Day 09 – Outer Banks NC to Raleigh/Durham NC : Two fantastic Botanic Gardens
Today, we said “Goodbye” to the Outer Banks and headed west along the northern edge of North Carolina. It was a nice, relaxed drive on quiet backroads for most of the trip. The scenery alternated between coastal marshes, quasi-swampland, and farmland. The soil on the farms was very sandy and light-colored, which was a contrast to the rich, dark soil in the fields of Wisconsin.
Enjoying one last sunrise at our hotel balcony. Looks like another clear, sunny day.
We enjoyed a light continental breakfast rather than wait over an hour for the full meal. Still enjoyable!
Time to head west. We will definitely want to stay in this room again when we come back.
One of our first stops was at this drawbridge to let a sailboat through. Instead of elevating part of the road for the sailboat to pass underneath, this drawbridge has a 200-foot section on a platter that rotates like an old record player. Once the sailboat passes through, the road rotates back to its original position and locks in place. Simple.
Our first arboretum stop will be the J.C. Raulston Arboretum in Raleigh, NC. This is about 200 miles inland from the Outer Banks. The J.C. Raulston Arboretum is part of North Carolina State University. Admission is free. More information: jcra.ncsu.edu
Welcome to the J.C. Raulston Arboretum
Walking to the Visitors’ Center
We picked up a map and planned our route. Starting from the upper left corner, we went in a general clockwise direction.
We start on the A.E. Finlay Rooftop Terrace. Lots of desert-like plants.
Cute idea – Air Bee and Bee. This structure holds hundreds of hollow tubes from plants that serve as home for many bees.
Description of the Air Bee & Bee.
Nice shady place to sit and rest a while.
Beth introduced me to these plants – Red Hot Pokers : Kniphofia
Interesting colors on the trunk of the Japanese Crepe Myrtle.
Another colorful display of flowers.
These flower beds are part of the color trials held each year for new variations of flowers. See next photo for more information.
Notes on the previous photo.
More colorful flowers along the main center pathway.
Appears to be new growth on a cactus.
We enjoyed our visit to the J.C. Raulston Arboretum. Our next stop is only 30 minutes away in Durham NC. It is also only about 5 miles from our hotel for the night. It’s only about 1:00, so we have plenty of time to enjoy our next stop – the North Carolina Botanical Garden.
For more information: ncbg.unc.edu
Welcome to the North Carolina Botanical Garden
Interesting exhibit just inside the gate.
Herb Garden. There is an herb garden at the US National Arboretum in Washington DC. Interesting displays.
This display in the Herb Garden caught our eye. (See next photo for close-up of statue)
The plaque reads: “Her absence is like the sky, spread over everything. C.S. Lewis, In memory of Violet Elizabeth Briggs”
She was apparently a long-time worker at the garden.
Another cool, shady spot to stop and rest.
Interesting bee sculptures
Carnivorous plants – Venus Fly Traps and more.
Small World. This cabin was used by Paul Green as he wrote the play “Lost Colony”, which is performed every summer in Manteo on the Outer Banks – just a stone’s throw from the Elizabethan Gardens we visited yesterday.
Inside Paul Green’s cabin, where he wrote “Lost Colony.”
We followed this boardwalk back to the Visitors’ Center as we finished the loop.
Along the boardwalk, we noticed hundreds of these tadpoles in the shallow water.
We followed the path back to the parking lot and headed to the hotel. Fun day today with two Botanical Gardens!!
On the way to the hotel, we stopped at a Wegmans Grocery Store. WOW! It’s like a huge grocery store with a huge food court attached. There were maybe 15-20 different restaurants – burgers, pizza, seafood, salads, etc etc. I’ve never seen anything like it.
We settled into the room for a quiet evening of Wheel of Fortune and Jeopardy. Tomorrow, we head north 2 hours to Lynchburg VA to visit Mike and Beth Everton. (Mike is one of Beth’s cousins.) Two Mike & Beth couples together – at least I’ll remember names. Haha!