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our latest excursion

I am fascinated by the number of places there are in this area that I have never visited. I've either driven past them numerous times, or maybe didn't even know they were there...and when I finally do go visit, I'm pleasantly surprised by all there is to see. If you like old stuff or weird stuff or historical stuff, then you would have plenty to see here in Bertie County and the surrounding area.

One such place that I have visited recently was Grace Episcopal Church in Lewiston, NC. As it is about 6 miles from my home, I have driven past it thousands of times in my lifetime, yet I have never stopped to look around. We remedied that this past week.


Grace Episcopal Church, Lewiston, NC

I have a thing for old churches and/or graveyards, and this place had both. I didn't realize quite how old it was, but there are gravestones from the early to mid-1800s here. Much of the carving work on the stones is pretty and also unusual for what I have seen in the past.



Noah and I had a great time. He got to run around and roll in the magnolia leaves, and I got to take lots of pictures. We only managed to hit one side of the yard before we had to go back home. But we will definitely be back to do more exploring.

We also got a nice surprise on our way out of the yard.


"I'm scaring you with my beady snake eye, yes? Please say yes. I'm so terrified. If I had snake pants, I would have wet them already." Poor little snake.

I like snakes alright, and I was very tempted to pick this one up, but I don't know that much about them, and wasn't 100% sure that this one was not dangerous. I found out later that it eats rats, which endears it to me (i. hate. rats.) but also makes it bad pet material (I don't want rats in my house on purpose, whether dead or alive.)

Oh well. One of these days, I will find a suitable alternative to that hamster that Noah keeps asking me about.

If you'd like to see all the pics from this outing, go here. If you'd like a personal tour, just let me know! We do love visitors!

graveyard, interrupted

I went to St Francis Methodist Church, an old church in the town 5 miles over, to take pictures one afternoon this week, as I have been wanting to do since we moved here a year ago. But life intrudes, and today was the first day I had the time and inclination to just get in the car and go. I was all set to take many photos. The sun was just getting twilighty, and the grounds were beautiful.

So here you are...a short photo essay I call Graveyard, Interrupted...



































Just as I snapped this pic and waxed rhapsodically to myself about the lovely photos I was going to take to show everyone how beautiful this place is, my camera battery died a quick and painless death, Life intrudes, indeed.

the view from across the street

water tower
Originally uploaded by gkp.

I grew up looking at the water tower and wondering if I would ever have the courage to try and climb it, like drunk teenagers for years had been attempting.

Now I know- there's not enough beer in the world.

on the ferry 2

on the ferry 2
Originally uploaded by gkp.

There's the Cashie again!

I forgot to take a picture of the Ferry Captain. Durn. I will definitely remember next time. We are absolutely going back. It was great fun, and quite a way to brighten up a dreary Sunday afternoon.

on the ferry

on the ferry
Originally uploaded by gkp.

On the ferry. Not very interesting, but I wasn't sure if we were allowed to get out. The ferry was only slightly wider than our Corolla, and only slightly longer. I would love to see how they get two cars on that ferry.

Sans Souci ferry sign at the river

Sans Souci ferry sign at the river
Originally uploaded by gkp.

After that first sign, we traveled on down the road , eventually coming to what looked like a private dirt lane. We were about to tunr around when we saw a green DOT sign that said "Welcome to Sans Souci!" Unfortunately, I forgot to take a picture of that sign. We continued on the dirt road, noting that we were indeed right next to the river- so close, in fact, that it was lapping gently at the side of the dirt road, which was already in possession of many deep puddles. And it had been raining all day. And was still raining. And the road was far too narrow too attempt a 2 point turn (especially with the river just a foot away.) We were getting a little nervous when suddenly, there was a clearing in the road and here we were, at the ferry sign. No sign of the ferry, though, so we honked, just like the sign said.

Sans Souci ferry

Sans Souci ferry
Originally uploaded by gkp.

We went out exploring this weekend (2/25/07- I am not great about updating...) We had read about the Sans Souci Ferry online. It's a two car ferry across the Cashie River. Yep, that's right- a ferry across the river. It not on the map. We drove what seemed like forever, but was really about 10 miles outside of Windsor. The only sign of any kind to lead you there is a couple of signs that say "NC Scenic Byway." We figured the signs weren't referring to the multitude of abandoned trailers, so we followed them and ended up at this here sign.

sunrise sky

sunrise sky
Originally uploaded by gkp.

water tower

water tower
Originally uploaded by gkp.

fog across the field

fog across the field
Originally uploaded by gkp.

fog at the old depot

fog at the old depot
Originally uploaded by gkp.

early am moon

early am moon
Originally uploaded by gkp.

Here comes the photo essay, as promised! Just a few months late...

A Sunrise in the big city...

Insert Photo Essay Here.

Unfortunately, I've been a bit too busy lately with actual work (the kind I get paid for, anyway, not the kind that I have to do regardless, like washing clothes and disciplining increasingly unruly little boys) to take marvelous photos of our local attractions, like the Beauty Parlor and the Gas Station That Doesn't Sell Gas. But in the meantime, here is a little photo of our house- with directions!

http://terraserver-usa.com/image.aspx?T=1&S=10&Z=18&X=1500&Y=20030&W=2

Look on the left hand side of the page, then move to the top third of the page, about halfway to the middle, and look for the shadow of the water tower. It's a big round shadow, right next to where the Depot used to be before it fell down. See that? Okay, now find the road right next to the water tower, the one that runs out to the river, and trace your finger along it to the right until it stops in the main road (Main Street, of course!) that runs through the middle of the picture. Still with me? Turn your finger left on that road (north, toward Roxobel), and the third building you come to on the right hand side of the road (the last bldg you can see in the picture on that side of the road, almost at the top of the page) is our house! It's right next to where the Coca-Cola plant used to be! Right next to where the old fire department used to be on the other side! You don't know where that is? Oh. You're not from around here, are you?

The sad part is, you get less clear directions than this all the time around here. The sadder part is that even though I grew up here, I can't follow these kind of directions most of the time. And the saddest part is, they all center around where things USED to be.

Monsoon Season

The Great Deluge is upon us tonight. Just an hour ago, it was nice and bright, if a little cloudy, so no stars, but we could see the far off lightning for our 4th of July fireworks and hear the party at a neighbor's house. Just now, we got caught outside in sheets of rain and wind that blew the lawn furniture over and threatened to take us with it. Yes, it's Eastern North Carolina summer again.

Tornado watches come once a week and thunderstorms are nothing to blink at. We're familiar with this type of weather, through September at least. Sometimes, like with Hurricane Floyd, Mother Nature comes through with a howling vengeance outweighting our blase expectations, but mostly, it's just a little rain and wind, and if it doesn't knock the crops down, we call it a summer rain, no matter how fierce it might sound at midnight on the tin roof.

There's something cathartic about being caught in a downpour, something soul cleansing, like the way a river baptism might make you feel, washing your sinning, worrying heart free with the knowledge that you have nothing to do with anything, that there's nothing your wishing and reasoning can do to control the world... all you must do is remain upright in the storm and know that tomorrow, the flowers will look that much prettier because of it.