I wanted to start this post by getting down the details of what was my worst traveling experience ever. It reminds me of in high school in 2002, I started to create a death list, because so many things had gone freakishly wrong, and so many people had died in such a short time. Although significantly less drastic, the first phase of my travel seemed doomed from the start, one unbelievable event after another. My trip to New Bern North Carolina started at 6:30 in the morning in Boston and didn't end until around 11:30 in North Carolina.
Freakish Flight Details: Flight in Boston delayed four hours until 10 a.m. Flight in Newark N.J. delayed about an hour and late into the terminal. Ran alone through the airport to catch my flight to Charlotte, NC at 4 p.m.... this flight didn't take off until around 6 p.m. We get into the air halfway to New Bern, now 12 hours in airports, and our pilot tells us we need to turn around because our weather radar is broken. Next flight, not for another three hours, around 9. I aggressively pushed my way to a flight help desk, just to be able to get onto this flight, and not the one leaving around 10:30. In Charlotte, there is a buzz around the airport about power being knocked out and tornadoes touching down in North Carolina.
The weather was gusty in every airport other than Boston, and I thought several times throughout take off and touch down, that I was going to die... alone in a plane the size of a closet. I looked at one plane landing in Charlotte being whipped around in the wind like a toy plane. Finally when I got close to the New Bern airport the sky was orangish brown off in the distance, with lighting streaking through the sky. When talking to my mom, who checked the news a day later, I learned that around sixty three tornadoes touched down in North Carolina. Driving back to Lauren's house finally, I saw rows of fire trucks and the woods wrecked as if they had been stomped on by a dinosaur. Today I also saw the remains of trailer homes gutted like a can of tuna, and large trees down. It is weird to see how the tornado wrecks havoc in such a random pattern, it can have a three mile radius of destruction, or pick and choose houses to skip and save from ruin. Some houses in the area probably only got their trash bins knocked around in the wind a little.
The part of North Carolina I am visiting is considered Eastern Coastal North Carolina. I've been to towns like Newport, New Bern, and Moorehead. It is kind of isolated and inhabited mostly by military families, people unlucky enough to be born here, and people running away from something... child support, abusive boyfriends, and drug use, I've heard it all while here. This place is a little country, including the rows of trailer homes, twangy Carolina accents, muscle trucks, and the occasional confederate flag.
We went to the beach twice while I was here, and we may be going back tonight. It is nice to get my fingers and toes into the sand again. I wanted to take a picture of my toes in the sand to remember on a rainy day, but my camera has been broken with a lens error the whole time I've been here. The water is freezing right now, so I only dipped my toes in. You're allowed to drink on the beach, and young mothers bring their toddlers and dogs to the beach. The beach is a short drive from Lauren's house, and it reminds me of Old Orchard Beach in Maine. I guess in the summer it is packed with people, but I am here a little early for the summer season.
Today we drove out to something called Green Springs, I try to upload a YouTube video so you can see this place. Out in his backyard, an old man created this wooden jungle gym over the water, with zip lines, rope swings, and diving platforms. You get to this playground by cutting through a gas station parking lot and driving down a residential road. It has the feel of Michael Jackson's Neverland, but when we ran into the owner he seemed pretty normal. There is also a full size parking lot, a bathroom/changing house, a grilling pit, and posted signs- it is like the poor man country Water Country. Lauren's friends told me sometimes people die diving head first off the fifth level platform, because they get stuck in the mud head first during low tide, and end up drowning to death. The sign at the front of the entrance clearly marks the rules: no cussing, no horseplay, no drinking or drugs, and no sex play. At first, I didn't quite understand the need for the last rule, but those that do go to this place regularly are definitely young preteens in need of clear rules. I was too chicken to jump into the water, Lauren thinks it is dirty water, because it is brown and dark due to the green algae growing. She also gets freaked out by the fact that there are barnacles clinging to the wooden beams.
The first night, Saturday, we went to a standard night club after Lauren came to pick me up, I think it was called The Cabana. The next night we drank sweet mixed drinks at Lauren's work, Applebees. Last night Lauren picked up a shift, so I was able to watch Dancing With the Stars like at home. When she got home we went to the 24 hour Walmart for some food, and boxed wine. Tonight we will probably be grilling and not going to bed too late, so I can make my flight in the morning.
Each time I visit Lauren she's always reinventing herself, new living situation, new man, new city, and new drama. We have been friends for three years now, and I have visited her when she lived with her mom and stepdad down the road from us in Waltham, in her own condo living in Phoenix, and now again with her mom in North Carolina. Overall, the trip was a nice break from the routine of a busy school year and time with a good friend, even if the location wasn't a thrilling travel destination.
