New Bern and the Tryon Palace Historic Sites and Gardens

Yesterday I needed my architecture fix. I just really craved seeing brick and mortar - the kind that has history and character. The kind that I personally could spend days regarding with a magnifying glass. All the small details of craftsmanship and careful design. The kind of architecture one finds in older towns and cities. These types of places don't really exist back west where I grew up so I thought my chance would come living in the east - or is it the south? Maybe southeast? Regardless, we didn't have the time during the holiday break to travel far but there is a town near where we live called New Bern that we can easily get to that does have quite an interesting historic downtown. We decided to check it out.

Sorry in advance if this post becomes boring or is weighted heavily on building nomenclature.. I do realize that this stuff isn't as interesting to most as it is for me. Suck it up though and read on.. you might find yourself entertained.

New Bern was the Colonial capital in 1766-76 and was the state of North Carolina's capital from 1776-1794. It played an active part in the American Revolution by being a major port and trading center. The city was captured and occupied by the Union army in 1862 which also meant it played an active part in the Civil War. It's also the birthplace of Pepsi-Cola invented in 1898. The gentleman who invented it had a pharmacy which is now a soda fountain store dedicated to Pepsi. The downtown streets are lined with historic sites and outstanding examples of American architecture, especially the early 19th-century Federal style. The houses on the historic registry are in really great shape and taken care of meticulously.

The crown jewel of the city is the Tryon Palace and the grounds surrounding it. The Palace was originally constructed between 1767 and 1770 in the Georgian style. It was a meeting place for the colonial assembly and a residence for the Royal Governor appointed by the King of England. The main building burned down in 1798 but in the 1950's there were some zealots that championed to reconstruct everything down to the last detail. They did a great job and while the buildings aren't original, the furnishings are authentic to that period and as a whole work well.

The gardens I am sure are lovely in the Spring and Summer but since it was December.. they were lacking any depth. Alright enough on the history lessons, here are the inevitable pictures to show you all. We weren't allowed to take any inside the buildings.

Dave walking up to the Palace with The Cute:

Close up of the coat of arms detail. The G III signifies King George III and the R signifies Rex which means King: Outside in one of many gardens on the grounds:

I am sure in the summer the picture below would be a stunning view.... Below is the John Wright Stanly house. The house was the birthplace of two men who fought on opposing sides in the Civil War. It was built between 1779 and 1783. Here is a close up of the wreath on the front door. It was beautifully made with oyster shells reflecting the local taste for such.
Brenden October was quite the trooper and hung in there for four hours of strangeness:

A day of fish and forts

This past week since Christmas has been a unique time for us. Moving the house to a new state and spending Christmas for the first time with Brenden - just the three of us. It was very nice and low key. We did miss spending time with friends and family but we got a lot done on Christmas day.. yes.. unpacking boxes. Dave has the week off from work so our resolve is to get this house in order! Having some fun in between is a must though so we went to the North Carolina Aquarium at Pine Knoll Shores and Fort Macon the day after Christmas. As some of you know from former posts, Brenden loves aquariums so we searched out one that was about 45 minutes from Cherry Point which isn't a bad drive. The facility is on the small sidebut does have some impressive exhibits and of course The Cute dug it.

After the aquarium we took a drive and ended up at Fort Macon by chance. The Fort was constructed between 1826 and 1834 and used in the Civil War, Spanish War and World War II. It was one of a series of seacoast fortifications for national defense. It was acquired by the state of North Carolina in 1924 and was then established as North Carolina's first functioning state park in 1936. It was interesting to check out especially since I have seen very little when it comes to military architecture of this type.

Here are some pictures that I took that day .....

Nothing says Christmas like a big bronze frog with a Santa hat!

They had a large Christmas tree in front of their large tank with a shipwreck exhibit. Kind of a cool shot with the reflections:

T'was a bit chilly when we went to the outside exhibits..... Can you tell David is happy that I kept taking pictures?On to Fort Macon (a side note.... this is where the nerdy Architect in me shines through).

This ramp is steeper than it looks here in the picture. I wish I had taken a picture of the sign posted that said 'This Fort was built for war not safety! Watch your step!' It is definitely not handicap accessible which in turn meant taking the stroller around it was interesting. Thank you Dave for taking on the challenge!

Merry Christmas 2008

What an awesome year it has been for the Slay family. The birth of B.O.S. has changed everything in our family dynamic for the better of course. The holidays are a little bit more special because you get to see the wonder of Christmas through a child's eyes. Never mind that he is only seven months old and doesn't know what all the fuss is about. What he did love was manhandling the wrapped presents under the tree just for him. Here are some pictures and from our family to yours - have a safe and peaceful holiday season!

We decided to take a Christmas eve stroll around the neighborhood to see the lights - the lights sooth him when he is fussy:Must get into this package Mom!Wow this bear is as big as The Cute.. He loved the nubby fur on it:A great book with textures and shiny stuff:

He was more interested in eating the tag on the clothes than the clothes themselves:Next year I am going to have to childproof the tree. It will be a wild time I am sure!

Holidays 2008

O.k I am not usually the cheesy type ~ but I ran across a website called Scrapblog and decided to mess around with it because the thought of unpacking another box makes my head hurt so that means procrastination which in turns means messing around on the computer. Here is what I came up with and I wanted to share. A side note - I really wanted to put up a Christmas tree for Brenden's first Christmas but with the move and having a hundred boxes piled up in each room of the new house, it seemed it wasn't going to happen. I mustered the energy to put up our small tree (4') instead of the big one. It will have to do this year. I took some pictures a few days ago and with some creative cropping out of the mess around the tree, one can hardly tell it's a disaster area here! Hey one has to create memories anyway possible right?

Enjoy and have a great holiday season with your loved ones!

The new digs in Cherry Point, N.C

We made it! We made it! The house is still full of boxes from the move and we are still trying to get used to the smaller house. Turns out trying to care for a sick baby and being sick myself for two weeks now has proven challenging for mustering the energy required to unpack an entire household. Things are looking up though and we are making headway with getting organized.
There should be enough room for all of our things if we are very creative.
The view from the house is spectacular which softens the blow of the size somewhat. It's a water view on three sides. I can't wait for you all to come and visit us - we can sit out in the yard with margaritas looking out at the ocean. There are no fences to denote the yards which is a pain with two big dogs but there is a lot of acreage out here to roam around. Here are some pictures (I brought out the 'big guns' SLR camera to get better shots but the day is sort of dreary - you get the idea though). The picture at the top of the blog is out our back yard. It's also the beautiful view out of my office window that I am looking at as I type this. A big improvement over what we had in Corpus Christi, TX.

Steps from our backyard to the water and sand:

Here is the side yard which is also the neighbors front yard. He is a Colonel with an awesome house:

View out our front yard with sandy area:

Cozy casa Slay:

VMAT-203 Holiday party

We are here in beautiful (it really is) Havelock, NC unpacking box after box. It's a chore but we took a few hours off last night to go to Dave's new squadron's holiday party. Not that we knew anyone there but Brenden got to sit on Santa's lap and I got to see the Harrier jet that he is learning how to fly. I am slowly learning all the new items associated with jets. The buffet was fried chicken, potato salad, BBQ and banana pudding - not that there is anything wrong with that but we must be in the south - so silly of me to think there would be turkey, ham, stuffing, mashed potatoes, etc. at a holiday party? You would think after living in Texas for two years before this I wouldn't be surprised but not so. My thirty years of living in Utah and their traditions are hard to break. Here are a few pics and a video (Brenden is digging saying Da Da and we got it on video):

Santa arriving via Harrier jet:
Dave's new airframe.. sexy isn't it?


The party was held in the squadron's hangar hence the flattering industrial fluorescent lighting and hangar door backdrop for Santa (hey at least the military is being responsible with your tax dollars and not spending it on a party at the Ritz). In all truthfulness, your tax dollars aren't spent at all at these parties.. the members of the squadron pitch in funds for 'mandatory fun' as they call it...

Here is the video that I thought was so amusing. It captures his three classic sounds.. the Da Da Da, the brrrrrrrrrrrrrrr and the cooing.

Salt Lake City bound

....after my stop in San Diego, I went on to SLC, Utah for a visit for Thanksgiving with my parents and sister. I was wishing for some snow but it turned out to be in the 50's during the day (very warm for SLC this time of the year.) I was able to see my friends Kat and Erica which is always great. Our friendships go back to grade school. Pretty amazing to have friends that long. It's like we haven't been apart when we see each other again. Kat had her second baby three months ago. His name is Alexandre ~ what a cutie! Here are some pics (how could I disappoint you all?)

Even Brenden got to eat sweet potatoes on Thanksgiving:What are these things that change color? He has only seen palm trees:Play time with cousin Dan:Kat was brave and handled both babies for a photo op: Dan, Erica, Sophia, me and Brenden:I am off to North Carolina tomorrow with my Mom to meet David. He found us a house yesterday. We will only be there for nine or ten months. Next post to be from a new locale. Stay tuned.