No. 1 — The Anchor Walk New Bern · N.C.

A Guided Perambulation of North Carolina's First Capital

Pepsi & Palaces

Ninety minutes on foot, from a pharmacy counter to the river

In 1898 a New Bern pharmacist stopped calling his fountain drink “Brad's Drink” and started calling it Pepsi-Cola. We begin at his counter and walk out through three centuries of the town that produced him — the governor's palace that burned and came back, the fire that redrew the streets in a single day, and the two rivers that explain why any of it is here. Led by people who actually live here.

Guided on foot New Bern · North Carolina $39 per guest
Duration
90 minutes
Distance
1.3 miles
Party
1–8 guests
Terrain
Flat & paved
One

What you'll actually do

Most of what visitors learn about New Bern fits on a plaque. This is the version you'd get from a neighbor: the pharmacist who accidentally built a global brand and then went broke betting on sugar; the royal governor who spent a colony's patience on a house; the thousand buildings that burned in 1922 and the neighborhoods that never came back.

You'll walk about a mile and a quarter on flat sidewalks and stop nine times. We finish at Union Point where the Trent runs into the Neuse, with somewhere good to eat and a reason to go there.

No headsets, no scripts read off a card, no golf cart. Eight guests at most, so it stays a conversation rather than a broadcast.

Two — Nine stops, ninety minutes

The route

  1. 0:00The Pharmacy CounterBirthplace of Pepsi, 256 Middle St
  2. 0:12The Bradham MarkerMiddle & Pollock
  3. 0:18Middle StreetThe 200 block
  4. 0:26Christ ChurchPollock Street, churchyard
  5. 0:38The Baxter ClockPollock & Middle
  6. 0:43Tryon Palace GroundsExterior only — no admission included
  7. 0:57Pollock Street HomesWalking east
  8. 1:05The Fire LineApproaching the water
  9. 1:15Where the Rivers MeetUnion Point Park
Three

Particulars

Included

  • A guide who lives in New Bern
  • Ninety minutes, nine stops
  • Where to eat afterward, and why

Not included

  • Tryon Palace admission — we see the grounds, not the interior
  • Food and drink
  • Transport; everything is on foot

Bring

  • Shoes you can walk a mile in
  • Water in summer — it gets hot
  • A camera; there's a good group photo halfway
Booking

Not open quite yet

Booking opens the moment our listing goes live. Until then, get in touch and we'll hold you a place on one of the first walks.