There's lots of information available on the World Wide Web for folks planning to take a trip whether they're driving or flying. This article covers only a fraction of the travel aids available. Use your search engine and enter "travel", "maps", "airlines," etc., to see much more information.
PRINT A MAP
If you're planning to drive be sure to look at http://www.mapquest.com/. By clicking on "Driving Directions" and entering a departure and destination address you can get a route printout plus a map. By clicking on "Online Maps" and entering an address, you can get a detailed map showing how to get to that address. This is also helpful to send to folks visiting you for the first time so they can find your street in River Bend. Yes, Mapquest surprisingly covers River Bend!
Another source is Yahoo maps at http://maps.yahoo.com/py/maps.py. Here you enter an address and get a map you can zoom in on. You can also get a list of nearby restaurants and motels.
If you're planning to drive on I-95 be sure to take a look at the I-95 Exit Information Guide On-Line at http://www.usastar.com/i95/homepage.htm. There's lots of good information on gas prices, construction delays, lodging, restaurants and outlet malls along I-95. Be careful about mentioning the outlet malls to your spouse.
MOTELS
We generally prefer staying at motel chains where we've had a good luck in the past. Nowadays, however, it seems that the only good motels are the new ones regardless of the name. One can be assured that the air-conditioner will rattle all night at an old motel. We usually select several motels in an area that we expect to stay in and look them over when we arrive, sometimes asking to see the room in advance. Motel information is best found by entering the name of the chain in your search engine. All of the motel web sites show rates and discounts.
AIRLINE RESERVATIONS
Our favorite place to check out flight possibilities is http://www.travelocity.com/. You'll need to become a member of Travelocity at no cost but it's worth it to use the Sabre reservation system that is similar to that used by travel agencies. You can make your reservations online but we pick up tickets at a travel agency after deciding on our flights.
A similar reservation system is at http://expedia.msn.com/?clicktrade=162954
To check local flights from New Bern to Charlotte (US Airways Express) or to Raleigh (Midway) see New Bern's airport at http://www4.coastalnet.com/airport/.
RALEIGH FLIGHTS
What do you do with your car if you drive to Raleigh to catch a flight? A suggestion by a River Bender is to stay at the Days Inn at 1000 Airport Boulevard in Morrisville near the airport the night before the flight and store your car at the motel while you're gone. They have shuttle service to the airport. Call 919-469-8688 or Days Inn reservation at 1-800-329-7466. Their Web page is: http://www.daysinn.com
GETTING YOUR E-MAIL ON THE ROAD
There's a number of ways to get e-mail at your home Internet Service Provider (ISP) when you are traveling. All will require dialing into an ISP somewhere so if you don't have a PC with you or don't have access to one when you're out of town you're out of luck. Our children have PCs connected to the Internet so when we visit them we use their PC to access our mail account at CoastalNet. Many libraries have PCs connected to Internet. Here's a couple ways to check your e-mail remotely.
MAILSTART (Easy to use)
Go to http://www.mailstart.com and enter your home e-mail address and password for your ISP in New Bern and your incoming mail will be displayed on a web page. You may reply or originate an outgoing message. Your mail remains at your ISP since only a copy is downloaded to Mailstart. Nothing is stored permanently and once you leave, everything is deleted from Mailstart. You don't even need an account. This is about as simple as it gets.
HOTMAIL
A second way is to establish a free e-mail account at http://www.hotmail.com. In doing so you'll need to go to Options/POP Mail and enter your POP server name, POP User Name and POP User Password. For example, for CoastalNet mine would be "mail2.coastalnet.com" for the POP server and "cn1027" for the POP user. Call your ISP if you don't know your POP server and user name. Once the account is established go to http://www.hotmail.com, sign in and select POP Mail and it will fetch your mail residing at your home ISP. Unlike Mailstart, Hotmail saves your mail until you delete it. You may also send e-mail.
Want more info about free e-mail? Go to the Free Email Address Directory at http://www.emailaddresses.com/. Here, you'll find listings for over 1,000 free email services, as well as articles about free email, resources to help you find the email address of family or friends, and hundreds of other free resources from calendars to free internet access providers.