April 13 – April 17, 2014
Cedar Point, NC

This has been one of the best travel weeks, in spite of the cold and wind! It started out perfect, so I guess that set the tone. We got up early Sunday morning, normally we go to church, but we headed to Cedar Point for 5 days, praising God as we traveled. Bill even called me Preacher Debbie as I did share about the Lord as we drove down the road!

We were out of the KOA, Fredericksburg in record time. The five hour drive was smooth and without incident. We were somewhat surprised at the Waterway RV Resort, as it is more of a permanent RV Resort. We were the only mobile unit.

Our view from the back window – maybe not the best!  Upon arrival, a neighbor came out to greet us and made us feel welcome. We had a lot in common, so that helped! By the time we had set up, another neighbor came over and we all had a nice chat.

It was a beautiful, warm sunny day and we wanted to see the beach. So we had dinner by 4:30 and hit Emerald Isle. There is a parking area and beach access as we pulled onto the Isle. We were surprised it seemed so busy for this time of day. As we came up on the beach, it looked fabulous, but then we actually were a bit disappointed as we began walking on it, comparing it to Myrtle Beach. There were a lot of little sharp shells and we were barefoot. But we were short sighted and maybe a little tired from our trip. Our opinion would change!

The next day, we stopped at the Cedar Point Welcome Center and picked up some brochures. We were told the best place to walk on the beach is at the southern point, and there is public parking. So off we went for a beach day. We never could have expected such a gorgeous beach! We relaxed, read and finally took a walk that turned out to be 2.45 miles! These are pictures from our time on the beach on Monday:

The next day, Tuesday, was expected to be very cold, windy and rainy.  So we went to tour historical Fort Macon.  It was free, but they have donation boxes.  Since we love history, we really enjoyed it.  It is at the northern tip of Emerald Isle.  For details, visit here: http://www.ncparks.gov/Visit/parks/foma/history.php

I didn’t get the best pictures as we got there just as the tour was starting, so we ran past great scenery to get to the Sally Port – where the tour started. We know we need to go back and really finish visiting it as we didn’t see everything.  So after our tour, we took a 1.45 mile walk on the beach. The rain held off, but it was pretty windy – or we would have walked further.

We then to meet up with my step sister’s Marine son for a tour of Camp LaJune and dinner with his family.  He is also a dad to three children and two are identical twin girls.  He gave us a grand tour of the base after he was off work, then off to his home to have dinner.

So while we are off sightseeing, we think of our grandson often…so thankfully, our daughter sends us pictures of him often!  He’s as cute as can be!  A real joy and always happy – unless he’s hungry, tired or has a dirty diaper!  He does let us know when we need to tend to him!

The third day, March 18, we toured historic Beaufort, NC.  We first visited the Beaufort Historic Site to decide the best way to learn about this unique town.  We bought a combination ticket to take the trolly tour and to tour three of the six historic sites.  We had time to first visit the North Carolina Maritime Museum.  They have a movie about Blackbeard.  We didn’t get to see the entire movie, but hoped to have time later.  We then took the trolley tour which was very informative.  Afterwards, we had time to go back to the museum which was around the corner.  I was actually cold, so I stopped in and enjoyed a great cup of hot Mocha Cappuccino and bought Bill a fresh homemade cookie!  Then I joined him.  We missed the rest of the movie as it was at the same point when we first started watching it.  Then back for the tour of three historic houses.  We toured with another couple from Fauquier County, Virginia not far from where we lived for 10 years.  Small world.   We had to pick which three of six historic houses to tour, so we agreed to let our Docent pick her three favorite.  It worked out well for us all.  We toured the houses of two prominent citizens and then toured the jail.  All had fascinating history!

 

On day 4 and our last day, we decided we needed to go for a hike in the Croatian National Forest as it was right next to us.  We went back to the Visitor Center to get information on hiking and were given some good brochures.  But little did we realize the directions to the trail heads were not clear – actually there wasn’t one nearby that had the type of hike we wanted to take.  But Patsy Pond Trail was nearby and was short.  We decided to check it out and had a great walk in the forest.  Afterwards, we went back to the south end of Emerald Isle and took another good walk on it.  We learned we could get a permit to drive our truck on it!  That may beat the parking lot what is about 1/2 mile away!

 

We left Cedar Point for Fredericksburg for more grandson time, deciding this is a place we will want to return to visit!

A scripture true to us as we travel: Philippians 4:19 “And my God will supply all your needs according to His riches in glory in Christ Jesus.”

To be continued….