One of the final repairs that had to be made to our boat required it to be hauled out of the water for a couple of days. We had to relocate back to the hotel while this happened so we decided to take one last sightseeing trip from Southport. (We will be leaving soon - stay tuned!) We chose to go to New Bern and learned so much about history (and sundry other things) I hadn't known before. We visited the "Palace" which was the home of the British colonial governor, built in 1770.
Did you know:
- New Bern was the capital of North Carolina before Raleigh?
- Turpentine is distilled from the sap of "longleaf" pines (among other trees - mostly pines), obtained very similarly to maple syrup sap.
- The distilleries used to make turpentine were required to be in the woods away from homes because of the flammability. A secondary use for these distilleries was quickly found much to the displeasure of the constabulary.
- New Bern's British appointed governor was the first colonial governor to flee his post at the beginning of the war.
- A governor's position was often "bought" by paying the King a fee.
- Being a royal governor was extremely difficult balancing the orders of the King and unhappy colonists.
- Women's pockets were on worn under their skirts on a ribbon around their waist, unconnected to the skirt. They were accessed through slits in the skirt.
- Coffin pastry was a thick, inedible pastry used as a casserole dish to bake stews. They had no baking dishes!
- Beds used to be custom made for your size
- Shoes had no right or left - you had to break them in to fit your feet.
- They had special irons to iron the many ruffles they wore. The irons were, of course heated in the fire place.
I hope you learned a few new things as well :)
Leaving date is coming up soon - not nailed down yet, but soon!
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