North Carolina - Tryon Palace
June 26, Sunday: Wilmington, NC to New Bern, NC
After visiting with Johnny and Laurie, Alicia and Sean and the grandchildren over the weekend, we said our goodbyes and headed north from Wilmington, North Carolina on route 17 towards New Bern.
We made a short detour to check out Topsail Beach on a barrier island just north of Wilmington where Jack had vacationed BC (Before Cathy). We continued north on route 17 and as we approached the New Bern area, we could smell and see smoke – there must be huge fires in the area.
We stopped in Cedar Point at the southern tip of the Croatan National Forest to get a campsite. It is really hot and we’ll need the air conditioner this evening, so a campsite with electricity is a must. Luckily, they had a few sites with electric available and water and dump station are nearby.
After dinner, we walked the 1½ mile boardwalk through the pines with pretty views of the marsh. The sunset was spectacular due to the smoky haze – the sun was a huge red ball, but unfortunately I didn’t have the camera!
June 27, Monday: New Bern, NC
We woke up early and it was already a hot and muggy 77 degrees with showers forecasted for the afternoon.
We drove to the Tryon Palace and spent the afternoon touring the first Governor’s mansion of North Carolina. Although the Palace was a re-creation because the original burned in the 1700s, it was built from the original architectural drawings on the original foundation. It had beautiful carved moldings and spacious rooms.
There are also a few other historic Federal and Georgian homes open for visiting along with a nice museum. With all the historic homes I’ve visited in Charleston and in our travels, I should have known the difference between the Federal style and Georgian style, but I didn’t – now I know! OK – here it is – Georgian is totally symmetrical, front-to-back and side-to-side with the front door and entrance hallway going right down the center of the home with rooms on both sides. The Federal Style home has the door and entryway to one side of the house with rooms all to one side. Now, all I need to do is remember it! I didn’t get any photos because it was raining all afternoon, so here is a link to the Tryon Palace official site.
Links to Other Pages in the Mid-West 2011 Journal
North Shore Drive-Lake Superior
Link to Photos
Link to Blog
