June in North Carolina

I have fallen so far behind with the blog and we have done so much in our nearly one month here in North Carolina that the only way to catch up is to dump this heavy load of blog-o-babble and selfie-infused photography on my small legion of faithful readers and try to move forward in more bite-sized chunks from here on. 

So, take a deep breath and proceed with caution.

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It took a week or two but we are beginning to settle into a North Carolina routine. We’re also starting to get something resembling a grasp on how we are going to “really get to know” this wide, diverse state.

First, some background on our park home

We have settled into our volunteer jobs at Moores Creek National Battlefield where we work three days per week – Thursday, Friday and Saturday. Betsy is working in the small visitor center, where she has been inventorying the numerous items for sale and assisting the 50 to 100 visitors that stop by on a typical day. As readers might expect, she has quickly mastered the nuances of operating the audiovisual equipment.

I am working with the “grounds crew” (occasionally, I am the crew) mowing, trimming and blowing the yards, picnic areas, sidewalks and trails in the 87-acre park with an occasional “special project” (painting, assembling storage lockers, etc.) thrown in to keep me on my toes.

Occasionally the sound of musket fire or the plaintive wail of the bagpipes will break through the normal buzzing of flying insects or sweat dripping down my body on a typical day of 99% humidity.

The primary purpose of the park is to commemorate a brief but bloody battle (essentially an ambush) that took place here in the early morning hours of Feb. 27, 1776 between local militiamen loyal to Great Britain and led by British officers (Loyalists) and militia groups that had formed as part of the growing and increasingly militant insurrection among the colonies seeking independence from Britain (Patriots).

The Loyalist, consisting primarily of Scottish Highlanders, were marching to join up with British regular troops and navy at Wilmington (then, as now, North Carolina’s primary seaport). The Patriots essentially tricked the British officers into believing they were small in number and unprepared for battle, which was not the case. Once the Loyalists crossed the Widow Moore’s Bridge over the large (and deep) creek the Patriots were ready with nearly 1,000 men hidden behind earthworks with loaded muskets and several cannon. The Scotsmen pulled broadswords and charged into what was essentially a killing field. Thirty-some Loyalists died and 40 more were wounded, with the rest taken prisoner. The Patriots lost just one man, John Grady (likely to friendly fire). 

The bridge...

...over Moores Creek.

Grady was the first North Carolinian killed in action in the Revolutionary War and there is a large monument to him on the grounds at MCNB.

The overwhelming victory in the Battle of Moores Creek is thought to have been the first clear-cut Patriot victory after the war “officially” began with the shots fired at Lexington and Concord in Massachusetts. It was also considered to be the inspiration for a decision two months later by the colony’s leaders, meeting in the City of Halifax, to be the first colony to support the independence movement by approving a declaration known today as the Halifax Resolves. Those resolves instructed North Carolina’s delegation to express support for independence in Philadelphia at the Continental Congress later that fateful summer and are remembered, along with the 1775 the Mecklenburg Declaration of Independence, on both the North Carolina state flag and the state’s “First in Freedom” license plate.

All because of the battle at Moores Creek?

In the 19^th Century local descendants of both Loyalists and Patriots sought to commemorate the battleground at gatherings with ceremonies and, occasionally and somewhat randomly, by placing monuments on the grounds. In 1899 the state purchased the site and made it into a park as part of a larger effort to create a national battlefield park. At the time these national battlefields were maintained by the Department of War and Moores Creek finally got the Congress to accept the site in the late 1920s just prior to the transfer of the national battlefields from the War (now Defense) Department to the National Park Service in the Department of Interior.

By any measure it is a small and obscure park that is currently operating with five full-time and one part-time employee (in other words Betsy and I nearly doubled the staff when we showed up on June 1).  One hundred visitors is a big day, and most days about 50 or so stop by. The park is located in a rural area about 20 miles or so northwest of Wilmington, N.C., 15 miles south of I-40 and a few miles or so north of the Cape Fear River.

Despite the small staff the park is beautifully maintained and has excellent interpretative exhibits in the visitor center and on a one-mile walking trail that loops through the various monuments on the historic battlefield and crosses Moores Creek on a replica of the famous bridge. 

Ten months ago this area of the park was nine-feet deep in water and Patriots Hall, the building in the center of the photo, is still closed for repairs. However, the colonial garden has been re-established (we get flowers and vegetables from it) and the facilities used for re-enactment encampments have been repaired. Our trailer is barely visible in the trees to the right of the building.

Some NC "Observations" aka "Venting"

One of the things that attracted us to volunteering at this park is the three-days-per-week work schedule that allows us four full days to “really get to know” North Carolina and we have been taking advantage of that time off with a vengeance.

However, before I get into the details of our travels around the state, I’d like to get a few things off my chest.

First of all, North Carolina barbecue sucks. Literally, we’ve thrown some of the so-called "barbecue" purchased at highly-touted restaurants into the trash. Why in the world these people take perfectly good, well-cooked pork products and mix them with vinegar and cayenne pepper and slaw is beyond my comprehension. Sad!!

Is this a joke?

Second, North Carolina highways also suck. Much like Virginians, North Carolinians seem to have an aversion to paving the shoulders of narrow roads which creates a fair amount of angst when facing an oncoming pickup truck plastered with Trump bumper stickers. Another annoyance is the frequent and seemingly random changes in speed limits and frequent stops in cities and towns. Yet another problem is the total lack of roadside parks and waysides. But the worst thing about North Carolina roads is that they never seem to go directly to where we want to go and, in the process of changing from one highway to the next, we’ve made more wrong turns in the last month than I can recall making in the previous ten years.

 Now, on a positive note regarding these complaints; we have had some really, really good food including pimento cheese, a seafood pot pie, several crab cakes, numerous orders of fried chicken, lots of plain ole’ grits, plenty of plain ole’ shrimp and numerous orders of shrimp & grits. Also, the interstate system is pretty good and we have encountered a lot of really nice people, both black and white.

Oddly, in a state that we think of (or, I should say, we used to think of) as being sharply divided by race and politics and an obsession with bathrooms we have seen scant evidence of those divides. Instead, we've had many warm, interesting encounters with blacks and whites of all ages and none of them have expressed even the slightest interest in our bathroom preferences.

However, there is, it seems, a very distinct and marked divide between the mostly poor rural areas and what seem like islands of urban prosperity.

In making these observations it is important for readers (and for us) to keep in mind that all of our (anecdotal) experiences so far have been in the eastern half of North Carolina, which is generally considered to be the poorer, blacker, less educated and hotter half of the state. It’s a big, diverse state and we have a lot of it still to explore and experience. The hills and mountains to the west, not to mention the state's largest city, are still to come. 

Also, fortunately, I don’t think it’s possible for the barbecue to get any worse or for the state highways to become any more obtuse.

Recaps of our "Weekends"

On our first “weekend” (Sunday through Wednesday are our days off) we went to Cape Hatteras, the Wright Brothers Memorial at Kitty Hawk and Roanoke Island with a one-night stop in the city of Kinston to take in a game between the Class A (Minor League) Down East Wood Ducks and the Wilmington (DE) Blue Rocks.

It probably comes as no surprise to most readers that we have developed a list of minor league baseball teams in the state and are attempting to go to as many of the 11 stadiums as possible in the course of our travels.

We stayed two nights in a condo on the water on Roanoke Island that had a fabulous restaurant where we ate both nights; drove down the barrier islands all the way to the lighthouse at Cape Hatteras and visited the NPS historic sites for the Wright Brothers and the “Lost” Colony where Virginia Dare became the first person of English descent born in North America before mysteriously disappearing along with her parents and everyone else in the Britain's first American colony.

The view looking east toward the Outer Banks from our rental condo on Roanoke Island.

This is the place where it actually happened. Four flights on Dec. 17, 1903. Each monument marking the ever-longer distances.

With Orville at the controls, Betsy gives Wilbur a hand steadying the wings on that first engine-powered flight.

I'm a sucker for cool-looking clouds, seen here above the Bodie Island Lighthouse.

This is the lighthouse at Cape Hatteras, not the previously-pictured Bodie Island Lighthouse. Can you tell the difference? By the way, at 208 feet this is the tallest lighthouse in the United States. It is made of brick, cost $167,000 to build and opened in 1871. However, because of erosion at the site where it was first located it was moved - intact - 2,900 feet to its current location at a cost of $11.8 million.

We enjoyed the stay on the Outer Banks but our general impression was “crowded and touristy, with way too many vacation houses on the beach.” 

Kinston is a hard-scrabble town further inland that has seen better days. However, the baseball stadium had been recently refurbished and the people were friendly and the beer, from a local brewery, was great! Also, it was a great game with the visitors winning in an extra-inning comeback.

Great seats for a great game.

Also, a great mascot!

Speaking of great. I know a lot of my readers are value shoppers so I wanted to make sure you were aware of this opportunity in Kinston, N.C. (Please note that this is a limited time offer and restrictions do apply.)

The second “weekend” we went up the coast about 100 miles or so to the historic city of Beaufort (pronounced BOW-fert) which was established in 1709 and has dozens of original structures and homes still standing, well-maintained and occupied by year-round residents.

 

We really liked Beaufort. In fact, Beaufort is a candidate for inclusion on our list “Places We Might Really Want to Really Get To Know, Again”.

Like almost all of the North Carolina coast it is protected from the ravages of the sea by a series of barrier islands that can be easily reached by a bridge or series of bridges (like at Roanoke Island/Kitty Hawk/Cape Hatteras National Seashore) or by short ferry boat trip across a narrow, shallow bay, which is the case at Cape Lookout National Seashore near Beaufort.

Construction on Fort Macon began in 1826 and its purpose was to protest the Beaufort harbor. Today it is part of state park with popular beaches.

Speaking of value. The park service offers this upscale pickup-truck tour of Cape Lookout National Seashore for just $10!

This is about as far east as you can get in North Carolina.

The Cape Lookout Lighthouse. Notice anything different about it?

One day we took the ferry over to the pristine Cape Lookout National Seashore which, unlike Cape Hatteras NS, has not a single vacation house in site. It is a beautiful place. Another day we took a bicycle tour with a guide through Beaufort and spent plenty of time strolling the streets on our own, testing out the various bars and restaurants.

There were - no kidding - maybe $100 million or so worth of boats docked in Beaufort for a fishing tournament?

Pasley men have long history of buying a watermelon at a roadside stand and stopping off down the road to cut it open and eat it by hand. I carry a knife in my truck specifically for that purpose. Fortunately, NC has lots of roadside produce stands. Unfortunately NC has very few roadside parks. However, I spotted a sign for a county park that turned out to be a very pleasant place and these kids seemed pretty happy I did.

Our third weekend kicked off with the Blueberry Festival in our very own Burgaw, the county seat of our “home” Pender County. From there it was off to Durham where ate (twice) at a wonderful Chicken and Waffles restaurant, walked to and through the spectacular Duke University campus, took in two AAA Durham Bulls games, visited the state historic site of one of North Carolina’s largest pre-Civil War plantations (900 slaves) and tried to learn everything we could about the tobacco industry which, quite literally, the only reason that Durham (and Duke) exist. We stayed at a beautiful loft hotel in the heart of downtown, just steps from the baseball stadium. We loved Durham.

Naturally, our trip to Durham had to start off with a Sunday afternoon game of the Class A Buie's Creek Astros versus the Winston-Salem Dash. Note, with the exception of the pitcher's mound this entire field at Campbell University (home of the Camels) is made of rubber pellets and plastic grass, so-called "Nike Turf"; including the base paths and the infield.

The view from our hotel in downtown Durham. The massive American Tobacco warehouses and manufacturing facilities have been converted to office and retail space. By the 1920s American Tobacco, owned by the Duke family, made 90 percent of the cigarettes sold in the United States.

From East Texas to Down East North Carolina, the magnolias have been blooming the entire trip; including this beauty in Duke Gardens.

The Duke Chapel. Wow, what a place. Thank God for cigarettes, huh?

I guess if you can get them to rename the school for you (Trinity College changed its name to Duke University when James Buchanan "Buck" Duke, the driving force behind American Tobacco, gave the school most of his fortune in 1924) it's a piece of cake to get entombed in the chapel. RIP Buck.

Moving now from tombs to shrines?

Regional final, 1992. Who was Duke playing? Do any my readers recall?

Crazies!

Liggett & Meyers moved most of its manufacturing operations out of this building on Main Street in Durham in 1999, where they had been making cigarettes for nearly 100 years.

En route back to MCNB we stopped by the state capitol in Raleigh, which does not appear to be faring quite as well, economically, as Durham - at least based on the parts of each city that we saw.

They've made a pass at renovating the building but it is not very impressive. I give them a bit of pass though because the building was built in 1840 and the Legislature has not met there since the 60s. Basically it houses the governor's offices a few ceremonial meeting rooms and tourists like us.

North Carolina is quite proud of the fact (?) that three future presidents were born in the state. However, it takes a bit of the luster off when you realize that all three (Andrew Jackson, James Polk and Andrew Johnson) rather quickly moved to Tennessee where they worked, held elective office and lived most of their lives. Also worth noting, South Carolina claims that Jackson was born there, just south of the NC state line.

Uh Oh! Busted. And in the North Carolina Capitol Building of all places. To try to clear the air a bit and prevent any further controversy I hereby apologize for leaving the lid up (while hoping to maybe get some credit for having put it up). Sad!

Earlier in the month, after work on one of our first days at MCNB, we went into downtown Wilmington (an easy 20-mile drive) for supper and strolled the well-kept, touristy boardwalk along the Cape Fear River. We’d also stopped in Wilmington to grocery shop. Bu with a population over 100,000 Wilmington is easily the largest city on the coast and one of the largest in the eastern half of the state so we thought it deserved a weekend of its own. Plus the Wilmington Sharks, a wooden-bat summer league team for players still in college, had made our list.

We started off in Southport, an historic town at the extreme southeastern tip of North Carolina where we ferried out to the up-scale “golf-carts-only” resort of Bald Head Island to climb to the top of North Carolina’s oldest lighthouse. Known as “Old Baldy” this still-functioning lighthouse is celebrating its bi-centennial having been constructed in 1817, by a contractor, for $16,000. After some shrimp and crab cakes on the waterfront in Southport we drove in the rain to Wilmington where we are relaxing (and blogging) in an AirBnB within walking distance of the Sharks stadium.

 

"Old Baldy," celebrating its 200th birthday this year.


 
 Another day another minor league mascot (and game). This one is Sharky, the friendly face of the Wilmington Sharks. The Sharks jacked several homers and handily defeated the Morehead City Marlins, just around the corner from our rental.

Looks like Betsy has a new fin!

 

 

 

Virginia Wrap (a week late)

In real life we’ve moved on to North Carolina but in my virtual existence here in Blogsville I still need to put a fork in Virginia and recap our final two days there.

First of all, three general observations about Virginia.

First. Lots and lots and lots and lots of trees. Freaking trees everywhere. Great big green ones. Everything is green. Virginia is very, very green.

Also, second, Virginians seem to have an aversion to putting shoulders on their abundant narrow, winding roads.

This can be particularly problematic for my third observation which is an enormous amount of historic markers stuck beside the narrow, winding, busy roads with no plausible way to stop and read them.

What would he have done without our advice?

Jamestown, the first, tenuous toehold in the New World.

On our second-to-last full day in Virginia (last Tuesday) we returned to Yorktown to explore the excellent, newly refurbished revolutionary war museum there and then popped across the peninsula to Jamestown to see where it all began.

On Wednesday we visited St. John’s Church where Patrick Henry gave his famous Liberty or Death speech and paid our respects to some of those interred in the cemetery that surrounds the church, including George Wythe – law professor to Thomas Jefferson and John Marshall – and Edgar Allen Poe’s mother.

Richmond, not a bad town.

We also took in some of the waterfront along the James River before stopping by the First Freedom Center, a small museum on the site where the first state capitol in Richmond once stood. 

What a pair, huh?

The Center commemorates the concept of freedom of religion and conscience proclaimed in Thomas Jefferson's Virginia Statute for Religious Freedom which was enacted into law there by the Virginia General Assembly on January 16, 1786; legislation shepherded by Assembly Delegate James Madison. On June 25, 1788 Madison was back at the same site as a member of the Virginia Ratifying Commission where he argued persuasively (determinatively in the view of many historians) in favor of ratification of the new Constitution against substantive opposition from “anti-Federalists” like Patrick Henry and George Mason, who opposed the creation of a strong central government. The vote was 89-79 in favor of ratification. Because Virginia was the largest and wealthiest state its vote in favor of ratification was, arguably, one of the most important decisions in U.S. history.

From there we walked up the hill for a late-in-the-day stop at the “new” state capitol (the Jefferson-designed building opened in 1788) where we lucked into an outstanding, personal tour from the tour supervisor.

It would be a significant understatement to say that Virginia is a state of great substance with a long, complex history. So “really getting to know” Virginia would take a lot more time than we had to give it. I feel like we’ve barely scratched the surface. But we do feel like we got a good primer, particularly on the 18^th and early 19^th Centuries and got a pretty good feel for the Charlottesville, Richmond and tidewater areas.

Richmond in particular is a place we’ve each visited sporadically over the years and it’s kind of grown on us a bit.