Dec 6 Friday, Last day in the New Bern time share. We had big plans plus we always find something while we are riding.
At the welcome session they had suggested a ride to Washington NC to see the Estuarium. Felt compelled to find out what the word meant. Dressed for the ride we were comfortable and enjoying the scenery. Washington, often called little Washington as it was the first American city named after George. The town was burned during the civil war by the evacuating Union troops. Should I cover my Minnesota plates? Naw I think its all good here. A small town, it was easy to find the Estuarium on the banks of the Pamlico sound. The big question still remained, what the heck is a Estuary? Paid the five dollars for the answer. Sure, could have googled it but the tour and film was interesting. Basically it is where the freshwater joins and mixes with saltwater from the ocean. The salt concentration is constantly changing and provides a nursery for ocean creatures. As usual, man is the biggest threat to it. One of the featured displays was a large room sized living sculpture that showed the eco system of an estuary. Interesting as the guide put a tennis ball (representing moisture) in play and it travel thru the sculpture across the ceiling thru the clouds and falling again in the form of rain. Impressive but impossible to capture with the camera.
After our education we headed to another suggested spot. Bills Hot Dogs, since 1928 and easy to find. We were told that the correct order should be "a dog all the way" the yellow sauce was to spicy for Ruthie, I ate hers and she went back to get two "not all the way" I'll deal with the heartburn later. We sat on the bench outside eating our dogs as the customers filed by. One young man came on a unique (at least to us) motorcycle. It had a very long swing arm for the rear tire. I had only observed these on hill climb bikes although he said they were quite common in the area. Important facts, he got 6 dogs all the way, ate two and had the other 4 to go.
Next stop, Atlantic Beach. During the ride this morning and now heading back past New Bern we had noticed several places along side the road where the trees were standing in water. It made for some interesting pictures and at some point I wondered about our elevation. Checking the GPS it varied between a few feet above to 8 feet below sea level. (got to be a mistake).
We arrived in Atlantic Beach around 1:30 and made our way to Fort Macon. A strange 5 sided fort almost buried in the dunes. It had a large court yard in the center, then a five sided Fort area surrounded by a large moat like area and finally more cells or rooms buried in the dunes. The walls are over four feet thick. As part of a coastal defense defending the coast from Black Beard to the British, Confederates used it to defend against the Union gunboats however it fell to the Unions ground assault.
Realizing the obsolescence of the old Fort it was sold in 1923 as military surplus for one dollar to North Carolina as a park. It was put back to use one more time during World War II when the Army leased it back. Even used as a prison for a while it has certainly seen it all including being the last shot of the civil war in a most unusual way. During the time the Army leased it back some soldiers rolled what they thought was iron shot into a fireplace, it wasn't, powder filled balls from the civil war exploded killing two of them. It was 1946 the Confederacy had struck again.
On the way back we stopped at New Bern to take the Christmas light tour, really wasn't anything we couldn't have seen from the trike. The best part was a stop at "The Aerie Bed and Breakfast, an Inn since 1882. The host already very tall greeted us with tails and a top hat. Looked like a giant to me. Interesting because it was one of the B&B's we had walked past on the way to dinner the day before.
A careful ride home in the dark, with an alert eye out for deer and bear. Tomorrow we leave, where too? Our new friends from Ocean Isle (Thanksgiving) had asked us to house set and watch Wolfie (cat) while they made a trip back to New Jersey. However I think they are helping us more than we are aiding them. Nice people!
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| Yup, we were here! |
At the welcome session they had suggested a ride to Washington NC to see the Estuarium. Felt compelled to find out what the word meant. Dressed for the ride we were comfortable and enjoying the scenery. Washington, often called little Washington as it was the first American city named after George. The town was burned during the civil war by the evacuating Union troops. Should I cover my Minnesota plates? Naw I think its all good here. A small town, it was easy to find the Estuarium on the banks of the Pamlico sound. The big question still remained, what the heck is a Estuary? Paid the five dollars for the answer. Sure, could have googled it but the tour and film was interesting. Basically it is where the freshwater joins and mixes with saltwater from the ocean. The salt concentration is constantly changing and provides a nursery for ocean creatures. As usual, man is the biggest threat to it. One of the featured displays was a large room sized living sculpture that showed the eco system of an estuary. Interesting as the guide put a tennis ball (representing moisture) in play and it travel thru the sculpture across the ceiling thru the clouds and falling again in the form of rain. Impressive but impossible to capture with the camera. 
After our education we headed to another suggested spot. Bills Hot Dogs, since 1928 and easy to find. We were told that the correct order should be "a dog all the way" the yellow sauce was to spicy for Ruthie, I ate hers and she went back to get two "not all the way" I'll deal with the heartburn later. We sat on the bench outside eating our dogs as the customers filed by. One young man came on a unique (at least to us) motorcycle. It had a very long swing arm for the rear tire. I had only observed these on hill climb bikes although he said they were quite common in the area. Important facts, he got 6 dogs all the way, ate two and had the other 4 to go. Next stop, Atlantic Beach. During the ride this morning and now heading back past New Bern we had noticed several places along side the road where the trees were standing in water. It made for some interesting pictures and at some point I wondered about our elevation. Checking the GPS it varied between a few feet above to 8 feet below sea level. (got to be a mistake).
We arrived in Atlantic Beach around 1:30 and made our way to Fort Macon. A strange 5 sided fort almost buried in the dunes. It had a large court yard in the center, then a five sided Fort area surrounded by a large moat like area and finally more cells or rooms buried in the dunes. The walls are over four feet thick. As part of a coastal defense defending the coast from Black Beard to the British, Confederates used it to defend against the Union gunboats however it fell to the Unions ground assault. Realizing the obsolescence of the old Fort it was sold in 1923 as military surplus for one dollar to North Carolina as a park. It was put back to use one more time during World War II when the Army leased it back. Even used as a prison for a while it has certainly seen it all including being the last shot of the civil war in a most unusual way. During the time the Army leased it back some soldiers rolled what they thought was iron shot into a fireplace, it wasn't, powder filled balls from the civil war exploded killing two of them. It was 1946 the Confederacy had struck again. On the way back we stopped at New Bern to take the Christmas light tour, really wasn't anything we couldn't have seen from the trike. The best part was a stop at "The Aerie Bed and Breakfast, an Inn since 1882. The host already very tall greeted us with tails and a top hat. Looked like a giant to me. Interesting because it was one of the B&B's we had walked past on the way to dinner the day before.A careful ride home in the dark, with an alert eye out for deer and bear. Tomorrow we leave, where too? Our new friends from Ocean Isle (Thanksgiving) had asked us to house set and watch Wolfie (cat) while they made a trip back to New Jersey. However I think they are helping us more than we are aiding them. Nice people!
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