The Plaid Pladd

Steven and I went to New Bern for a weekend! It was the original capital of North Carolina back when it was a royal colony, so there was lots of historical things to do with people in period costume!

Tryon Palace!

Fancy period gardens!

Tryon Palace’s back lawn

And then there’s this nerd

We stayed at a bed and breakfast that ratcheted the fancy up to 11! This was our room:

The King George III room!

Here’s King George III preparing to watch me sleep

Look at this fancy-ass bathroom

SERIOUSLY LOOK

Honestly it was hard not to spend the whole weekend in the bathtub. But I made other plans. Like a tour of town in a Model A Ford!

So rickety!

Of course there were costumes

New Bern was an important port city back in the day because it lies at the confluence of the Trent and Neuse rivers that lead out to sea.

Selfies by the water!

One of the best parts about bed and breakfasts are the elaborate breakfast, and this place did not disappoint! Every morning there was a fruit-crumble-like appetizer followed by a choice of 3 entrees. I was usually all about the pancakes:

PANCAKES

The menu changed every day.

BUT NOPE MORE PANCAKES

Steven’s French toast was good too

New Bern is also the birthplace of Pepsi! I talked Steven into going in. It was WAY less fancy and ridiculous than The World of Coke we went to in Atlanta. Basically just a soda fountain.

Steven begrudgingly experiencing history

But the best thing about New Bern are the bears!!!! They were decorated and put up all over town to celebrate the town’s 300th anniversary in 2010. I tried to get my picture with all the ones we passed, but there are way more:

“Bearer of Rights” bear lol

Mitchell Bear (he works in a hardware store)

“Flag Bearer” I hope you like bear puns because New Bern is all about that

Future Bear, the cheerfulest depiction of climate change’s impact on the arctic ever

“Bear-ly Legal” This one makes me uncomfortable

“Captain Black Bear’d” I would have gone with “Captain Jack Bearrow” but whatever

“Greenzly”

Bearon de Graffenried

Kare Bear

Spirit I

Home Town Bernie I

Sailor Bear

Spirit II (I did not want to cross the road)

Bear E. Ssentials

Freedom Bearer was right in our B&B’s parking lot!

BEARS