The hotel included a continental style breakfast. We parked the Equinox in the middle of the parking lot where it was visible, and reportedly under video surveillance and pedaled out of the parking lot. Our hotel was close to the Adventure Cycling Atlantic Coast route, but as is our custom we got lost leaving town. There is a military base in Jacksonville and we joined the heavy morning traffic on Route 17 before getting back on the Adventure Cycling route. That was the bad news. The good news was that the route was flat, we had a brisk tailwind and the temperature was a balmy 80 degrees.
Although from West Virginia, we are still "Yankees" and a flat cotton field is enough of a reason to stop for a picture.
About 25 miles into ride Dave thought back about the morning's departure and couldn't remember locking the doors on the Equinox. Rhona said she hadn't remembered to lock the car doors either. We were already too far away to be able to cycle back to the motel and still reach the day's destination. Although our notebook computer and our luggage for the remainder of our vacation were sitting unlocked in the Day's Inn parking lot we decided to trust that no criminal would ever think anybody would be dumb enough to leave a car unlocked overnight much less for several nights.
The problem remained that a married couple were riding a tandem bicycle sitting within two feet of each other, each wanting to blame the other for not locking the car. We learned long ago tandem couples can't allow themselves to argue and get mad at each other when they don't even have the option to retire to neutral corners. It may have been our triumphal moment on this, the first day of the tour, when we just decided to not get upset about a problem that either of us could have prevented and that neither of us could correct now. We're on Vacation!
Mitchell's Hardware was well worth the visit. It was a mixture of items that would be of interest to a tourist, but also traditional items a person would really want to purchase in a hardware store. Interspersed throughout are older items of interest.
Hurricane Irene flooded New Bern and repairs were ongoing. The downtown area was very scenic and a very nice place to cycle. Some tourists saw the sites in horse drawn carriages.
The original Pepsi Cola store was undergoing renovations but we were able to purchase a bottle of Pepsi in a "classic bottle". Unfortunately, we are used to drinking diet sodas so the Pepsi tasted too sweet and syrupy. Still, it was a bit of nostalgia.
ew Bern is a colonial era town so a British Colony official bear was not unexpected. However, we didn't realize that they wore bike helmets in the 1700's.
Rhona was excited about a store that sold "organic" items in the downtown area. However, the selection was not what she anticipated and she was disappointed when the nuts she purchased were stale. Still a wonderful day on bike tour.
Today's ride: 48 miles (77 km) Total: 48 miles (77 km)
