. A house made of match sticks, a wreath made of human hair. I saw jars of animal hair and feathers and human hair. As I worked my way through the museum, I was fascinated. Such an odd conglomeration of items and collectable. There was a section for kitchen tools beside a shelf with food that Miss Eva had canned. Among her canning jars were fish, chicken fat, ears of corn, spinach, and slop that I couldn’t even determine.

There was a collection of sea items: shells, sharks teeth, fossils, and sea horses. Next were some gardening and hunting items with a bear toe in one jar and a whole bear foot in another. Next were dolls, creepy dolls. Then comes the most bizarre of all. Creatures in formaldehyde! There was a skeleton hanging from a glass case containing jars of animals: Snakes, lots of snakes, one-eyed pigs, two-snouted pigs, a frog, a bird, and a few octopuses. There were also 3 disturbing jars in the case. They contained 3 human embryos of 1, 3, and 6 months. I know they weren’t murdered or I hope they weren’t. These little guys or gals were just a bit much to handle. But I still looked anyways. I must admit that it was fascinating and disgusting all in the same. A friend of mine, Huck, wandered if they had souls and names. I think so.

On the way back I stopped into the historic town of Bath, the first incorporated town in NC, I think. I had a hot dog, a Snapple, and some superman ice cream. It has been years since I had superman ice cream. I sat on the deck over looking the bay at the store and rocking away in a rocking chair. I drove through town and saw many historic buildings and the place where Blackbeard once lived. Arrrgggg….

Week 23: Painted Barns

June 5, 2010

When I woke up this morning I had no idea where I was heading. I did a quick search and found something of interest. I headed south past Jordan Lake to Cameron. Cameron is a small town of about 150 people according to the 2000 census. Famous people from Cameron, NC include the Hardy Boys and Shannon Moore – professional wrestlers. There are more antique shops than you can shake a stick at and zero stop lights. I stopped at the Market at Muse Brothers first. When I parked I noticed an out building. It was the old Cameron Jail built in the 1880’s. The nice lady at Muse Brothers opened it up for me to I could take a look inside. It was a tiny jail and an inmate would have had just enough room to lay down in. I took my picture behind one of those jailbird cutouts.

I wandered around the antique store and the nice lady gave me directions to the painted barns and said there was a good deli in town. I bought a coke-in-a-bottle and a Moon Pie. Now I’ve heard about Moon Pies but I had never tried one. I wasn’t crazy about it. I drove up to the Dewberry Deli which was beneath the hardware store and had lunch. The deli was charming with its old fashioned counter. I had a really good Rueben sandwich and a real cherry coke. By real cherry coke, I mean that they took coke and poured in cherry flavoring and put a cherry on top. Delicious!

I stopped at another antique store before heading out of town and finding the painted barn. I walked around taking pictures of the first 5 I saw. I had not dressed for the occasion. Walking around a farm field in flip-flops is not the smartest thing to do. I talked with a lady having a yard sale across the street and she told me that the buildings had been painted by the art council many years ago. She directed me to where I could find more. I drove another few miles and found 9 more. They were painted in all sorts of colors and designs. It was well worth the drive to Cameron.

Now for something completely random. I saw a horse painted like a cow on top of a building. Yes it was a fake plastic coworse.