New Bern, North Carolina....anyone live there? visit?

[Lucia]

Hi all,
We are starting to think about our next duty station(Navy family) and are considering the Naval Hospital at Cherry Point...close to New Bern. Are there any BBBs in the area? Any military families ever been assigned to Cherry Point? Anyone vacationed in that area?

We would love any feedback about the area...family life, schools, real estate, adoption groups, synagogue, etc. If we end up getting orders to Cherry Point, then we would be moving to the area next summer.

Thanks!

[bostonsmama]

Hi there! Navy family here, too. From another post of yours, I know where you're transferring from and it's good to see you thinking aobut the east coast.

My only real experience in Cherry Point was during a MAC flight from Panama that had to make an emergency landing there when we lost an engine in our C5. We hadn't gone through customs yet...so we knew it was going to be tricky. Apparently, it's Nowhere's-ville. We landed on a dark strip and were escorted to a small shack with a conveyer belt they called an airport (not the municipal one, mind you...just the military base). We waited 4 hours for the flight crew to be able to find someone in the town to check us in. We were starving, but they said the nearest restaurant/civilization was 20 miles away. It was pretty hole-in-the-wall back then (1997), and I don't know if it's too much better now. Two years ago, Oceana NAB was slated to send 10 of its FA-18 Super Hornets there, but I'm not sure if it ever passed. That would certainly have brought more people into the area, and more people=more tax revenues and hence more consumer and municipal luxuries. The good thing is that it's on the water. You're mere miles from the ocean, and less than an hour from the barrier islands known as the Outer Banks!! If your personality is well suited to the Southern kind of life, then I think you might find a nice home there. Actually, New Bern as a town is quaint and pretty. Here's a link to some a demographic profile written towards business prospectors, but interesting nonetheless:
http://tinyurl.com/bznmg
US Census Data for Craven County (New Bern and Cherry Point):
http://tinyurl.com/b8mmr
Crime in Craven:
http://www.fedstats.gov/mapstats/crime/county/37049.html
Here's a great website to look up all sorts of info about that area:
http://www.hometownlocator.com/City/Cherry-Point-North-Carolina.cfm
A Reformed Jewish Congregation in New Bern:
http://www.bnai-sholem.org/
Another up the road:
Temple Israel (Reform)
1109 West Vernon Ave.
Kinston, NC 28501
Phone: (252) 523-2057

Schools: good news--> "New Bern's Brinson School, long known locally as having a superior learning atmosphere, has just been ranked #6 in reading comprehension in the United States."

Neighborhoods/Real Estate Profile of New Bern:
http://www.new-bern.nc.us/neighbor/

HTH for now


Larissa
who is still trying to give birth so she can have more to say

[jhaud]

Hi,

my dh is air force and we are in goldsboro, nc which is about an hour from cherry point maybe a bit more. cherry point is in morehead city which is a small city - but does have civilization! good thing about the area is you are near the outer banks as the pp said and also wilmington, which has lots to do. you are also only maybe 2 hours from raleigh... which has even more to do! goldsboro is just over an hour from raleigh and a bit further from wilmington, and we visit both on occassion (it used to be more frequent) and in fact will be going through wilmington next weekend on our way to the aquarium.

i think if you are willing to travel a little distance you can find alot of things for you and your family to enjoy. and if you are beach people you will be set!

good luck in your move... we'll be PCSing to Andrews AFB sometime in the next year and though i think being near dc will give us plenty to do, i don't look forward to the process of moving!

[trumansmom]

I spent my middle childhood years in Washington, NC, about 45 minutes or so from there. My stepmother lives in the general vicinity and has a good friend in New Bern. I would be happy to hook you up with her. She's always knows EVERYTHING. :)

I also recently met a fellow Do Re Me & You consultant who lives in New Bern. She's incredibly friendly, has 3 kids and also teaches Kindermusik. I know she would be happy to show you around. I think she's lived there most of her life.

Let me know if you would like for me to hook you up. I LOVE that part of the world. Especially the food. :)

Jeanne
Mom to Truman 11/01 and Eleanor 4/04
Independent Consultant, Do-Re-Me & You!

[Lucia]

Wow! Thanks for all of the great responses! I am from Louisiana and went to college in a small town in Virginia so I am used to Southern small town life...which it sounds like New Bern is! Larissa, thanks for all of the great links. I will have to check those out. Jeanne, thanks for the offer to introduce us to your family friend...if we get orders there I would love to meet your friends in the area. It is nice to know that there are other military families on the BBB board and thanks again for all of the great feedback. We are also considering Pensacola and Jacksonville, FL so if you have any input on those places please share!

I will let you know where we will be headed...I like the excitement of anticipating our next duty station. We have enjoyed our overseas tour in Japan, but I am now anxious to get back to the States.

Thanks again!

[MartiesMom2B]

There is a member of the boards who's lives there. Her user name is Etwahl. I'm not sure if she posts much or checks the boards anymore, but I would suggest trying to look up her profile and IMing her.

-Sonia
Mommy to my Strawberry Shortcake lovin' Martie

[NEVE three BUGS and a BEE]

I went to hollins...
sorry peckin' w/b or i'd say more...

[NEVE three BUGS and a BEE]

we just bought a little place in that area...

[bostonsmama]

Pensacola used to be beautiful, but Ivan ripped it a new one and lots of the facilities are still trying to recover from the extensive hurricane damage. My DH went to school there on numerous occasions for the Navy...he always loved it, but it's been slow to recover since last year's hit.

Jacksonville is slotted to become the future new Master Jet Base for the Navy. If you've been following the BRAC commision's recent decision to try and close NAS Oceana (our area), you'd know that although it's been temporarily allowed to remain open, all members agreed that the base in Jacksonville was the prime choice for air ops in the next couple of years. This will bring all sorts of new jobs and untold amounts of money into that economy. But it's not like it needs it...Jacksonville is an awesome place to live. My mom's cousin is the Episcopal Bishop of Florida and he & his family have lived there for years. It's on the water....coastal living at its finest...close to all sorts of attractions (Disney, a Budweiser factory...which I toured last year :) ) and malls. Sounds like a great place to be stationed. Is your DH in the medical field?

And what college did you go to? I'm a VA college grad and have made my home here with DH for the past 5 years (and I have lived w/ my mother in VA every summer since 1992).
Larissa
who is still trying to give birth so she can have more to say

[Lucia]

Hi Neve and Larissa,

I went to Mary Baldwin College (small women's college) in Staunton...beautiful place to be for four years and wonderful to be close to family in Charlottesville. I love Virginia! I also spent a bit of time visiting my best friend from high school at Wake Forest. My husband and I honeymooned on Figue 8 Island near Wilmington and we have two sets of close friends who live in Raleigh...so we have some connections to North Carolina!

My husband is a Navy Family Medicine physician so our next duty station will ideally be at one of the Naval hospitals in the Southeast...but you never know what the Navy might have planned for us! We would also love to be in Beaufort, SC...so there are some good options out there.

Thanks again for all of the great feed back. Cherry Point/New Bern is the area we know the least about since it is a smaller hospital. Prior to our current stay in Japan, we lived in Bremerton,WA near Seattle and we loved that area. The nice thing about the Navy is that most of the major bases are in beautiful spots on the water!

Larissa, where are you currently living? Is your husband in the medical field also within the Navy?

Thanks again!

[aguinn]

My dad was a Marine lifer, so we were stationed at Cherry Point from 1976 to 1981. A PP indicated that Cherry Point was located in Morehead City, but that's wrong - it's actually in Havelock, and Morehead City is about 10 miles away, right near the ocean. In the late 70's, there was not alot going on in and around Havelock, but I'm not sure about now - the last time I was back there was for a friend's wedding in 1994, and it was still pretty dead. Everyone is correct about all the beaches, and the Outer Banks totally rock!

I went to a Catholic elementary school (Annunciation) in Havelock, so don't know anything about Jewish services.

Cherry Point itself it actually a pretty large base, and they had just redone the PX and Commissary right before we left to a more mall-style, but that was 1980, so hopefully they've updated again in the past 25 years (wow, really dating myself here)! I don't recall how far New Bern is from Cherry Point, but it's got some great history. One place we always went is called Tryon Palace, a beautiful old plantation.

Sorry I can't be more help! Good luck with your move!

;)amy
proud momma to DS
and cutie #2 due 9/9/05 - it's a BOY! (Please come earlier! School starts on the 12th!)

http://lilypie.com/baby2/030729/1/5/1/-5/.png[/img][/url]

"Children are the living messages we send to a time we will not see." ~ Neil Postman

[Lucia]

Hi Amy,
Thanks for the feedback! Tryon Palace does look like a beautiful spot to visit. Even if we don't end up getting orders to Cherry Point it looks like New Bern would be an interesting place to visit. Good luck with your upcoming delivery!

Thanks again,

[PurpleDog]

We've been going down there to vacation for 30 years, in fact just got back a week ago. Beaches great. New Bern very cute. Semi-decent shopping (there is a Target). Morehead City is becoming more civilized. More and more decent restaurants. Beaufort is very cute and has great restaurants (Grocery Company is one of my all-time favorites). Couple of decent bookstores here and there.

I have a friend who went to medical school on the Navy's dime and was stationed at Cherry Point for a while. He and his wife bought a place on the Neuse River and loved it. They have in fact moved now to Durham but maintain their place down there just for vacation.

[bostonsmama]

My DH is a Spec Ops rigger with NSWG-4 and SBT-20 at Little Creek Amphib Base. He's the go-to guy for anything and everything about skydiving and parachutes. He's not in the medical field, fyi.

Why not try and come to Naval Medical Center Portsmouth?? It's a huge training hospital. It's one of the largest in the region and attracts huge talent...we've got some of the best doctors in the world. My DH had very complex neurosurgery there, and the orthopedic surgeon who operated on his lisfranc fracture saved his career. I think your DH would really enjoy it here if you could find orders. Not to top that, this is a really great area to live in (Hampton Roads). The housing market is a little spendy, but BAH is awesome...they just increased it to $1500/month! There's even a huge, multi-million-dollar complex, the Jewish Cultural Center, that provides a great meeting place, rec center, temple and a school for Hampton Road's jewish families. Add to that excellent public schools, tons of family attractions (b/c it's a tourist trap in the summer), low taxes, and lots of options for coastal living (downtown Norfolk nightlife, surburban Va Beach, wide open spaced Suffolk, country-living Chesapeake). I can't say enough about the area. For me, it's the perfect mix of city and country living. Plus, it's very military friendly (discounts abound at all your favorite stores-from car dealers to Home Depot). Anyhow, I hope you find a home for your next duty station. It's such a major decision. Many blessings as you figure it out.


Larissa
who is still trying to give birth so she can have more to say