Happy Easter!

Hope the Easter Bunny came by to see you!

We did not have pictures downloaded for the last post, so here are a couple from our overnighters.

We actually had a stowaway on our outside voyage.  We noticed this little fellow - looked like a young barn swallow - on our solar panels on day two.  He hung around for a while, flew away for about 30 minutes, came back, and then disappeared again.  Maybe they can fly 10 miles back to shore.

Smokey finally settled down for the long trip, too

Here is a beautiful sunset from about 25 miles offshore.

We had a great time in New Bern with Neva and Dave.  New Bern is  a wonderful little town, full of history, shops, and good restaurants.  To learn more  about it, check out http://www.visitnewbern.com/

The weather was good on Friday, so we started with a little cruise down the Neuse River.

Shopping (new earrings for the newly shorn hair) the rest of the day, plus dinner at one of New Berns many good restaurants.

Satureday was the farmers market.  Now New Bern is the sister city to Bern Switzerland. It's "mascot" is a bear, and there are many of them around town located in front of stores and such, each decorated in his own way.  Here is Mr. Farmer Bear.  Neva and I thought he needed a kiss; not sure Dave and Luke agreed...

Most of the rest of the day was spent at the Tryon Palace.  This is like a miniture Williamsburg.  Settled in the same period, the homes, etc, are very similar.  Here is the palace itself.

And formal gardens...

Unfortunately photos are not allowed in the buildings, so I can't show you any of that.

We thought we'd missed cruising friends Phyllis and Peter, so we set sail about 9 on Sunday morning.  About 1 hour down the Neuse, we got a call on the VHF from them ---- they were about 1 hour INTO the Neuse River! So, we've done a 180 and are headed back to New Bern to spend a night at their marina.  We'll at least get to visit a bit and have dinner with them.

I apologize for any typos in this post.  The internet is spotty and I'm out-typing the words on the screen.  Plus we are sailing (yeah!) heeled over pretty well, so I'm typing at a slant  LOL!