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🌳🐾 Latham-Whitehurst Nature Park – Hiking New Bern's Hidden 133-Acre Coastal Preserve

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Simba and I visited and hiked through Latham-Whitehurst Nature Park in New Bern, North Carolina , a beautiful 133-acre nature preserve filled with wooded hiking trails, peaceful wetlands, native vegetation, and an impressive 2,000-foot boardwalk leading toward Broad Creek . Tucked away near Fairfield Harbour, this lesser-known destination offers a completely different experience from the historic buildings, museums, and waterfront attractions that typically bring visitors to New Bern. Instead of busy streets and historic landmarks, we found winding trails through coastal forests, gravel pathways beneath the trees, and an elevated boardwalk that leads visitors into the wetland environment surrounding Broad Creek. The park was specifically created to protect this natural landscape while giving people an opportunity to experience the forests and waterways that make eastern North Carolina so distinctive. What makes Latham-Whitehurst Nature Park particularly interesting is that it isn'...
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🥤🪦 Caleb Bradham's Grave – The Man Who Invented Pepsi-Cola and Lost His Fortune

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Simba and I visited the grave of Caleb Bradham at historic Cedar Grove Cemetery in New Bern, North Carolina , the final resting place of the pharmacist who invented one of the world's most recognizable soft drinks. It's remarkable to think that Pepsi-Cola, a beverage now known around the globe, began as a simple experiment at a small-town pharmacy in the 1890s. Even more surprising is the story of the man behind it, who built a successful national beverage company only to lose control of his invention after a disastrous financial decision. Caleb Davis Bradham created the original beverage in 1893 , when customers at his New Bern drugstore began enjoying a sweet carbonated concoction they called “Brad's Drink.” Five years later, he renamed it Pepsi-Cola, setting the stage for what would eventually become one of the most famous brands in American history. His business expanded rapidly, attracting hundreds of bottlers and making him a successful entrepreneur during the early...
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Location: New Bern, NC, USA
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⚔️🇺🇸 Moores Creek National Battlefield – The Revolutionary War Battle That Lasted Just Three Minutes

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Simba and I visited Moores Creek National Battlefield in Currie, North Carolina , the site of one of the most decisive early Patriot victories of the American Revolution. Hidden among the quiet forests and wetlands of southeastern North Carolina, this historic battlefield preserves the location where approximately 1,000 Patriot soldiers defeated a much larger Loyalist force on February 27, 1776 . Remarkably, the actual fighting may have lasted as little as three minutes , yet the consequences helped shape North Carolina's path toward American independence. Today, Moores Creek is a peaceful landscape of wooded trails, historic monuments, reconstructed earthworks, and a narrow bridge crossing the creek. It's difficult to imagine the chaos that unfolded here nearly 250 years ago, when Scottish Highlanders charged toward Patriot defenses with broadswords drawn, shouting “King George and Broadswords!” They believed the Americans were retreating, but instead encountered a devastatin...
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Location: Currie, NC 28435, USA
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🪑🔴 World's Largest Adirondack Chair – Rose Hill's Giant Red Roadside Attraction

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Simba and I visited the World's Largest Adirondack Chair in Rose Hill, North Carolina , an enormous bright red wooden chair that towers over a local furniture store. Standing approximately 22 feet tall and 14 feet wide , this ridiculously oversized piece of outdoor furniture is taller than many two-story buildings. It's exactly the kind of strange roadside attraction I love discovering during our travels, especially when the story behind it turns out to be just as entertaining as the attraction itself. Unlike many giant landmarks that commemorate historical events or celebrate local industries, Rose Hill's Adirondack chair exists for a wonderfully simple reason. Jack Frederick, owner of Frederick's Furniture, thought building an enormous chair would be fun. He also hoped the unusual structure would attract attention to his business and give people another reason to visit the small Duplin County town. Constructed in March 2024 , the chair is one of North Carolina's ...
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Location: Rose Hill, NC 28458, USA
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🍳🐔 World's Largest Frying Pan – Rose Hill's 2-Ton Skillet That Actually Cooks

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Simba and I visited the World's Largest Frying Pan in Rose Hill, North Carolina , and this is exactly the kind of bizarre roadside attraction I love finding during our travels. At approximately 15 feet across and weighing around 2 tons , the enormous steel skillet is ridiculously oversized, but the best part is that it wasn't built simply as a giant sculpture to attract tourists. This frying pan actually works. Rose Hill's giant skillet was constructed in 1963 to cook enormous quantities of fried chicken for the community's Poultry Jubilee. It can hold approximately 200 gallons of cooking oil and was designed to fry as many as 365 whole chickens at one time . More than six decades later, the pan remains an important Rose Hill landmark and a reminder of the poultry industry that helped shape Duplin County. When it isn't being used to cook chicken, the pan rests beneath a covered pavilion where travelers can stop and see it up close. Standing beside it really puts i...
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Location: Rose Hill, NC 28458, USA
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