We took a side trip off the ICW to visit New Bern. It was about three hours up the Neuse River. The river was as calm as could be and we had an enjoyable ride. We were able to clear the 16’ overhead height at the bridge, so we motored directly into the marina without needing a bridge opening. The dockmaster, Jeremy, met us at our assigned slip and was very accommodating. 

New Bern is named after a town in Switzerland. Apparently Bern means bear, and it looks like the bear is their official symbol. There are dozens of painted bear statues around the city. The city is the original capital of North Carolina, and was built in the 1700s. It is also the birthplace of Pepsi.

The city is great for walking. We were able to easily explore it without the bikes. There is a great riverfront trail and park. For some reason I love old hardware stores, and there is an awesome hardware store in downtown called Mitchell’s that is just awesome. I think I could solve almost any problem with the stuff in that store. 

One of the most interesting things about New Bern is that they have a railroad track that goes right down the middle of one of the streets. Twice a day a train rumbles through the city, and cars just have to pull to the curb while it passes through. It is a strange sight.

We spent three nights in New Bern and we didn’t get the bikes out at all. We walked everywhere and were able to see most everything we wanted to see. We ate at Savages, MJs, and Baker’s Kitchen. This was a fun side trip off the ICW.