nc: day three

Since we had such limited time at the beach, we set our alarms bright + early to watch the sun rise. It was amazing!! It had been far too long since I had been on a beach + it did not disappoint! The weather was perfect, there were only a few other people walking along the shore, and I was with two of my favorite people in the entire world. 

After our initial walk on the beach, we headed back to the hotel to pack up + get a few more minutes of shut-eye before our drive back to Huntersville. After we checked out, we strolled along the beach once more + dipped our toes in the water. Graham loved it! 

We hopped in the car + decided to stop in New Bern one last time to see the city in daylight. It was such a quaint little town, but we were definitely not the only tourists. New Bern is the birthplace of Pepsi, so we had to try that, and also got a yummy (and melty) ice cream cone to tide us over until dinner. 

That night we stopped at Lexington BBQ, which we heard raving reviews about, and it was good--but not great. There were plenty of people there though! And then we made the trek back to Tom & Greta's. Such a great day!!

nc: day two

It's no secret that I love family history work & it's also no coincidence that I happened to get in contact with some of my Lebanese "cousins" who live in New Bern, North Carolina just weeks before our trip!! The drive was about five hours from Tom + Greta's, but I figured this was a once in a lifetime opportunity, and I'm so glad we decided to go!

As usual, Graham was an angel (I'm sure he was loving all the one-on-one attention he was getting!) and the drive was great. We stopped a couple times; once for lunch & once to walk around the campus of UNC.

Cindy, my Lebanese cousin, had planned a big get-together with a bunch of her family, and Aggie (who is in her ninety's!!) hosted the party at her house complete with delicious Lebanese food! It was amazing. They were all so kind + hospitable to us and were incredibly curious about my side of the family. There are still a lot of unanswered questions (like why her grandma never talked about her brother, who is my ancestor) but it really was such a wonderful night. They all LOVED Graham + I just couldn't stop thinking about what a miracle it was! I know the Lord's hand was in it.

After our visit, we drove the extra 45 minutes to the beach (we were too close to not go!) and found a hotel to stay in last minute.