Great Date Day on The Waterway

Recently my husband and I were alone for a day. I know I was thinking how did that happen?? We were alone for three days but unfortunately, he had to work two of the three days. My girls had gone on a trip with my parents to the Great Wolf Lodge in Virginia, so I convinced Raul, the hubs, to take a day off and spend it with me. First, let me say that does not usually happen but because of the fact that I have been begging him to spend more time as a couple, he agreed to take a day off. I planned a beautiful, relaxing day with Raul. You see I love the water, not being in it but being around it or on it. So we took advantage of the time alone and went to New Bern and took a scenic cruise along the Trent and Neuse Rivers.  We usually do not take the time to do something like this for ourselves, but we are so glad we did. I booked a 2 1/2 hour cruise with Crystal Coast Lady for a relaxing day on the water. The cost of this tour was $25 a piece. I know a little pricey but so worth it to relax and spend time with each other. The crew on the boat were very friendly. They gave us so much information about the area that the only way I could relay the info is through pictures.

First, we arrived earlier than our 12:30 departure time for the cruise so we took advantage of the time that we had and walked along the waterway. New Bern is a quaint old town that is just what the doctor ordered. They built walkways all along the waterfront, so it was a very relaxing to walk for us. Here are some the pictures I snapped.

I will have to say that I was very impressed with New Bern. I fell in love with this town. I would love to live here one day.

There were so many things to see on our little walking journey. This is a Lily Sculpture near the docks. I loved that at almost every 500 feet along the walkway there were places to sit to enjoy the peaceful river setting. In fact, we stopped and sat for a moment to watch a sailboat.

Of course, we cannot forget the wildlife as well. I have plans to go back with a loaf of bread and my girls so that they could feed the ducks.

Remember this picture from my Wordless Wednesday Post. I snapped it the day that we spent in New Bern.

Finally, our boat arrives.

And we board. I loved how we got a boarding pass, just like if you are traveling on a cruise. The crew was excellent. In fact, they saw we had a camera and offered to take a picture of us. I loved that I am normally the one behind the camera, so I never have any pictures of myself when we are on our trips.

So now we are off on our cruise. I saw so many things that I wanted to share with you, but then this post would have tons of pictures.  So here are the highlights. We saw Tryon Palace. Tryon Palace was the site of the first sessions of the general assembly for the State of North Carolina following the revolution and housed the state governors until 1794. In 1798, a fire destroyed the original Palace building. An extensive 30-year campaign to rebuild the Palace and restore the grounds was launched by the people of New Bern, state leaders, world craftsmen, and generous, dedicated citizens such as Mrs. James Edwin Latham. Their efforts led to the triumphal reopening of the Palace in 1959. Today, the Palace lives on as a testament to history, community, and rebirth. This is water the palace looked like from the water.

One of my favorite houses was along the walkway right in front of where we saw the ducks.

This is what it looked like from the water.

On the cruise, we saw tons of wildlife. From Crabs to birds, it was so peaceful.

Caught this bird sitting on a piling in the middle of the water. The Osprey were also hatching so we were able to see tons of Osprey nests.

One of the baby Ospreys was testing its wings in this picture. The man that owned the boat was also a commercial crabber. So we were able to see what it takes to catch a crab. Unfortunately, we did not get a big score, but we did get this little guy who was a stowaway.

Don’t worry we threw him back into the river.

No trip to New Bern would not be complete without a reference to the writer, Nicholas Sparks. We were able to see the house from “The Notebook.”

Did you know that Sparks makes his home in New Bern as well? In fact, we were able to see the old house he used to live in and well as his current home. His old house pictured below was 4000 square feet. I don’t know about you, but I could do so much with 4000 square feet.

Further down the river was his new house. This house was beautiful and 24,000 square feet. Wow right, look closely in the picture at the orange spot in the water. I will show you what it is, in the next picture.

Now here is what the orange spot was in the last picture. One of his dogs’ had  a lifejacket on. They barked when the boat went by. One of his sons was also outside when we went by but I chose not to share that picture.

I absolutely loved our day on the river and I would recommend this cruise to anybody that is looking for a relaxing day. The crew was very friendly and made sure that we were all happy. This was definitely money well spent.

 

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