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I don’t recall if the ice crusher mounted beside the kitchen door at my Aunt Sis’s house was exactly like this, but it was pretty close.  When I look at the shape of the red plastic ice catcher, and the cast iron teeth, alot of it comes back to me.  The kitchen walls & cabinets were of cedar.

The parentheses of this vacation was that I food poisoned myself the first Saturday and am almost well now, the following Sunday.

The highlight of my vacation was Wednesday lunch.  I was heading to Asheville and stopped at “Sticks and Stones” in Greensboro, NC and ordered a small pizza.  There was a parking space right up front and there were just a few people inside & out.

The pizza had a distinctive flavor, I think it was the tomatoes.  I added bacon and red onion as I didn’t want to test my digestive system too much.   “To Be The One” Classic Margherita style pie with tomato sauce, fresh mozzarella, parmesan and fresh basil.

The waitress had a nose ring.  She was friendly and attentive.

I stopped in Statesville for three purposes.  I see that they have closed a long-time available ramp off the Interstate.

I found a First Citizens and went it.  When I walked in, there was no one in sight.  Then a teller popped out of what may have been an alcove for the drive-thru.  I finished filling out my check and gave it to the teller.  She was friendly and allowed me to tell some of my stories, and she shared a bank robbery item herself.

I then drove around and found what I thought was the main Post Office.  The letters, in gold, said “Post Office and Courthouse” I think.  I parked and walked around front to go inside.  As I am walking up the steps I start to read a sign with a gun on it.  “No firearms allowed.”  I thought that strange.  I opened the door and as I started to enter, I see an “FBI-type,” dressed man approaching me.  There was a sensor walk-thru device, but I didn’t make it there.

Seems, this is no longer a Post Office, but a Bankruptcy Court.  The officer was personable and directed me to the nearest mailboxes.

I think it was Walgreens that I went to, to purchase “adult” diapers.  I bought a package of these because I did not want to accidentally soil the motel sheets/bed.

I stayed at the Quality Inn on the east side of Asheville.  I had stayed there before and the room was small but comfortable.

Let me say that adult diapers are not very sexy, especially when they are worn by an old fat man.

WRAL 5 TV has a weekly tribute to a high school athlete.  This person is normally also a scholar and invested in their community.  I’ve seen a bunch of these athletes over the years, but I just heard someone provide a powerful compliment regarding this female athlete, “The schools a better place because she walked the halls.”

I’ve heard similar compliments, but this was simple and powerful.

Danny normally works on the actual holiday, so we celebrate most holidays a week or two early.  Thanksgiving 2015  was celebrated on Sunday, November 22nd.

The highlights:

• Saturday morning, a really good country ham, with red eye gravy, biscuits, and home fries at Helen’s Kitchen.  Two eggs over medium and coffee.
• The house at 204 Johnson Blvd. in Jacksonville, NC is no more.  I was preparing to ride past it, and about the time I was finishing saying to myself, “Well, at least I don’t have to pay the taxes on it any more…”
  

  

  I look to see no house, and a yellow CAT backhoe standing in what “used to be” the front yard.  I got out and took pictures.  A muddy pit exists where the house stood.

• Mary Ann’s vehicle wasn’t at home so I rode down to Morehead City via the beach road, and stopped at Fort Macon to use the bathroom.  I took a picture of the North Carolina flag flying just outside of the new FM Visitor’s Center because I realized it was one-sided and that the lettering, etc. appears backwards from one side of the flag.  *This is just like the picture of the Steamer CITY OF WILMINGTON that had a picture taken with the name WILMINGTON reversed… which makes some think the image should be reversed… unless they actually look at the name of the vessel on the bow of the boat and above the pilot house, where both are in the correct order.   A quick look in the gift shop and then back in the car to ride over to the Beaufort waterfront.
• New bridge between Morehead City and Beaufort (B-side) is coming along.
• Came back along Hwy. 24 through Swansboro.
• I had breakfast on Sunday morning at the Hubert Grill.  The building is where Al & Cleo Kennedy had a restaurant many years ago, when Sis was still alive and well.  *Sis died in early 1979 and mom in late 1980.  They have a good breakfast.
• The children were REALLY LOUD all during Thanksgiving dinner.
• I meandered up to New Bern again on Monday morning on the way back to Fayetteville and stopped at the North Carolina History Center at Tryon Palace.  I did a detour through River Bend, and also stopped at a large antiques store.  NOTE [ 11/20/23 ]:  The large antiques store in New Bern burned down several years ago and is just an empty lot, with a gravel parking area remaining.
• The North Carolina History Center is a large new, modern facility with gift shop, cafe, Pepsi 3D historical village, local history museum, short orientation video and free (changing) exhibit.
  • I paid the $12 for one of the levels of daily tickets… which ended up being almost useless.  Don’t pay that if you are single and think the 3D village is going to be worth the price.  IT’s NOT!  The 3D village needs kids, a bunch of kids to be fun!  Maybe eight to ten kids in a group, or larger, to “man” the various video screened stations.
  • The local history museum section wasn’t of much interest for me.
  • I may have been told this before, but the original Tryon Palace burned years ago and there was little but part of the old horse stable HQ left.  But, in 1959 some influential women got together and the Palace was rebuilt on its original location from old plans, etc.  ***1959?  Well, that means that what I’ve gone through, when a child, growing up in Swansboro… and then with Debbie S. when in my late teens & early twenties… and then maybe 15 years ago, when there was a State IT Conference in New Bern, and Leo Taylor and myself took a brief tour of the facilities, the rebuilt facilities were 4 years younger than myself!  It’s almost all FAKE;-)
• I took Hwy. 70 East, heading West from New Bern to Kinston.  I had decided to continue on Hwy. 70 from Kinston and turn off to get back to Seven Springs and Hwy. 50 to come into Newton Grove.  I stopped at the Kinstonian Family Restaurant for a late lunch.  Lunch was good country cooking.  There were even “fall off the bone” pigs feet which I had a second helping of.  The vegetable soup was good, although I added just a little sweetner.  I had unsweet tea, which I added several packets of artificial sweetner to.  Good pickled beets.  Fried chicken was good, but not outstanding.

ADDENDUM:  I just noticed from one of the pictures that the Gardenia bushes that were at the NWern end of the house are gone.  A shame!  They came from the neighbor, next door from where the old two-story Morton home was, on the corner of Hwy. 24 and Bear Creek Road.  And I noticed my previous visit down, that that old house was also gone.

NOTE [ 11/20/23 ]:  I thought the Gardenia bushes were gone, but just last year I was riding by the old house location and looked over and saw that the Gardenia bush had flowers on it.  I turned into the yard and went back to the Gardenia bush and picked about 3 wonderful smelling, white Gardenias and took them home with me.  *I know they are no longer “my” Gardenias, but I hope Ray will never deny me the pleasure… and if he does, that will be okay too.

Another plant that apparently “you just can’t kill” is Wisteria.  This is an invasive, winding vine plant that has wonderful smelling purplish flowers in season.  204 Johnson Boulevard had a Wisteria plant growing beside the light/phone pole in the front yard for many years.  The plant eventually grew up a good ways on the light pole, and eventually grew over to a nearby tree and began to kill the tree off.  The light company (or phone company) maintenance guy(s) came by and cut the Wisteria plant to the ground.  It grew back.  Another year they sprayed plant killer on the Wisteria and the Wisteria disappeared, finally killed, and not showing up for several years… and then Boom, there she was again.  It did stay underground for maybe at least 5 years before coming back above the surface.

Well, that was easy enough. I did a Google Image Search on the white & red flower above and found that it was a Spectacular Flowering “White Red Eye Hibiscus.” Mom had planted it along the dividing line between our property and the Presbyterian Church’s property. There was also a tall Silver Maple tree on the line also, although after a while, if something that grows well is planted on the line, it spills over the line.

Less than a mile from returning to my apartment yesterday (after going to Raleigh) my white 2011 Honda Civic rolled from 99,999 to 100,000 miles.  I now have three payments before my last scheduled payment in February 2016.

Panera Bread is about mid-way on my trek, to and from work each day.  Until yesterday, the last Panera Restaurant that I had visited was in Petersburg, VA when I was coming back from a short vacation which included Wilmington, DE & Philadelphia, PA.  My gripe, other than “too much salt” in their food, has been that their flavored drinks (e.g. Akai Berry… sp?) are so watered down as to be like drinking the day old remains of a fountain Coke with ice.  You drank all the drink the day before, leaving some ice in the bottom of the cup, and today you have a watery Cokified drink that is almost flavorless and definitely not pleasant.  Wal*Mart has several powdered flavor packets for sale (10 packets for about $1.74) which I have come to enjoy and use quite frequently.  I sometimes think that I could order water at a restaurant and slip in a flavor packet to have a decent flavored drink… and Panera would definitely be a prime candidate.  However, I see they have assorted soft-drink products at the location I just visited.

So I ordered a 1/2 sandwich and a cup of soup special, with water to drink.  During my meal, I look down at the half-sandwich and think it unusually small, but flavorful (turkey, avocado, bacon) but the soup was enough (Broccoli Cheddar).  And, I say to myself, “I could make this for about $5.”

I don’t want to stay at work during my lunch time.

ADDENDUM [11/17/15]:  It is probably closer to $7 than $5;-)

• Sliced turkey  $1.50
• Bacon  1.25
• Avocado  .75
• Artisan Bread  .75
• Curried mayo  .25

• Cheddar cheese  $4.00
• Half-n-Half  .75
• Steamed Broccoli  1.25
• Carrot sticks  .60
• Sauteed onion  .75

Is that $11.85 for just the ingredients?  Makes 2.5 small bowls.

You’ve got to figure in the cost of heating the ingredients & cleaning the pot, plate, bowl, and utensils.

If I buy the family size can of specialty soup, for $1.50 +tax then it is probably over $7, but if I try to make the Broccoli-Cheddar Soup, it is probably closer to $8.50 for me to do it myself.

I LIKE IT!

It was the plate on the right that I first saw the yellow duck, but I see the angry, yellow duck in the one on the left.