10 am. 63 degrees. Sunny. Gets to 68 by mid-afternoon, and it gets rainy. I can live like this.
Okay. New Bern and Wilmington, NC are keepers. New Bern was colonial and state capitol of NC until 1794,and was a thriving commercial hub. It appears to be on an estuary. Nice colonial and post colonial homes and neighborhoods. Pop. of 23,000. Above is Wallie in front of the John Stanly House. It was captured during the battle of New Bern during Civil War and occupied by Federal Troops. General Burnside occupied this residence as his headquarters. Fits into my CivilWar theme.
Wilmington, NC. Home of the Battleship North Carolina. See pics above. 'Nuff said. Fits into my military theme. Camp Lejeune is in the area. It is also colonial era town of 75,000. Very charming. During the War Between the States it was a major port for Confederate blockade runners. Again fits in to my theme.
My anecdote of the day. Steve, pay attention. I sometimes interact with locals, albeit accidentally. I park on the side of the road in a parking space and in front of a residence. I call Peg and talk for a few minutes and then hang up. I am programming the GPS for Wilmington when I hear the passenger door opening and Wallie barks. I look over and there is this old fart starting to sit on Wallie! I go "Huh?" (that's my interaction). He starts and says to me "What are you doing in my sons car? What have you done with him?" Just then an identical blue Cobalt pulls up behind me and a guy my age gets out and runs over and says "Pop, that's the wrong car! Let's go to church." The guy, mumbling, walks back to the other car. The son is very apologetic, and says his Dad is 90 and sometimes a little vague. I say "No problem. I've got the same thing at home."
Question. Who am I talking about?
Harold... if I were you, I would start to worry about what is going to happen to you when you get back to home base. No matter WHO you are talking about... you are in BIG trouble! Just a word of warning...
ReplyDeleteFirst you provide critical social commentary on the south, an area where firearms are sold in convenience stores, in a blog where you have published your picture and provided a description of your car. Then you decide to provide critical commentary on your family, people who do not require a photograph to find you. I can only say that I eagerly await the next installment, I hear Guam has a nice climate.
ReplyDeleteHarold, I am completely charmed and thoroughly entertained by your writing and by Wallie. The tale of Wallie and the wandering elderly gentleman made my day. I would predict, though, that Ws presence on your journey absolutely guarantees that you will be blindsided in public places by any number of friendly Southerners who regard the presence of a dog as an 'invitation to approach'. You may need to paint white stripes on Wallie as skunk camouflage! Marty
ReplyDeleteHarold, You are having such a great time! I am jealous-- my experience in NC involved sirens, pot seeds found in a sleeping bag by Sheriff's Deputies, and calling North for bail money. Be careful.
ReplyDelete