Carolina On My Mind: Part 4, Umstead State Park, Durant Nature Preserve & The OBX

 It was a beautiful day to explore some natural areas before we went to the Outer Banks! First up was Umstead State Park.

We saw cool rocks, mushrooms, and some ferns.

The log sculpture was awesome! The intricate details really caught my eye.

We were on a time crunch, so after a short walk we left the state park and drove over to Durant Nature Preserve, which Steve used to frequent when he lived close by. They had a cute butterfly garden!

I wandered a bit on my own and found some cool plants and a funky fungus. The Oxalis was new to me, but I was familiar with the Goodyera.

Finally we made the journey out to the Outer Banks. Part of me wanted to explore some more natural areas, but I wanted to spend time with Steve and the kids. So we went to the beach at Nag's Head!

After some time the sun started to set, so we dried off and loaded back into the car. We drove over to the Bodie Island Lighthouse and looked up at the stars.

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One more post for the NC adventures!

Carolina On My Mind: Part 3, Sarah P. Duke Gardens

 Another garden on my bucket list was Sarah P. Duke Gardens. I made a beeline for the Asiatic Arboretum. I was fascinated by the bamboo and gorgeous views.

I wandered for a bit and saw a wooden zig zag bridge. There is a small stone one at Chicago Botanic's Sansho-En!

The Japanese maples were beautiful, as always.

The red arch bridge stood out in the landscape.

The Historic Gardens were my next stop.

There was so much beautiful texture and a lovely fountain in this part of the garden.

I made my way to the native plant section, which had some beautiful pitcher plants and a big snail!

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It was time to go back to the hotel, but not before we grabbed some awesome taiyaki ice cream!

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Two more posts about the NC road trip, then I can blog about my adventures from 2023!

Carolina On My Mind: Part 2, JC Raulston Arboretum & NC Museum of Natural Sciences

For many years I browsed Pinterest for ideas of which places I might like to go when we made our way to NC finally. I remember every year I would update my "NC Roadtrip 20__" to reflect the upcoming year. 

One of the public gardens I was highly interested in was JC Raulston Arboretum. I had a whole day to dedicate to Raleigh, so I gladly chose to take a nice garden stroll there.

After stepping out of the car and making my way down a path, the first plants I noticed were Iris domestica (blackberry lily) and Eucomis 'Reuben' (a pineapple lily hybrid). Woah! 

There waws a cool bee hotel.

The Perrenial Border was abundant with colour and texture.

I don't remember where exactly I wandered for a bit, but I ended up with these views:

And eventually I made it to the Trial Garden area!

And then the Lath House:

This is where I started to really swoon: the Japanese Garden! Which then lead to the Asian Valley, where I sat a spell in the shade. A cool snail and cute pipevine swallowtail kept me company.

It felt magical to be sitting in a beautiful space dedicated to showcasing plants from the same places my ancestors came from. After a crazy year of anti-Asian terror that made me feel unsafe even in my favourite places, I felt a sense of peace and protection here.

I managed to find my way to the Xeric Garden and Scree Garden before I took another rest at the water feature. 

I popped into the Visitor Center to purchase a JCRA shirt, a pin, a couple books, and snag a few of the free magazines and info pamphlets, then said my goodbye to this wonderful place at the beautiful gate.

After Steve picked me up, we grabbed a bite to eat at Jasmin and Olivz, then took the kids to the NC Museum of Natural Sciences. We really enjoyed the exhibits. I thought the blue bottle tree was cool!

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I have a few more posts for the NC trip. Our latest road trip was to Virginia. Hopefully it won't take me a year or two to get around to blogging about it!

As always, you can check out my microblogging on Instagram: @efflorescency!

Carolina On My Mind: Part 1, Crowder's Mountain

 After years of planning on a vacation to North Carolina, we finally made the trip! Steve lived there for a few years, and shortly after he moved back home we met. He wanted to take a family trip back to show me his old haunts and places he knew the kids and I would enjoy. Namely gardens and natural areas, of course.

We piled into our car and made the 14 hour drive to the first stop of our vacation: Crowder's Mountain in Gastonia, NC. Steve used to run up the trails there, but this time he was on a crutch, on the mend from tearing a tendon and two ligaments in the spring. I was worried he would have issues going up a steep trail but he insisted on making this memory as a family. And what a memory it was!

It was a hot and humid day, and we didn't really give ourselves much rest after such a long drive. Yet up the trail we went, one excruciating step at a time. Surprisingly none of us gave up, and we were rewarded with incredible views. 

For us Northeastern Illinoisans, this was not our usual relatively flat hiking trail. Later on, I realized after researching the trails that we chose one of the more strenuous ones. Oops!

Winding our way down the mountain was also challenging, and all the people we passed were amazed at Steve hobbling along on his crutch. Oh the things he can do by being incredibly stubborn! But he was right; as a family this was an accomplishment that we all felt proud of, and I must admit we were all pretty satisfied with our first cool NC experience.

I felt especially triumphant because I am terrified of heights; there were many moments of me freaking out thinking my husband or kids were going to tumble down a steep slope and perish. Luckily we were all very cautious and took our hike seriously.

A few of the many interesting finds of the hike were Clitoria mariana, Asclepias amplexicaulis, and a Rubus sp.

Afterwards, we loaded back up into the car and made the 3-hour drive from the Charlotte area to Raleigh, where we had a hotel mishap. After grabbing some grub at Steve's fave restaurant, Red Bowl, and sorting some stuff out, we settled into our hotel in Durham. We all slept very well that night!

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It only took me 2 years to post this! I had intended to post it in the winter of last year but I got side tracked. I will post more about the NC road trip soon!