Neuse news

A year or so ago I came across a PBS show called A Chef’s Life and found myself enjoying it quite a bit.  I liked the story, I like the farm to table concept and I like Chef Vivian’s involvement with the community.  Kinston NC sounded like a pleasant place to live.  Totally unrelated I was reading a blog from a full time traveling family (honestly don’t remember which) and saw that they stayed in Kinston, NC.  I put two and two together, added twelve and carried the five and realized that maybe we could stop through Kinston during our trip!
Date night

It didn’t take long for me to find several reports about the Neuseway Nature Park that has very low cost, full hookup spots in a very nicely wooded area along the Neuse river.  There is a nature center, a planetarium and it’s just across the bridge from downtown.  It sounded like a great place to slow the pace down a bit and relax.  And that is how we ended up in Kinston, NC.

The campground does not take reservations but I called the morning we were to arrive and he said he had plenty of room.  We showed up about 3:00, got a spot, checked in and then ran off to visit some friends in Raleigh.

The next day we woke up to a beautiful morning.  The birds definitely have a lot to say in the morning.  I went to the Chef and the Farmer website to make a reservation and found out that it was going to be a couple weeks to get a spot!!  But it said to call if you couldn’t make an online reservation so I did just that and was able to secure a table for two…woot!!  Steph and the kids walked down to go checkout the nature center and planetarium while I stayed back to work.  There was a presentation at the planetarium at 4:00 that we all went to.  We were the only ones there beside the presenter.  She welcomed us, asked about our journey and told the kids about Kinston being in the Genius Files book series (the boys have read the series).  She started the presentation by showing the Saturn V launch scene in the movie Apollo 13 then went on to show us the North Carolina stars for April.  She pointed out lots of great constellations and fed us lots of data that was a good review from our star party at McDonald Observatory.  She gave the kids lots of attention and the kids showed me all the cool stuff in the science center.  That night was date night for Steph and I and I’ll do a full post on that later.
Open wide
The next day was a low key day with kids getting some book work done before we went over to the playground.  Steph ran some errands and I worked at a picnic table while the kids dug in the fossil pit.  Several other kids were digging too and one of the moms started chatting with Brielle and Dacen.  Like most folks we met in Kinston, she was a bit surprised to hear we were from Colorado and asked “what brings you to Kinston?”. The Ryan family is from a nearby town and took a family day to visit Kinston.  Mr Ryan is a doctor who was leaving for Lebanon the next day on a mission trip.  Even though our visit was super short I’m sure it was not a coincidence but a God-incident.  We’re praying that Dave’s mission trip is safe and high impact as well as for the safety and security of his family back on the home front.  And they are praying for us as well!
Fossil dig

When we were down in the Cape Canaveral area I really wanted to watch the movie Apollo 13.  Its a great story and the kids have never seen the movie.  However, its hard to get ahold of older videos like this…RedBox doesn’t have them and digital rentals use too much data and local libraries typically don’t let transients check items out.  But Kinston seems like a small town where people trust each other so I sent Caden in to ask the lady at the planetarium (we never did get her name) if she had the DVD for Apollo13 (since she showed us a clip) and if we could rent or borrow it from her.  She said we could and when Caden asked if she wanted any collateral she said she trusted us.  So, that evening we all enjoyed an after dinner movie together compliments of the kindness and generosity of the planetarium lady…so if you read this, Planetarium Lady, thank you so much for everything and drop us a comment reminding us your real name!!

While we were at the campground we met a veteran Don and his family who have been full timing for over a year.  We also met Don a 71 year old bicyclist who travels all over by bike.  We met Royce’s wife…Royce had a stroke the weekend before we arrived and is now in the hospital.  His wife was very sad because “we haven’t been apart in 23 years”.  We added Royce to our prayer list.  Our next door neighbors at the campground were super nice and had thick southern accents.  The gentleman offered us help when we were trying to move the picnic table and also was kind enough to give us some firewood for our last night to cook up some burgers and do s’mores.  He wanted us to take some more wood because “I got way more than I’m gonna use!”  Super nice guy and, once again, I failed to get his name.  So if you are reading this, Heavy Equipment Operator Wood Sharing Guy, drop us a comment and remind us your name!

Our last day in Kinston there was a special fishing event at the nearby pond.  It was a family event put on by the Neuse River Anglers.  They had poles and bait for the kids and lots of the club members on hand to teach the kids the finer points of fishing North Carolinian style.  Chris, the event organizer kept saying “we’re so thankful you could join us” and Tim stayed right with us to help each of the kids get to know the gear and proper casting technique.  At lunch time they cooked up hot dogs for everyone and there was even a pro fisherman, Kevin, on hand showing us all how its done (he didn’t catch any more than we did).  Some teenagers there found and killed a big ol’ long snake of some sort….they said it was a water moccasin but the guy at the nature center wasn’t too sure about that.  Anyway, Dacen was impressed and wanted to hold the headless creature that was still wiggling.  We did not catch any fish but like Tim told us…”it ain’t so much about catchin’ fish as it is ’bout relaxin’, enjoyin’ the fresh air and havin’ good quality family time!”

Snake
The nature center was having an earth day event that afternoon that we went and participated in.  They had crafts for the kids and some nice displays about recycling, water conservation and wildlife protection.

As usual, we loved our stay and wish we could stay longer.  Other than a couple errands (groceries and laundry) and date night we did not leave the campground.  All of our fun was had right there at the Neuseway Nature Park.  And the people we met made this stop memorable.  Thanks again Planetarium Lady, The Ryan family, Veteran Don, Bicyclist Don, Heavy Equipment Operator Wood Sharing Guy, Tim, Chris, Kevin and the other Neuse River Anglers…you are the pride of the Kinston area in the hearts and minds of the Wach family!!

Hrmmmm

Totem

Touch tank

Oliver

Open wide

Bench? Art?

Kid cage

Foucault pendulum

Heart

Astronaut

Ava and the Beast

Neuse River

Spot it

Date night

Going to playground

Fossil dig

Identifying fossils

Dock fishing

Patience

Tim giving Caden some tips

Baiting the hook

Earth day angel

Snake

Tailgating

Chris, Kevin and Tim with B and D

Walking by the lake

Coming home from fishin'

Marsh

Turtle rescue

Caden's turtle rescue

Planetarium Lady

Can they pass?

Weeee

Just a swangin'

Dinner

s'mores

Gooey!

 

3 thoughts on “Neuse news

  • April 27, 2016 at 1:48 pm
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    Glad you had a good experience in Kinston, too. I look forward to your post about your date night. When Mike and I went to dinner, Chef Vivian was out of town, so we didn’t get to see her work. We did, however, get to have brunch with one of the Farmer’s family and tour his farm.

    Reply
    • April 27, 2016 at 3:10 pm
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      Yes…I remember reading your post!

      Reply
  • April 27, 2016 at 6:24 pm
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    Thank you so much for praying for our family! Dave is on day 6 of 10 in Lebanon and doing great! The team from our church arrived without any delays in time for worship last Sunday! They have been at work in a Syrian refugee camp in Tyre. They have done home visits and clinic time and have even been able to do some sight seeing! God is good! We are praying for your family and loving the updates on your adventures! And, we are at a loss as to the “Hall” in Boone Hall too! Sorry!

    Reply

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