So what does a van sleeping in a tent site, a singer with skinny legs and a million dollar view for only $25 per night have in common? We learned they are all related to each other as we visited New Bern, NC as we wrapped up our really fun Outer Banks adventure. We originally planned to stay at the national park campground near New Bern but found out just days before we were to arrive that the damage from Hurricane Florence had not been repaired and the campground was closed. So we took to RV Parky to find a replacement place to stay last minute. Up popped the New Bern KOA. A KOA? No way… we have stayed at our share of KOA’s in the past but these days we prefer parking our Travato van somewhere near no one in a national or state park as far out in nature as we can get. We don’t like paying a lot of money per night to park our van either. None of that usually screams out KOA but we had little choices and we gave it a try.
Wow! What a surprise when we pulled in and spoke with the manager. We quickly learned that the New Bern KOA was named the 2019 KOA Campground of the year! A pleasant conversation with the manager ended up with her offering a beautiful tent site with the best view of the campground for only $25 per night! Score! So we watched the most majestic sunset from the swings at the waters edge that night and went to sleep to the singing of the spring peepers just outside our windows.
With just one day to explore New Bern we headed into town the next day in search of breakfast, fun and shopping. Breakfast was at a place we have long loved, The Bakers Kitchen. French Toast with “Butter Syrup” put a smile on our faces and off we went to explore and shop. There’s a lot of that to do in the historic town of New Bern and that was no surprise. But what was a surprise was when we got to spend so time with a street performer. His music and his heart were both wise, pure and good and his toothless smile and humor warmed our hearts. His words about his skinny legs “we are what we were” talking about inheriting his “skinny genes” from his grandmother was one of the funniest yet wisest things we had ever heard.
So what was supposed to be a quick stop at a KOA on the way to something important and fun after this stop turned out to be one of the biggest gems of this journey to NC’s Outer Banks. New Bern is worth a right or left turn off the bridge and some time to leisurely stroll around a NC city that is more than 300 years old and still getting more and more interesting.
Watch the video:
VAN TREKKING lifestyle 