June 22, 2008.

We were food shopping and realized just how different that experience can be even in our own country. The first photo is of a display of chewing tobacco. It’s a pretty big display with over a dozen brands represented. It’s also thoughtfully laid out at eye level for kids. Ya know, so they can emulate dad, probably get mouth cancer just like dad too.

The other thing that I can’t recall ever seeing in a food store was the “personal watermelon”. They were cute little watermelons about the size of a cantaloupe. I never really realized that there was a market for personal watermelons.



On Saturday, while we were here, our friends Ken & Carol ventured out on their boat to do some racing. They traveled a couple of miles down the Neuse River to Broad Creek for a regatta organized by the Whortonsville Yacht and Tractor Club. I swear to God, yacht & tractor club. It sounds like a pretty fun minded group and not anything like those hoidy toidy New England yacht clubs.

They ended up with close to 40 boats in spite of less than stellar weather. (10 knots of wind with intermittent thunder heads) They take their racing seriously down here, seriously fun. Everyone wants to win but everybody shows up in spite of their chances.

The racing starts young here as well. There was a need for an Optimist Fleet here in the area. So the members of the local wood working club built a fleet for the children.
The boats were then painted and each one is decorated with corporate sponsorship. It’s a great way to learn to sail and the kids in these parts are well on their way.