ACROSS THE COUNTRY
For Fans of Nicholas Sparks, This North Carolina City Is the Capital of Love
The best-selling author based “The Notebook” and other heart-tugging novels in New Bern, where he lives. But what makes the town so romantic?
WHY WE’RE HERE
Before Brittnee Provencher fell in love, before saying “I do” to her husband on their wedding day, she was a teenage girl in Norwich, Conn., getting lost in the books of one of the world’s best-known romance novelists: Nicholas Sparks.
She had relished every love story he wrote, many of which either mentioned or were based in New Bern, N.C., a small city wedged between two rivers, where Mr. Sparks had moved decades ago.
Years later, when Ms. Provencher was eager to find a new home where her own story could unfurl, she proposed an idea to her then-fiancé, Ian. What if they moved to New Bern, stepping into the real-life version of a Sparks novel? In 2021, they packed their bags, stacked Mr. Sparks’s books in the trunk and drove down.
The Provenchers, who eventually got married in New Bern, are not the only ones who have sought out the city of about 31,000 in eastern North Carolina, chasing the Southern romanticism that oozes from the books. Every year, local officials said, hundreds of couples and Sparks fans visit New Bern to experience its old-fashioned charm, and to explore why it inspired “The Notebook” and other heart-tugging tales steeped in earnestness.
New Bern, about two hours east of Raleigh, is the second-oldest city in North Carolina, and its first capital. Many locals point to its carefully preserved history as one of the reasons it is considered so scenic, or “quaint,” as visitors often describe it. It has Tryon Palace, a re-creation of a building that served as the residence of British governors before the American Revolution, with more than 16 acres of gardens and Georgian architecture.
It also has a soda shop where you can still buy a large glass of Pepsi for a dollar; New Bern is the birthplace of the drink. At night, lanterns illuminate red-bricked streets with an orange glow.
“You stroll the streets, you’re strolling back in time,” said Joe Klotz, the owner of Hanna House Bed & Breakfast, which has drawn couples on Sparks-themed getaways and honeymoons. “There’s something lovely about that.”
Melissa Riggle, the executive director of Visit New Bern, the city’s tourism organization, said that in recent years, it has marketed New Bern as not just an ideal place to retire, but a growing riverfront community perfect for couples’ vacations, weddings and honeymoons.
The scenery does most of the marketing for them, she said, and it’s no wonder why Mr. Sparks — who has said he moved to New Bern in 1992 because he was captivated by its Christmas flotilla and decorations — based “The Notebook” (1996) and other best sellers there, including “A Bend in the Road” (2001) and “The Wedding” (2003).
Mr. Sparks, whose publicist did not respond to a request for an interview, has his footprint all over the place: His nonprofit foundation dedicated to global education has an office downtown, and with his now ex-wife, he co-founded the Epiphany School of Global Studies, a private high school in the city.
The city sits where two rivers converge, the Neuse and the Trent. Sailboats drift by. Canoes can be heard swooshing along, in no particular rush. On a recent sunny day, along the boardwalk of Union Point Park, couples held hands as they walked past ducks bobbing against a soft current.
Sunlight makes the confluence of rivers sparkle, as if jewels had been tossed across the water. Moonlit at night, the waters beam with a pale tone. Speaking to Southern Living magazine recently, Mr. Sparks said that in New Bern, “You just kind of let the day happen to you. It’s very peaceful, and it’s very beautiful.”
Locals say that all that beauty helps fuel a thriving arts scene in New Bern, which is home to many painters and writers.
Sam Love, an aptly named local poet and yoga instructor, wrote a poem, “New Bern Nexus,” exploring why romance thrives there:
The mystical attraction
of the merging rivers
shouldn’t surprise us.
Converging waters often
birth sacred places,
places that pry open
beleaguered souls
Why not here?
Where two rivers unite, two souls are more likely to meet, Mr. Love said. “It’s just beautiful.”
Michelle Garren-Flye, who owns the Next Chapter, a local bookstore, said the city’s rich history is also a muse for artists. New Bern was a key stop for those fleeing enslavement in the underground railroad; Civil War battles were also fought in the town, and homes that are nearly 200 years old still stand in the area.
“The world has gone on even as lives have ended, and that’s what makes New Bern romantic,” said Ms. Garren-Flye, who — naturally — also writes romance novels.
Of course, for fans of Mr. Sparks, it’s enough just to see the real-life places where their favorite characters went on dates or kissed. There at the Masonic Theatre was where Noah from “The Notebook” (played by Ryan Gosling in the 2004 movie version) thought of his true love, Allie (played by Rachel McAdams). There were “the draping veils of Spanish moss” that Mr. Sparks had written about in “A Bend in the Road,” trees that, in his words, “only added to the feeling that this part of the world hadn’t changed in the last thousand years.”
Mike Woika, who runs Sparks-themed trolley tours, said fans often keep an eye out for the author during the tours, in case he happens to be picking up a sandwich or running an errand downtown.
Sometimes his novels have prompted permanent moves. Kelly Sorenson Elliott said her love of Sparks novels started after she had a child “because being a mom and a wife, you often don’t have time to yourself, and I kind of wanted something of my own.”
She would often tell her husband half-jokingly that she wanted to move from upstate New York to New Bern because of Mr. Sparks, even though “we didn’t know anything about the town except from his novels.”
“You’re going to move next door to Nicholas and stalk him,” her husband would joke. In 2021, they chose Beaufort, N.C., a smaller town 40 miles southeast of New Bern.
Amy Whitfield, a travel agent in New Bern, said she often helps book clubs find places to stay when Mr. Sparks does signings at a nearby Books-A-Million store.
“Nicholas Sparks is kind of tame for me — I like the more adventurous, raunchy stuff,” Ms. Whitfield said. “But his movies make me cry!”
Steve Tyson, a Republican state representative whose district includes New Bern, where he was born and raised, and his wife, Jana, said they have met many newcomers over the years who heard about New Bern through Mr. Sparks’s work. The couple are both real estate agents.
“Definitely his writing causes curiosity among a lot of his readership,” Mr. Tyson said. “I sold a house to a couple that came here, and their story is like a Nicholas Sparks novel.”
That couple was Larry and Jane Warren. Both had been widowed for years and craving connection in Phoenix. Then their children encouraged them to create accounts on Match.com. After matching online, Larry and Jane, who were in their 60s at the time, went on their first date.
He ordered scotch. She had wine. They liked to laugh together, and soon they fell in love. Eventually, they wanted to find a new beginning in the Southeast, where they could be closer to water and maybe get married.
Originally, they had their heart set on another coastal town in North Carolina. But when they landed at New Bern’s airport in 2012 and saw the unified rivers, the regal streets, they were enraptured.
That same week, Jane recalled telling Larry, “Let’s just get married here.” On a Friday in May, Larry got dressed in his best blazer. Jane put on an off-white dress. Mr. Tyson enlisted a photographer and an officiant.
The Warrens kissed a little while later on the courthouse steps downtown and went out for scotch and wine, soothed by the sound of the rivers.
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