4/30/23 Jacksonville to New Bern, NC

Last night the forecast for today looked grim. It showed 46% or greater for thunderstorms all morning through 3 PM.  We went to bed hopeful that a window of opportunity would allow us to complete the 45 miles without the storms. What we woke up to was so much better.  Our window of opportunity was from 7am to 11am… very doable. Not only did we have the sun shining on us, it was a very quiet Sunday morning when we hit the road at 7:15. 

The country roads were beautiful and we really felt blessed with good fortune. 

Can’t explain how, because the roads were really nice, but I got my 8th flat of the ride!  (We check the inside of the tire each time and identify where the tube had a puncture. It not the same every time, so we think it is just unlucky). When we were finishing up… the rain started. 

We were about an hour away from our hotel when a downpour hit and the sky didn’t look friendly. After a short stop under a shelter we decided that even heavy rain is most certainly better than thunderstorms… so we put on the heavy rain gear and proceeded. 

 Unfortunately, a short time later Tim got a flat! His second one. 
Thank goodness the rain lighted up, so we had on and off sprinkles until we arrived in New Bern.  
Our 11:11 shot was at the hotel.  There are about 80 painted bears throughout the city. 

As we were rolling, our bikes into the hotel to store until our room is ready we met Mike and MaryLou. These Bay Area cyclists are also self supported, but they are riding a tandem bike and pulling a trailer! It was fun comparing notes and chatting about cycling adventures. 
Since our room wouldn’t be ready for a while we decided to explore and find a bite for lunch. The brunch place was packed, so we decided on Poppy’s Bites and Barrels.  😄


There is so much history here… starting in the 1600 and through the revolutionary war and civil war. We decided to take a trolley tour to get some info of this city. 



The guide had a wealth of information to share… people that lived here or visited here, situations during war time, natural disasters that created havoc and so many other tidbits. 

Our room was ready after our tour was done and we had lucky timing again since gail force winds arrived with more rain.  After a couple hours the sun came out and we enjoyed dinner in one of the many nearby restaurants.