My North Carolina Journal

So, Tuesday the 26th was Elaina's "special" birthday.  She took this entire week of leave from work in order to celebrate.  Monday we went to Topsail Island beach and spent a good part of the day.  We both got a little tan and a little burn.  My shoulders haven't seen the sun in a long time!  Here it is springtime and the beach was only slightly occupied, unlike a California beach.

On Tuesday we drove into New Bern and stopped briefly at a farmer's market and walked around town for a bit.  New Bern is a beautiful small town that looks like it's out of a book.  They're known for the fiberglass bears that you see around town.  This one is definitely a farmer.

We went to lunch at Persimmons, a favorite restaurant of Elaina's on the water (The Neuse River). We sat outside at a shady table.

Persimmons Restaurant

View from our table outside

Birthday Girl

I had a Dagwood sandwich (yummy) and Elaina had a burger (gluten-free without a bun of course.) We also had an appetizer of North Carolina style deviled eggs with crab meat. They use a wine vinegar in their deviled eggs here.  They were really good.

Elaina decided after lunch that we should take a drive to the town of Oriental (named after a steamer ship that wrecked in 1862). Oriental is called the "sailing capital of North Carolina." Population 900. It too is on the Neuse river.  What Californians don't understand is that the rivers in Eastern North Carolina open up to the "sound" which is basically the Atlantic ocean.  So yachts and sailboats sail up and down the rivers and right out to the ocean. In this case it is the Pamlico sound. I watched crab pots bobbing up and down in the river.  

We sat in Lou-Mac park and just enjoyed the water, the sun and the breeze.  Elaina had taken me to this place a few years ago when I visited and I often thought of this little park when I needed to "get away" in my head. 

The clover here is everywhere you look and the scent is so strong.  There were also some wild flowers growing in the grass.  I took a couple in the car with me when we left so I could continue smelling it on the ride home.

It was a beautiful day and I know the birthday girl enjoyed herself.  Today she is off to a "Wine, Cheese, Bread and More" seminar in Beaufort, part of the 2016 Beaufort Wine and Food Festival.

Looking forward to what God has in store for my wonderful daughter in the coming year!