“National parks are America’s best idea, but state parks are America’s best-kept secret.”
Our Epic Summer Adventure has finally come full circle, all the way back to Tarboro. Eighteen days (July 7-24), four grandchildren, nine states, from Raleigh to Gettysburg to Pittsburgh to Lake Michigan to the Jersey Shore, more than 3,200 miles of driving.
Friday morning Rebekah and I woke up in Virginia Beach. We were missing our wonderful grandchildren of course, but also tired and ready for a change of pace. So we got up slowly, took our brother-in-law Tom out for brunch, visited some more and then meandered our way back home to North Carolina and Tarboro.
Side trip to the Dismal Swamp:
On the way, being curious folk, we turned off U.S.Route 17 when we saw “Dismal Swamp State Park” on a signpost and followed the directions.
The first building we entered turned out to be the North Carolina “Visitor Information Center,” where we were astounded to discover that the folk working there knew absolutely nothing about Tarboro. We soon put an end to that foolishness, informing them that Tarboro is well known as “The Crossroads of Western Civilization.” When we left we promised to put our Chamber of Commerce on the job to send them some additional resources and information.
Having dealt a firm blow to institutional ignorance, Rebekah and I then hiked over to the State Park and spent an enjoyable couple of hours learning about the Dismal Swamp and its interesting history – biological, economic and cultural.
We followed the museum tour with a short hike along a well designed boardwalk that took us well into the swamp. While we were disappointed to miss any potential encounters with wildlife (The Dismal Swamp is, for example, the premier habitat for North Carolina’s black bear population), we did get a good sense of the impenetrable wilderness and its unique ecology.
We arrived back home in time for me to prepare a balanced (non-travel) meal, and for the two of us to begin – just barely begin – to get things in the house back in order.
It was a phenomenally successful adventure with the grandchildren and we are beyond grateful for the opportunity.
Then God looked over all he had made, and he saw that it was very good! And evening passed and morning came, marking the sixth day. – Genesis 1:31
