North Carolina
First in Flight
The Wright Brothers, Roanoke Island, Kitty Hawk Hang Gliding, Bodie Island Lighthouse, Cape Hatteras National Seashore
The trip into North Carolina was an eventful one. I carefully planned and drove this route because of the reports of incidences I’ve read about broken leaf springs and axles on RV’s while traveling on I-95 in South Carolina. South Carolina has been ranked as the state with the worst roads in America and so far, this I can attest to.
Blue Ridge Parkway, N.C. Nature Center, & The Biltmore
Although the leaves were just past their peak in Tennessee, by the time we got to Asheville, North Carolina, they were definitely past their prime.
We tried driving the famous Blue Ridge Parkway, but bare trees were all we found, along with a thick haze from a nearby wildfire. Still, there’s beauty in the waterfalls that run along the Parkway.
Carolina Renaissance Fesival
The kids hadn’t ever been to a Renaissance Festival and it had been years since Ben and I went so we decided to make a day of it. It also happened to be the last day of the festival, which made the festival swell with crowds trying to take in the last joust of the season.
People were dressed in full medieval era costumes, as knights, guards, and peasants. We even saw a lone Monty Python rider and his trusty steed “riding” around the festival grounds.
The Birthplace of Pepsi & Tryon Palace
Inside a small pharmacy building on a corner lot sat a man diligently working on a secret recipe. In fact he had several versions of this recipe that he sold alongside medicines and healing ointments that he sold inside his drug store. One of the recipes seemed to be a hit among his loyal customers, so he decided to give it a more stylish name and market it in drug stores across 24 states. The recipe would be known as Pepsi-Cola. Why pharmacies? Because when it was originally contrived, it was marketed as a digestive aid. With its popularity increasing, the marketing was changed appeal to the everyday consumer who enjoyed the taste of the new fizzy drink.