Business, Pleasure in North Carolina

by Kim · December 24, 2024

*This is a panoramic view from the Cedar Point Tideland Trail.*

December arrived quickly and so did Dale’s work trip to Raleigh. We arrived on a Monday and checked in to the AC Hotel, which is situated next door to Dale’s corporate office. While Dale attended meetings and team dinners on Tuesday and Wednesday, I spent several hours at a nearby Starbucks, ate late lunches at Chick-fil-A, then waited at the hotel for Dale to get done. It was cool and rainy, so it was good to just snuggle up and watch TV as the daylight faded into night. The big window in our room allowed me to enjoy the Christmas lights and activities below our third-floor room.

*This is Dale’s company headquarters in Raleigh. We stayed for three nights in the AC Hotel right next to it.*

On Thursday Dale worked from our hotel until we checked out. After completing his work day at Starbucks, we headed to the airport to pick up a rental car and drove to the coast. On our way we enjoyed one of our favorite North Carolina meals, Brunswick Stew and a pull-pork sandwich from Smithfield’s Barbeque. We arrived at the Hilton at Atlantic Beach late that evening.

*Our first meal in NC was from our favorite restaurant, Smithfield’s BBQ. Their pulled pork sandwiches and Brunswick Stew is so tasty!*

Friday Road Trip

Friday morning we took our time getting ready, then headed to the Starbucks in Morehead City for coffee and a bagel. We had decided to do a coastal tour down Highway 24 toward Swansboro, then over the bridge to Emerald Isle and back to the hotel. Dale and I are so familiar with these spots since we lived in NC for many years.

Our first stop was in Cape Cateret at the Cedar Point Tideland Trail near Swansboro. We have never walked this trail before so it was a new experience that was well worth the time. The trail is very well maintained with boardwalks, watery marsh views, woods and wild life.

*Cedar Point Tideland Trail – It took a long time to get this photo! I was afraid my phone was going to fall off the rail!*

After that we drove through Swansboro, the town where Dale and I went on our first date. It is a historic town situated on the water. It is so charming that Nicholas Sparks used it as the setting for his book, The Guardian.

*Emerald Isle Woods Trail had great views of the sound.*

We then passed over the Emerald Isle bridge, and headed for our second trail of the day, the Emerald Isle Woods Trail. This trail was similar to the Tideland Trail in that it was near water, but it was mostly wooded paths. There were so many birds and squirrels! The rustle of newly fallen autumn leaves made it impossible for them to be inconspicuous. We really enjoyed this trail too. After that, we had lunch at The Village Market, a deli in Emerald Isle. We had hotdogs. By this time it was already 2pm.

*There were so many shells on the beach at Emerald Isle.*

We continued up coastal highway 58 to a public beach access to look for shells. We spent quite a bit of time there. A quarter of a century ago, our small children played on this beach. Then we headed back to Starbucks in Morehead City to warm up with coffee and a pastry.

Saturday Festivities

Christmas was the theme for the day! I had carefully planned the day to take advantage of the best holiday activities in the area. We kicked off the day with the Morehead City Christmas Parade. It was one full hour of traditional Christmas goodness, ranging from high school bands to business floats. There was a lot of candy thrown around too! The family next to us raked in more than a good night of Trick or Treating!

*The Morehead City parade was so good. It lasted over an hour and had a lot to see.*

We then headed across the bridge to Beaufort, a sweet little town on the water where Dale and I would occasionally go when we were dating. Of course our daughter Carrie, would be with us on almost all of our dates. She would twirl and dance to the live music on the little boardwalk in the marina. It was another cool day and after a few minutes of sightseeing it began to sprinkle so we ducked in for coffee before heading back to our hotel to get ready for our evening activities.

Tryon Palace, which is located in New Bern, was the focus of our night. I had bought tickets to the Candlelight Tour which included access to the palace grounds and three additional historic homes. Tryon Palace was built in the 1700s as the colonial governor’s home.

*Tryon Palace was the governor’s home during colonial days.*

During the candlelight tour you are transported back in time as costumed historical actors attended a masquerade ball. One of the actors was named John Harvey. He was a a major player in NC politics and became a leader in “the first congress, for which Harvey had distributed handbills urging people to elect delegates. This was supposedly “the first popular assembly anywhere in America, called by the people and held in the presence of the king’s officers, in direct disobedience to British authority.” Source. I find this interesting because my maiden name is Harvey and I am a direct descendant of this man. I will write about that in a different post. Anyway, I was delighted to see him as one of the characters on the tour.

*This tree next to the Episcopal Church is stunning. Wow.*

Dale and I also had reservations at The Chelsea Restaurant, which we love. When we lived in New Bern we celebrated several special occasions here, including my 34th birthday, where Dale officially proposed to me even though we had been married for five years! That’s a whole other story. We thoroughly enjoyed our evening in New Bern.

On Sunday we headed back to Raleigh to catch our flight home. On the way, we stopped in New Bern to have breakfast at the Baker’s Kitchen. A popular and tasty restaurant. Our flight home was smooth. It was a really good trip!