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That was a question raised by one of our museum guides today.  She was a Yankee transplant, and, like us, could not believe how manicured and beautiful Charlotte is.  I guess being the country’s second largest financial center helps, as some of that money is clearly cascading into the city in terms of its architectureContinue reading ““Where do they put all the dirt?””

We started our next North Carolina adventure with a slight detour to Cooleemee, and its Textile Heritage Center.  This consisted of a home once occupied by the Cooleemee cotton mill manager and a sample mill worker’s home from 1934, once electricity and plumbing had been installed. 

There is a lot of history in Greensboro, which saw an important Revolutionary War battle, the Battle of Guilford Courthouse in 1781. This was a bloody battle, which the Americans, under General Green, actually lost.  However, in true American style, the outcome has been recast as a triumph of sorts – an important step towardContinue reading “Battles past and present”

We have now learned that Sunday means something different here.  In New York, museums look at the calendar and say, “Bet we’ll have a lot of visitors today!”  Here, they say, “Why aren’t you at church and home with your family?  Don’t even think about coming here!”  Family values and all that…

Yesterday we went to Winston-Salem and toured Reynolda, the home of RJ Reynolds and his family.  This was built in the Bungalow style in 1917, and like the homes of so many of the very rich, had its own tales of tragedy.  No pictures allowed inside, which now also houses an art museum, but I was permitted to photographContinue reading “Cigarette Money”

We stayed in New Bern NC overnight.  Named after Bern, Switzerland, the town has embraced the bear motif borrowed from the Swiss habit of baiting bears in pits.  Some cities have those ubiquitous cows – here it’s bears in many permutations.  But even better than all the bears is the rightful fame New Bern hasContinue reading “Time for a Pepsi”

After driving past every chain food and retail store you ever heard of – and many you haven’t – you can’t help but feel the contrast with Roanoke Island is startling.  Sir Walter Raleigh’s dream to beat the Spanish to the plunder of the new world, it is ironically dripping with Spanish moss, and quiet as theContinue reading “The Lost Colony”

Before we got to the shrine of Kitty Hawk, we made a stop at Eastville, Virginia.  Never heard of it, you say?  Well, in case you are doing genealogical or legal history research, you should know that its courthouse guards the oldest continuous court records in America, dating from 1632. (John, you  would love this place.)  InContinue reading “Those boys from Ohio”

Maybe you didn’t grow up reading Misty of Chincoteague, but you might have heard of the wild ponies that have been on the island for centuries, perhaps stranded from a long-ago shipwreck.  Getting to see them is a real thrill, which is why you are being treated to the sight of one band we were luckyContinue reading “We saw the ponies!”

(I was actually born there, many moons ago.) Our first day out was smooth sailing down to the Eastern Shore of Maryland.  We arrived in Chestertown late afternoon.  It is home to Washington College, funded originally by George himself.  The town is beautiful – evidently one of those places that students often never bring themselvesContinue reading “Maryland, my Maryland”