May 2: After an all day air travel extravaganza (flying is so much fun these days) I arrived back in Belhaven. The Good News is that so far all my tests have been negative so things on the health front are looking up. The not so good news is that the boat projects will take much longer than expected so we will be here for longer than we thought.
Belhaven is a small waterfront town with a population of about 1,400 souls. At one point in time, it was the crab capital of the United States. Sadly, crabbing is not the mainstay of the economy as this industry is now dominated by Thailand.
Except for one excursion to New Bern, featured below, our days are filled with boat related chores and projects (for Peter) so I will not bore you'all with the details and will put the blog on hiatus until we resume the Loop.
New Bern was settled in 1710 by Swiss Immigrants who named the town after Bern Switzerland. The bear statue below shows the US flag as well as the coat of arms of the city of Bern. Legend says that the founder of Bern Switzerland vowed to name the city after the first animal he met on the hunt which was a bear. So the bear also became the motif used in the city's coat of arms.
New Bern adopted the Bear as its mascot and colorful bear statues are dotted all over the town. I captured only a few.
The town also has numerous boutiques, antique stores and restaurants. Quite a chic place!
History abounds as well. New Bern was the first Capitol of North Carolina and is home to Tyron Palace which includes the Governor's Palace, several historic homes as well as traditional gardens.
The Governor's Palace which was built between 1767 and 1770 for the Royal Governor William Tyron who represented the British Crown. The building has a fascinating history. It was destroyed by fire in 1798 but restored to its former glory a 150 years later by local activists. For more history: www.tyronpalace.org
Traditional gardens
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