to New Bern and back

Just got back from a memorable trip to New Bern. It was memorable for mostly good reasons; however, the trip down could have been disastrous. We decided to try a different route that would avoid the Raleigh traffic, taking backroads south of the city and perhaps making better time and arriving before dark. But by the time we pulled into Fairfield Harbour it was one thirty A.M. We had spent three and a half hours in the parking lot of Advance Auto Parts while a stranger named Mike, our angel, struggled to replace the alternator and the serpentine belt on our eleven year old F-150, IN THE POURING RAIN. The route south of Raleigh was slow and tortuous, and we were already discouraged by our lack of progress, when the truck's battery light came on. We continued on, hoping it was just a faulty sensor, when the voltage gauge began to drop. It was seven thirty on Friday night in the middle of the central North Carolina countryside. I was driving and feeling panicky, imagining the engine finally dying on a lonely dark stretch of road between Kinston and New Bern, late at night without a tow truck or motel in sight. I asked Dennis what the "plan" was, other than blind hope, so he came up with one. He located the auto parts store with the help of his GPS, only three miles away, but there was no one to replace the dead alternator at an auto parts store, or so we thought. We were wrong. Mike was standing at the counter when D. was asking around for help, and said he would do the deed in the parking lot for thirty dollars! He said it would take 20 or 30 minutes and we would be on our way. Three hours later he is sweating in the rain, struggling with the belt; we have acquired another "helper" who actually needs gas money so he weaseled into the fray with a flashlight and some suggestions, but it was Mike who refused to leave us stranded, even after the store closed, the lights went out, and lightning flashed all around us. He was truly our miracle . Finally, we were on our way again, the rain continued off and on, and we arrived for our weekend vacation in the wee hours. The dogs awakened me at six thirty for their morning constitutional, and we were off in the early morning grey, me uncharacteristically groggy, the dogs joyous as usual.
The rest of the weekend was lovely. We went into town to get some i phone accessories and condo stuff, dog dishes, cleaning supplies, a door mat with red and grey geese, and a sign for the front door that said "and they lived happily ever after." Stopped at Applebees for lunch, then went back to the resort and slept for three hours. When we awoke, Dennis hung the pictures I had brought from home over the bed, nailed the hook in the kitchen for the dishtowel, and nailed up the door sign. As we were hammering, our neighbor Joann came out and talked for awhile, then we decided to rent some bikes at the clubhouse and tour the park. Since we had no dinner plans, we stopped at BB Hurricanes, also known as the worst restaurant in NC, to order couple of margaritas, which we drank outside while they cooked our crabcakes to go, and watched the sun sink over the Marina. It was a beautiful evening. Back home, we ate the crabcakes and fries, although with usual incompetence they had forgotten to pack our coleslaw. We watched Michael Phelps win his eighth gold medal at the Olympics to beat Mark Spitz's record and it was a fine end to the day.
This morning, Sunday, I took the dogs for a long happy walk at seven AM and we came across three does grazing on the Riverwatch front lawn. They leapt to the edge of the woods when they saw us, but remained fully visible as we turned and left them to their morning foraging. Later, D and I went to breakfast at IHOP and then spent the rest of the time remaining at the pool, which was much more refreshing than two weeks ago. We hated to leave, but at least had no unpleasant incidents on the way home. It will be several weeks before we can get back, but we have not lost the thrill of having our own little spot of vacation paradise.

A piece of the pie...before and after

Here are photos of the condo in New Bern, before and after the renovation and during the attempt to make it our little piece of vacation heaven. I think we achieved our goal and had a wonderful time in the process. David still has to install the cooktop, but that is all. We found the perfect futon in Furniture Liquidators, plus a blanket chest to serve as storage/coffee table, and a headboard for the bedframe we brought from home. Everyone dropped by to see the "new place" and meet the new "weekenders."
Now we are considering buying another one, with a real BEDROOM!