We drove to the place that GPS directed us --- the New Bern Downtown. I couldn't stop feeling that we got to the wrong place because there was no skyscrapers to be seen. We got off our car and walked around. The city was so quiet that I hated myself for breaking the silence at the same time could not button up my lips as I could not stand such almost absolute silence. We noticed that the houses next to the streets are very old, many of which were built in 1800s. As we saw bears in front of most of the houses, we were sure that we came to the right place.
New Bern, the original capital of North Carolina, seats about two hours drive east of Raleigh (the current capital and the place I live). New Bern was settled in 1710 as a Swiss immigrant settlement. It was named after Bern (the capital of Switzerland), which means "Bear" in German. Because of that, the city deployed about fifty bears statues in downtown New Bern. It was fun for us trying to find all those bears, each of which is colorful and interesting.
Walking several blocks toward the bay, we saw boats and people fishing. An old church that was built in 1700s is seated in the middle of downtown. Next to the church is a playground with kids playing and a graveyard, which seems strange for me that as a Chinese I think graveyard scary and children would not dare to play around. Most of buildings are typical American style in red, occasionally blue or green. So it was very surprising to see a yellow, mid-east style building (probably a Muslim church) seats next to the bay.
Learned from Wikipedia that New Bern developed a rich culture and have the oldest active theater in America---the Masonic Theater. We looked for the Masonic theater with imagination that it would be magnificent. With some difficulties, we found it, which turned out to be an ordinary looking rundown building. Maybe that is why New Bern is fascinating: no skyscrapers, no fancy shopping stores, but a peaceful and quiet town with rich history and diverse culture.
