Touring ye Tarheel State

The early morning hours found me approaching North Carolina's capitol city: Raleigh.

Nice place. They call it the "city of oaks" for a reason. Lots of construction going on here, but that's not the reason for my visit. I was bound for the National Genealogical Society's annual convention.

Parking was easy to find, and much more reasonably priced than I expected after so many years of being at the mercy of parking garages in Central Florida.

The brand new convention center (opened in September) was amazing, easily navigated, and welcoming.

Saw a lot of cool things on the convention floor. Some of it wasn't even genealogy-related (i.e. "Happy Feet" insoles?!?) I have to congratulate my self-discipline in avoiding the purchase of any new books. But, in a moment of weakness, I did give in to the urge to buy a souvenir t-shirt.

Met some nice people, and received a pin for my volunteer work with familysearch.com.

Then, it was a jaunt a few miles west on I-40 to Greensboro to visit a site that played an important role in the history of our family: Guilford Courthouse Battlefield. It was there, on 15 March 1781, that one of my ancestors gave his life in the American Revolution. I've known that fact for a long, long time, but never imagined the site of the battle would look the way it does. It's not some remote field in the middle of the countryside. Instead, it is completely surrounded by urban sprawl.

The NPS rangers, though, did a great job of interpreting the site and were kind enough to look up my ancestor's service record to help me pinpoint exactly where he fell during the fighting. (Or, at least where his regiment was positioned.) Unfortunately, an horrific deluge ensued, and I was unable to walk the grounds.

If not for the rain clouds, the shadows would have been growing long by that point anyway, so the decision was made to head back east. I was surprised that we made it back as far as I-95 before pulling over at a Hampton Inn here in Dunn, NC.

Now, it's time to wind-down and get ready for the big Ghost Whisperer season finale . . .