The Journey Is Part Of The Adventure

We enjoy road trips and North Carolina has become our go to destination to escape the cold winters of the north. This year's adventure took us on a long drive south to Elizabeth City. Our journey began with a detour in Madison, Wisconsin to have dinner with our daughter, Brie. We met at Off Broad, one of our favorite pubs for eats and beer. After dinner we continued on to Bloomington, IL where we spent the night. We were lucky to get out of Minnesota when we did. A huge winter storm that dumped substantial snow moved in as we moved south.

Enjoying dinner in Madison

Our next stop was Hendersonville, Tennessee. We were delighted to see daffodils and glorious purple, pink and white Red Bud trees blooming along the roadside. It felt great to catch up to spring! Located just north of Nashville, Hendersonville is a beautiful town. We took back roads and wove through hills and valleys and over rivers and creeks before arriving at our destination. Our friend Marna moved from Minnesota to Tennessee several years ago with her extended family. We arrived at her house around 3:00 and chatted with her mom Eleanor, and sister Lynn until Marna got home from work. Dinner was at Jonathan's Restaurant where we met two more of our former Minnesota friends, Alia and Jay. The Friday night special was two for one beers. We sat on the patio and enjoyed the evening and a dinner of fish tacos. When we arrived back at the house, Eleanor was waiting up for us to share a nightcap with her. It was a wonderful visit.

With Marna and Alia at Jonathan's

With Eleanor and Marna

Lynn in the She Shed

In the morning, Marna took us on a gorgeous walk along the station Camp Greenway in Gallatin, Tennessee. The trail was busy with dog walkers and runners. We walked a three mile out and back section of the trail that wound through sunny and wooded sections, with several bridges that crossed back and forth over Station Camp Creek. It was a great way to begin our day. After our walk we jumped back in our car to head toward North Carolina.

Station Camp Creek Trailhead 

Hiking with Marna

We are lucky to be traveling with a flexible schedule. Our Airbnb was booked for Sunday which gave us two more days to get there. With time to explore, we stopped at the Bunker Hill Historic Covered Bridge in Catawba County, North Carolina. We enjoy visiting these historic landmarks but are always disappointed to find graffiti and vandalism. There was a half mile walking path through the woods to the other side of the bridge. A short path, called John's Overlook, looped around and through the woods, crossing Lyle Creek which enabled us to see the bridge from the other side. 

Bunker Hill Covered Bridge was close to Statesville, North Carolina where we stayed for the night. We slept well and were up and headed for Elizabeth City by 8:00 am. There were several towns we wanted to drive through including Edenton, which sits along the banks of the Pasquotank River. Edenton was cold, windy and rainy. The river was churning and the boats in the marina were dancing in their slips. We stopped long enough to walk along the waterfront then jumped back in the car for the drive to Hertford, a quaint town about 20 minutes west of Elizabeth City. We drove into town hoping to explore what we'd heard was a charming place to live. We parked at the City Hall lot and walked across the street to the local Microbrewery, but were disappointed to find it closed even though the sign said it should be open. The building had broken windows and bullet holes. I'm not sure what we expected, but Hertford was a small town that appeared to be worn and tired. It is going to need a boost to become charming once again. 

Roanoke River Light Edenton, NC

Blustery Edenton Waterfront

Muddy bottomed boat in Edenton

We arrived in Elizabeth City early in the afternoon and contacted our Airbnb host about checking in. We were settled in the "Secret Room" by 2:00 and headed out, ready to explore the historic downtown. Our first stop was Seven Sounds Microbrewery only blocks away.

Staying warm by the fire at Seven Sounds

Seven Sounds Brewery, sandy beach

We made the best of the long drive to North Carolina. When we were on our Great Loop Adventure aboard our sailboat, we learned that the journey to our destination held mystery and intrigue. Each travel day was filled with new experiences. Every passage was an opportunity to explore and learn new things. Our road trips work the same way. Our journey becomes part of the adventure and we do our best to enjoy the ride!

Winter House Project

January 2026 we were ready to start our winter house project, The Great Room Remodel. By March it would feel like we'd made it through the worst of winter, but that was after nine weeks of non-stop hard work seven days a week! Winter passed while we picked away at our project.

Our great room is an 20 x 24 open space that is a combination of living room and dining area. The update includes repair of wainscoting with fresh wall, ceiling, steps and trim paint. We also replaced the stair tread runner with a Victorian pattern in shades of grey. Our walls were switched from wheat to sage, complimented with ultra white wainscoting and trim. Our stairs were painted white, with white trim, white banister, and spindles. The black stair treads make a stark contrast. We added black slate tile at the bottom of the stairs in front of our entryway to account for muddy shoes. The color combinations look fabulous and compliment our brown leather couches and wood furniture, as well as our 100+ year old original pine floors.

White stairs and rails with black treads

Black slate entryway 

Victorian grey runner

Runner next to tile

The pine floors were the catalyst to taking on this project. Some 25 years ago, we'd uncovered 5 flooring layers to expose the original pine. Once removed, we discovered there was no sub floor between them and the framing. In addition, the pine boards were no longer snug tight. Instead they had substantial cracks between them which required vacuuming often. The current goal was to remove the flooring, clean it up then plane it before re-laying it. The clean up included removing the old tongue and groove along with any bad spots. Dave routed new tongue and groove before reinstalling. It was very labor intensive and time consuming work but the end result is beautiful. Most boards still have square nail holes and blemishes from years of existing in a high traffic area of our home. They look their age which is exactly what we want!

Two sections completed, 3.5 to go

Ramps allowed crossing the new floors

Raised ramp to the basement steps

Due to the cleanup process of the wood flooring, we didn't have enough boards to complete the restoration. We stopped by Traditional Woodworking in Somerset, Wisconsin and found just what we needed, beautiful 100 year old reclaimed pine tongue and groove that matched our original flooring nicely. Traditional Woodworking is a great place to look for vintage products for historic homes and the owner, Russ, is wonderful to work with.

We'd hoped to finish this project before heading south in March, however the amount of work that the floors required made that goal unrealistic. Progress was slow due to moving furniture in order to pull up small sections at a time. We realized, quickly, that there was no need to rush. Eventually we'll complete the project and, I'm certain, be happy with our efforts!

Bentleyville Tour of Lights - Duluth MN

Bentleyville Tour of Lights, in Duluth, Minnesota, is an amazing, walk through holiday light experience. It began at the home of Nathan Bentley in Esko, Minnesota. He decorated his home for the holidays, adding more and more lights over the next five years and growing so large that his light show needed a new and larger site to accommodate the increasing crowds. Bentleyville Tour of Lights moved to Bayfront Festival Park in Duluth where it has grown even more. Millions of visitors have enjoyed this holiday extravaganza for the last 17 years.

We visited Duluth on a cold December Thursday, staying overnight at a downtown hotel so we could walk to the light show. After enjoying the holiday festivities, we stopped in at Grandma's Restaurant for a snack and a cold beer. We had a blast!

This event is magnificent. Parking cost $12 but entry is free and visitors are surrounded by over 5,000,000 dazzling lights. There is a towering 128 ft tree with a 40 ft base and 150,000 continuously changing light patterns that are synced to music. Complimentary hot chocolate, hot cider, popcorn, cookies and marshmallows are offered to visitors. Many cozy fire pits are available for roasting those marshmallows and warming chilled visitors. Costumed characters delight children all along the meandering walkways, offering hugs and hi-fives.  More than 1,500 volunteers make sure the magic continues each night. 

In addition to bringing holiday joy, Bentleyville conducts a food and toy drive to celebrate charitable giving.

You can read more about Bentleyville here:

Bentleyvilleusa.org

View from our hotel

Merry Christmas