April 1 (still having trouble loading pics....sorry...4G phones are eating up the band width and it just doesn't load them up for us.....will add pics to this and others that have no pics when I can)

"Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus."  Phil 4: 6-7

This morning we got up at 8:30 and started to break camp.....unhook, dump, clean up the RV, stow anything that is loose and out.....We had plans to attend the Seacrest Church in Mt. Pleasant and with all of our careful planning (all of the kids prepared their clothes last night) and quick breakfast and break down it appeared that we would actually be early to our destination!!!!!  It is our goal everyday but we haven’t been able to quite achieve that one yet.....so we get the address that Pam found on the internet and when we pulled up we saw that there was a very small church office there but not a car in sight.....We knew this couldn’t be right as the service was scheduled to begin in about 15 minutes, hmmmm...We called the phone number that was listed in yellow pages and listened to the message and discovered that the actual church was located across the street in another complex.  We pulled into the actual church parking lot and were amazed at the size of the church, parking lot and the parking attendants that were directing the parking operation. 

WOW! This church was so huge that even the welcome ladies weren’t sure where to send us for seats...we found some seats in the very top of the balcony, no worries we could see and hear just fine!!  The young pastor spoke on prayer and referenced Phil 4:6-7 which we had just been talking about earlier.....so awesome when God talks to us this way!!  The worship team was very moving with their upbeat, contemporary music.....the whole church was affected by their singing!  We were also privileged to be able to share in communion here today......we bought box lunches at the catering truck outside to support their fundraiser for missions.   We were so glad that we were able to support their program and get a quick, ready to go lunch .....Seacoast Church was awesome! 

tree lined lane on the way up to the plantation.....

.....cotton field at the plantation

the big house......

From there we drove a couple of blocks down to the Boone Hall Plantation, a beautiful, over 300 year old working plantation.  We entered a long, oak tree lined road and drove up to the main house...As we drove down the lane we saw brick slave cabins....the slaves that worked in the big house and specific trades like the blacksmith would have lived her and they were made of brick to show off to prospective buyers for brick (this plantation made bricks as a cash crop)

slave cabins made of brick.....

Gullah woman singing a hymn....

.........as we walked through the cabins, we watched and listened to info on slave life on plantations. We saw a praise house, a typical slave cabin, info on slave artifacts found while excavating on the property, visited with a puand at the last cabin we watched a woman of Gullah descent talk and sing to us about her culture....it was very moving to all of us. She sang Kumbaya (which in Gullah means “Come by here”), she told about where her people came from in North Africa, she kept saying “the night is beautiful, so are the faces of the people, the stars are beautiful so are the eyes of my Gods people....“and she recited the Lord’s Prayer......at the end she said with such drama and heartfelt meaning, “My Story.........Your Story........Our Story.......His Story!....” I had tears in my eyes as I listened intently to her presentation.....it was heart wrenching to really sit and think of the cruel and inhumane treatment that the African American people were subjected to because of the greed of humans.....

"This is what the Lord says: Let my people go, so that they may worship me." Exodus 8:1

We watched this woman make a seagrass basket and were able to purchase one from her.....so well made!

from there we entered the “big house” (or the plantation house) for a tour....WOW, what a beautiful home it was.....the rooms were very dramatic and fancy.......the ceilings, walls and floors were stunningl!!!  The house was in a word, GRAND!!  There was a very ornate grand piano in the parlor that is the newest acquisition at the property.     This is a private residence and working plantation.  While we waited for the tram to take us a tour of the property, we bought ice cream and fried peanuts...best butter pecan I’ve had......As we rode In the tram, our guide told us about the crops that they still grow today and as he described the water irrigation, he pointed out the footbridge  near the cars and the cotton plants were we could see an alligator......



Do you see how close this alligatory is???



never thinking that we would actually be able to stand very near them and take pics!!!  WEEELLLLL, my children ran to the foot bridge and I followed thinking I would take a pic “IF” we could see it.......Amazingly, the 5 foot (ish) alligator was sitting right next to the bridge (keep in mind, it was a foot bridge and low to the ground – maybe 2 feet off of the ground) just staring up at us.....I could see the teeth .......not really assuring, I tell you!!!  Madison went right up to the side and all I could think of was what Felix, our swamp boat guide, told us when he said that alligators can and will jump!!!! 

5 feet long????

 We left, in the hopes of finding the Walmart near our travel route and filling up our water container.  We did find the Walmart, finally were able to refill our 5 gallons of water (we have been out for a couple of days amd want to refill with good, clean water), and also gassed up......we drove to Williamston, NC and slept in Walmart parking lot with another RV, made us feel right at home and not so lonely.....need to get up early to get to Manteo tomorrow......