American Road Trip - Old New Bern, a magic car show and a trio of rescue dogs - Part 7

I'll take the little one!

Breakfast next morning -"have what you like" says Debra.  We have a small one - riding miles in a car is not exercising!!  Then off on a quick tour of the old part of this lovely little town on a small open tour bus, which we were encouraged several times to get off and walk a few paces so that we could be shown places of interest.  Lots of Civil War history here, and you can see why if you find it on the map.  Here's a very nice house indeed, originally owned by a free black man, the son of someone important in town (white).  The little pink house next door is where the "help" lived.

It's hot and humid, so after the tour, I decide to walk back to the B and B for a cool rest in the sitting room, whist Maccers takes the camera and spends a very happy hour or so looking at vintage cars, parked right down Main Street and round the corner - for free!

This kind of show would cost you in the UK, but here in North Carolina, everyone is so pleased to show and talk about their vehicle.  Lots of great pics, and here are a few that I liked the look of!

      
    

     

Bags packed and now it's away from water, and across country.  At some point we pull into a nature reserve to grab a bit of shade and get the driver forty winks.  Right outside my door, I walk 3 paces and find a group of wild iris - managed to get a clear shot of this one.    

  

On now, to Rocky Point, North Carolina where we know from the photograph on Air BnB that we are staying in an old charming farmhouse.   Did I mention yet that this whole trip was done using Air BnB hosts? I cannot say enough times how great it was to do this, meeting people who wanted you in their home and wanted to talk to you!  At Rocky Point we had been told that if no-one was home the hosts would not be long.  We were also told that the dogs would be the welcoming committee.  We are cat people ourselves, but dogs don't worry us and we have met some very nices ones along the way through life.  So, we stop the car.  "Woof, woof"  Bark, bark" and "Arf arf". That's what we hear, and a large grey and black dog is at the driver's door.  Next, out from the woods comes a little caramel coloured dog, the size of the hounds used for hunting over here.  We brave the dogs, who suddenly turn into waggy tailed licky idiots - except for the arf, arf, coming from inside the house.  Is he locked up because he's a killer?  Is he seriously big and covered in dog drool?  Not much later, after we have availed ourselves of the rocking chairs on the porch, Glenn arrives home from business.  He opens the door.  The arf, arf continues.  It's coming from the throat of a brown dog that looks like a chihuahua crossed with a jack russell, and with badly fitting dentures.  This is Arnie, who continues to bark for about half an hour and then suddenly realises guard duty is over, the enemy is in the house, and he has nothing to fear.  This does not stop him frightening himself half to death when he meets me coming out of a bathroom and does a leap backwards and starts arf arfing all over again!  These three lovelies were all rescue dogs.  Roger is the name of the grey and black dog, taken home because they were going to put him down.  Couldn't walk, covered in faeces from his waist to his back feet and not really worth saving.  Huh! you should see this beautiful boy now!  Then Mr Biddles, the hound.  Also going to be put down because he was blind.  Well, as Glenn says, "I think he feigned blindness so that he didn't have to go hunting!".  I catch him a few times looking vaguely around, but it may well be an act, as he was in and out of the trees no trouble at all.  Then home comes Amy, the dogs so pleased to see her, and we sit around the kitchen table for hours over a few beers, discussing American style bacon vs British back rashers, driving on American roads vs British roads, and various other life enhancing subjects.  Great evening which we really enjoy.  Must tell you that the bathroom we used is lined with lovely blue coloured wood planks from an old barn nearby.  It's beautiful.

Next morning, John gets washed and dressed, ready to get on the road.  Oh-oh! Nosebleed again!  Not serious, I plug it and Amy gives us a fabulous tip from her mother.  Put a roll of paper under the top lip.  Well, with the plug in place it worked - and it's a tip I'd use again.  After a quiet hour to ensure that it had stopped, we were off again, again across country to find our next accommodation up above Myrtle Beach.  Glenn had told us we had to see it, a cross between Blackpool and the Costa del Sol.  But we had other places  to  to go first (not that we knew where as we drove away from the doggy trio).