Oriental, NC

A couple of weekends ago, Nick planed a surprise weekend getaway to celebrate my birthday!  The last few months have been so crazy and a night away was just the thing we needed.  Nick was able to keep it a surprise until the day before we left.  He booked a room at a the Cartwright House Bed and Breakfast in Oriental, NC. We had driven through Oriental a few years ago and loved it.  It is a sleepy little harbor town on the coast of North Carolina with about 800 residents.  You can walk or bike everywhere and it is perfectly charming.  

Our B&B was over a hundred years old.  When we got there on Friday night, the owners had drinks ready for happy hour on the porch.  We were able to walk a few short blocks to dinner.  Life is was so much slower there! 

 From our room (on the top floor) you could see the Neuse River and all over town.

The owners recommended that we watch the sunrise over the water in the morning.  I am so glad we got up for it.  We set our alarms and when they went off, Nick looked out the window and saw the faintest little bit of light.  He yelled out "IT'S HAPPENING!" and jumped out of bed!  Haha-  turns out a sunrise happens pretty slowly, so we didn't miss anything! We grabbed some coffee and walked town to the park on the water.  The sunrise was amazingly beautiful.   It was an awesome way to start the day.  

After a delicious breakfast, we took our bikes out to explore around town.  We rode along the harbor, stopped at an art shop and had a mimosa, and dropped in a few antique shops.  It is so much fun to explore a new place.

Although it was just one night away, it felt like we had gone on a long vacation- such a fun weekend!