May 4 – New Bern, NC

New Bern Grand Marina

“My favorite thing to do is to go where I’ve never been.” —Diane Arbus

We only had three miles to travel this morning from our anchorage to the New Bern Grand Marina, so we weren’t in a big hurry, which ended up being a good thing since we had two thunderstorms pass over dumping a lot more water. Even with the rain we were docked by 10:00 and had all day to explore the historic town of New Bern.

New Bern was founded in 1710 and is the second oldest town in North Carolina. The town was named after the colonists' original home, Bern, Switzerland. In the late 1770s, the town served as the first capital of independent and post-Revolutionary War North Carolina, with Tryon Palace housing the governor's mansion and political center. New Bern quickly grew and by the 19th century was one of the largest cities in North Carolina. By the late 1890s, the town had also become one of the largest lumber suppliers in the south.

In the early 20th Century, New Bern became the home of Pepsi-Cola, which started as a local drink called "Brad's Drink" in the Bradham Pharmacy. You can still visit the drug store downtown where Pepsi was born in 1898. Today, New Bern is a beautiful waterfront community with historical attractions, museums and homes to visit. The downtown area is full of antique stores, boutiques, galleries, cafes and restaurants and there are wonderful waterfront parks to enjoy the view of the river.

It was our first time to visit New Bern and we had an enjoyable day exploring the historic downtown area. We didn’t have enough time to visit the museums or historic homes on this trip, so we’ll need to return one day. We did make time to have a great visit and enjoy a wonderful meal with boating friends. New Bern is a little off the beaten track for most boaters making the trek north or south, but it is well worth the trip. New Bern is full of southern charm and hospitality. 

Arriving in New Bern

Mitchell Hardware has been in downtown New Bern since 1898. It was a little bit of everything.

Downtown New Bern is full of all kinds of little shops

Tryon Palace is known for being North Carolina’s first permanent state capitol, was built in the late 1760's.

Christ Episcopal Church built in 1871 

Craven County Court House built in the 1880's

Home of Pepsi Cola in the Bradham Pharmacy building

To celebrate the town's 300th birthday businesses in town hired artists to create bears that represented each of their establishments . There are bears everywhere.

Centenary United Methodist Church. The stained glass windows were beautiful. It is the oldest continuing Methodist church south of Baltimore.

The downtown area is full of beautiful old homes

We went to dinner at Morgan's Tavern. The building was built in 1911 and was known as the New Bern Garage Company, Inc. 

Dinner with friends we met three years ago in Cape May, NJ...the crew of Miss GG.