Thursday, July 24th

Still raining but we went back to Replacements, LTD.  UNBELIEVABLE!  This place is HUGE.  It started in 1980s when Mr. Bob Parker started looking for china pieces that he liked at garage sales.  Shortly his friends and relatives asked him to watch for pieces that they needed and he eventually quit his day job and got serious about the business.  It grew to over $100,000 in the first few years and last year Replacements did a business in excess of $100 MILLION dollars.  I was able to get some pieces for my Christmas china that I thought I might be needing as our grandsons (Justin and Riley) are dating some very nice young women.  I also got their list for the Depression glass china that I have recently started collecting.  Since the order was over $99 they didn’t charge shipping and they are holding it until September 8^th which should allow us to be on the way back home.  We spent over 2 hours in this place and James loved every minute of it.  That is what makes our life so great – I enjoyed the knife store yesterday and he enjoyed the china store today.  I’m including a few picture but just notice the shoes that have WEDGEWOOD HEELS!  That was part of his “museum.”  By the way – their new warehouse is the size of 8 football fields and houses their “most often used” items.  If you are ever in this area the stop is well worth it and they have a really good 30 minute tour.

 

 
 

 
We passed up some really good scenic places because we thought we were going to need to get to the Outer Banks by Friday.  That turned out to be a mistake.  There were 4 major schools in a ‘cluster” – Duke, North Carolina State, Wake Forest and North Carolina.  DeLyn had told us how beautiful the Duke campus was and, in retrospect, I wish we had taken time to see it.  When we got to our hotel in Havelock, we were surprised to find a jet fighter in their front yard and two more behind the motel at a welcome center.  Turns out this town is the home of Cherry Point Marine Corps base! 

Before bedtime I began trying to get reservations on the outer banks only to find the only room available for the weekend was at Comfort Inn for $439 a night!  SHOCK!!  Turns out the weekend rates are ridiculously expensive.  That is when we decided to stay in this area until Sunday and then go to the Outer Banks at less than $150 a night.  Looks like there is plenty to do in this area and, besides, being able to sleep a little later for a day or 2 sounds pretty good.