New Bern NC comes alive

New Bern NC really comes alive in October. Sure, there is a lot of things going on year around, but October really rocks. The following are just a few things going on as there are to many to mention individually.

• October Fest
• Mum Fest
• Architectural walking tours
• Downeast folkart concert series
• Haunted Evening Historical Drama
• Ghostwalk
• Much activity with the 2 downtown civic theaters
• Free admissions to the Tryon Palace gardens
• African American Historic downtown walking tour.
• Neuse River Bridge Run
• Quilt Show
• Jarman Opry Theatre
• Jazz on the Trent
• North Carolina Symphony
• Chili Fest
• Coastal Carolina Agricultural Fair
• Fall Home Show

With all this hapenning it is no wonder New bern is considered one of the top places to visit in October.

Nothing could be finer

Nothing could be finer that to be in Carolina on the 4th of July. The fourth is one of my favorite days of the year and New Bern does it up right, with a spectacular fireworks display over the Neuse River. Last year, along with several of our friends, we watched from the middle of the Neuse River. It was a blast, and we were not alone as there must have been 300 other boats anchored along side us. Check out my web site http://www.newbern-nc.info/ after the 4th for some photos and you will see why nothing could be finer.

Saturday I played golf in a 4 man superball held at Brandywine in Morehead. Although it was hot as blue blazes the tournament was well organized and there was no waiting in between shots. I have to say this may have been the best superball tournament I have ever played in. The entry fee was $50 dollars, and even though we did not win anything everyone came away happy. First of all everyone received an umbrella when they registered. A grill was set up and offered hot egg and cheese sandwiches. During the round a beverage cart on each side kept everyone hydrated offering gatorade, water, and beer for anyone crazy enough to drink alcohol in 97 degree heat. After everyone finished they served a great lunch and then had an auction for various gifts. A 50-50 raffle was held with a $350 payout to the winner.

This tournament is run by the local chapter of the Military Order of Purple Heart with all preceeds going towards scholarships to children of wounded veterans. Great cause, great tournament, and you can count me in again next year.

New Bern NC High School

New Bern High School was recently mentioned in a recent Sports Illustrated Magazine as the top high school athletic program in North Carolina. After making it to the state finals for 3 out of the last 4 years New Bern finally won the state championship with a herculean effort against a team that had won 7 straight championships. Just a few weeks ago New Bern also won the state championship in track and field. This was the 3rd year in a row that the track team won the championship.In addition, the girls remained undefeated in the Coastal Conference for the 14th consecutive season. The baseball team, basketball team, and wrestling teams consistently have successful teams. No doubt,these are all worthy accomplishments.

Now that New Bern has their athletic program in high gear, I think it is time to gear up the academic programs. New Bern High lags behind the other high schools in Craven County as well as much of the state. There is no reason why academics should not be stressed as much, or more, than sports. Few if any of our athletes will ever make it to the professional level whereas almost all of our students could go to college if they apply themselves to their studies.

My top 7 reasons to retire to New Bern NC

1. History-settled in 1710 New Bern is full of history and historic buildings such as the city hall shown on the left. Check out http://www.newbern-nc.info/New-Bern-history2.html for more information on New Bern

2. Climate-mild winters allow for golf and other outdoor activities pretty much year around.

3. Water-The Trent and Neuse Rivers converge in downtown New Bern. The Atlantic Ocean and the crystal coast are only 35 minutes away.

4. Golf- Plenty of inexpensive golf courses located in and around new Bern. No waiting for tee times and most of the courses are kept in immaculate shape.

5. Boating-Sailing- The Neuse River http://www.newbern-nc.info/Neuse-River.html is the widest river in the United states and offers sailors and power boaters ample opportunity to test their skills. The intercoastal waterway is only about 20 miles from downtown New Bern.

6. Lots of things to do- Check out these links http://www.newbern-nc.info/aroundthetown.html and http://www.newbern-nc.info/New-Bern-happenings.html to see what is happenning around New Bern.

7. Home Prices- home prices are considered reasonable by most standards. There are many quality subdivisions in the New Bern area. From waterfront and golf communities to the historic downtown area you are certain to find a community to suitt your needs.

Steve Tyson is a real estate broker and a native of New Bern. He can be contacted at Tyson@Century21.com

No to sub prime bailout

Although I am in the real estate business and the sub prime loans and foreclosures are harming my industry I do not believe the federal government should get involved with either bailing out the lenders or the borrowers. It is just the wrong way to attach the problem. Let me just say that I would not have a problem with the federal government using their bully pulpit to encourage the lenders to perhaps freeze their rate increases, no one forced the lenders to loan money to those that they knew could not afford to make the payments when the rate increases kicked in. The borrowers must own up also. Not the taxpayers fault that you made a bad decision and taxes should not be used to help correct the problem. The market will take care of itself.

It's back

Te deck party that is. After a long, but not so hard winter, the Sheraton Hotel and Marina in downtown New Bern, NC is party central again on Friday afternoons. What better way to wind the weekend down than to meet your friends on the deck. Beautiful view of the Trent River, live music, food, and if you so desire adult beverages. See you there soon.

Turkeys in New Bern

Today I was showing property in Greenbriar, located in the central part of New Bern, and while my customer was checking out the back yard she cried out look across the ditch. Lo and behold there was a wild a wild turkey not 25 feet from us. First one I have ever seen. And who would have thought right in the middle of a subdivision.

Help is on the way

In about 3 weeks work will be complete on the stop lights in the James City area. For those that aren't familiar with what I am talking about, there are 4 stoplights starting at Williams Road and continuing through to Airport Road, Taberna, and Thurman Road. These lights have outdated internal electronics thus limiting the options of the DOT Engineers to time the lights in a manner that would allow for efficient traffic flow from one light to the other.

As we speak the DOT is replacing these lights with state of the art equiptment as well as making intersection improvements at Williams road that will help the gridlock that we have seen at certain times of the day. These improvements are not the cure all to our problems, but in the short term they are our best option. Let hope it works.

New Stoplights in James City

The internal electronics of the four stoplights in James City are going to be replaced within the next few months. These stoplights are located at the intersections of Williams, Airport, Taberna, and Thurman Roads.

Several months ago I met with a business owner in James City who suggested that better timing and a left turn light at Williams would really help traffic flow and reduce accidents. I relayed this information to DOT Engineer Duayne Alligood and several weeks later he emailed me and said if we could come up with $100,000 he could replace the lights at the intersections mentioned above and do some other improvements at Williams and Airport Roads to allow for easier left turns. Several weeks ago the General Assembly voted to give $77,000.00 towards the replacement cost and the DOT Division 2 Board Member Cam McRae committed to give the balance needed to complete the replacement.

Mr. Alligood told me that by replacing the internal electronics of the existing stoplights with state of the art gear will give them the ability to remotely control the traffic flow in the James City Corridor. By having the ability to remotely control the lights perhaps the timing of the lights could be changed several times a day to allow for peak traffic times. Hopefully the 4 stoplights can be timed in such a way that the residents in Taberna will not have the long wait, with no oncoming traffic, that they have to deal with now.

I would like to thank Mr. Alligood, Mr.McRae, and our legislative team for their help with this matter. There are long term solutions being worked on for helping traffic flow on Highway 70, but for now it is going to be the lower cost, common sense solutions, that we will have to utilize to help with traffic flow.
As with anything new I am sure there will be bugs that will need to be worked out after the new lights are installed. If you have any suggestions please send me an email at Tyson@Century21.com.