Visiting gardens always give ideas. Here are some….
A basket of one flower color.
A basket of contrasting colors, shapes, and sizes.
An open wire basket with burlap bottom. Great for the environment and flowers.
The Garden’s fountains, each with it’s own personality.
Beautiful
Gracious
Formal
Fun. What a great place to run through on this 88 degree day..
The Children’s Garden
Had another fountain..
Garden Picnic Area
What a pleasant spot.
The Formal White Garden – this was discreetly placed so don’t miss it..
Some Sculptures
Below is an interesting sculpture made of saplings by a former hospital administrator who later studied art history and sculpture at the University of North Carolina. His works appear worldwide. One never knows where life will bring you.
Returning from the Hickory Flea Market, (great spot, open only on Thursday’s), saw this sign on the interstate. Followed my instinct and what a find and delightful visit.
The Garden hours were limited and having only an hour had to scurry. However, walking fast made it through but plan for more time to drink in this Garden’s beauty.
Daniel J. Stowe, a textile executive, developed this 380 acre sanctuary upon his retirement in 1991. It has several different gardens, trails, and a butterfly house. Let’s start at the Butterfly House..
Follow the signs to learn more of butterflies..
Here are those lovely creatures in their habitat..
In the 1830’s a Presbyterian minister from Connecticut came to Montreat, North Carolina, establishing a religious center which later became a college. It continues today. Entering the town of Montreat this stone entry is passed through.
Then the College…
There is much natural beauty on this campus. Here is a sampling..
A retreat center building and overlook.
The Nature Center was closed, however, there are signs for trails. I particularly liked the signs for children. Need to start them hiking young..
And check out this playground, nice spot for both parents and children.
Drive through the college grounds..
Past this church the mountain inclines and hiking trails are available for those with moderate skills.
I think I am feeling the need for a retreat. Don’t you?
Black Mountain is an art community with a long history. In the 1930’s a liberal arts college was founded here. The mountains were an ideal setting for the cultivation of creativity. Many progressive artists and thinkers were produced from this school. Refugees escaping Hitler’s plight also were in attendance. Sadly, the college closed in 1957 but the arts remain in this community.
Let’s start our tour at the art gallery. Here’s what greets you at the door, what a great idea for planter decorations..
Then inside even more creativity..
The Gallery also has classes for young and old along with performing arts camps for kids. What fun that would be.. Ballet, pottery, drawing and painting as well as Dungeon and Dragons were some of the class offerings for Spring 2021. Check out their web site for more info at BlackMountainArts.org.
Walking through the town don’t miss the murals painted on building facades.
Artist At Work..
Outside the German Restaurant
Lovely Horses
And who knew… Roberta Flack was born in Black Mountain. A fitting tribute to a woman with an angelic voice.
Then some fun stores..
At Fairy Hair you can get the newest rage done – shiny silk added to your locks and then purchase a new outfit on the stores other wing. And they even had a $5 rack outside!
Another fun shop … here you can get books or a children’s gift for the child who has everything…
Black Mountain had rail service at one time. There are placards giving much information with a train displayed from the era. And the depot remains with another interesting shop.
An artist’s depiction of the actual depot.
Some of the treasures found in the depot
And let’s not forget the restaurants.. There were Thai, Cuban, Italian, German, to name a few. Since Black Mountain is a short 30 mile drive from my home base I plan to return weekly to visit a different restaurant each week. Prices were reasonable and all had a pleasant ambience.
And let’s not forget the brewery..
But what I especially liked about the town was the planning which went into this venture. They even planned for comfort stations..
My you never know who you’ll meet on the street at Black Mountain..
Rented a cabin for my stay in Western North Carolina. Didn’t think I would arrive in the middle of a snow storm with a power outage, however, I did. Driving through the forest as my Atlanta based landlord guided me was a challenge in the darkened wilderness but the cabin was found. Discovering no power another call to Atlanta was made. The landlord’s brother in law arrived with candles. Nice touch.
Since this is my eighth travel nurse experience I know to plan for the unexpected. The small and light weight Vornado heater was packed and has served the purpose for heat along with a flannel night gown, quilt, and afghan.
Up early the next day to investigate the area found an interesting lumber operation nearby. Here’s a few pictures..
Later laundry was done with a recent purchase – a portable washing machine. What a great machine. Here she is…
Brought plants for the cabin and am growing herbs. A homey touch and fun to watch…
Computer access is problematic in the area. Am learning more of hot spots and the like since my last blog. Running back and forth to Verizon and Staples is exhausting and time consuming for this computer nincompoop.
Tomorrow will be exploring Hickory, North Carolina. Stay tuned.
No, this isn’t an insurance ad, it was an exit off the highway on the way back from Raleigh to Goldsboro. What a great farmers market, so glad to have stopped.
While I wasn’t after super sod, (my goodness how could I ever fit this in the car for the trip to Florida), I certainly benefited from the many fruits, vegetables, and baked goodies available at this great spot. They should have one of these in every state, if not several.
Open 7 days a week this market offers an assortment of tomatoes, as tasty as those in New Jersey, bags of pecans, different apple varieties, jellies, home baked delicacies, great flowers, and plants. Then there is always the honey, wherever I travel I buy the local honey. In every area the honey has a different taste as well as a medicinal effect for cuts and the like. To date my favorite honey is from Italy, however there are some Florida varieties that give Italy a run for their money, and the N.C. blend was definitely tasty.
Since watermelon juice is my treasured juice of choice, both straight and in red wine, I picked up a new variety of the melon. Once home I blended up a batch and now I’m plagued with trying to find this new deep green creature as it struck my palate with a glow.
Then of course there were the pumpkins…
There are also fish and food vendors beyond the farm stand roofing, however with the 105 degree weather I stayed beneath.
With this I say good bye to this Raleigh journey thanking them for the fun filled weekend.
Quilts speak, and they certainly do with a story all their own. These stories were beautifully displayed at the museum. Come and read a few.
This is a pieced quilt made from 11,650 pieces of fabric none larger than a postage stamp. Mamie Dameron made this quilt after finishing her farm chores, and as a project to keep her from thoughts of her husbands 1932 death.
The fabric used in this quilt is chintz which is a printed cotton fabric with a polished look. This was a more expensive fabric to use.
Crazy quilt – These were made of a combination of different fabrics, sometimes fine silks and velvets. The fabric was cut in varied shapes with an overcast stitch to maintain the construction.
Applique is another type of quilting. This is done by adding a design with pieces of cloth to a foundation fabric.
Quilts can also be made as memories or history.
This is a thank you quilt made by Patience White, a slave. Once freed she continued to live with her enslaved family. It was during this time she was taught to read and write. This literacy occurred between 50 and 77 years of age. Patience, what a woman!
And nowdays the rage is quilts made from t-shirts. These can include anything from sports to places of interest visited.*
With over 500 quilts in the collection the exhibit will be changing as it continues. So, bring the kids to see this extraordinary exhibit. Who knows, it may create a new hobby for the family to enjoy together.
The final museum in this Raleigh tour was the North Carolina Museum of History. This Museum gave a portrayal of history and depicted North Carolina citizens during the various eras. Let’s start with those who lived here over 10,000 years ago those being, our native sons, the Cherokees.
In this area of the museum was an authentic Indian home. The Cherokee Indians lived in the remote mountains of North Carolina. They had little to do with white settlers until the 1700’s when trading began. Also in this area of the museum was Indian sculpture and a replica of their sports equipment, which were a chunkey and stickball, as seen in pictures below.
And can we forget the villain of the seas who strolled the Carolina waters? Here is a replica of the Blackbeard ship.
On to the Revolutionary War where a Continental Army soldier stood..
Slavery..
Civil War..
And reconstruction.
The Depression.
And on to happier days.. Flight and new innovations.
The North Carolina Sport Hall of Fame is housed at the museum. Begun in 1963 it honors many native sons and daughters who gained prominence in sports. Stop and view the introductory film at the beginning of this area. There are over 300 honored in this exhibit.
Separate from the Hall of Fame was the Legends of Racing. Here the race car of Dale Earnhardt, Sr., is displayed and a tribute to the Tar Heel racers.
At the end of the exhibit was an interesting movie bringing history to modern day. What a great way to end the visit.
Tomorrow: My favorite exhibit at the museum: Quilts
The Museum has a fascinating exhibit of women who have and are currently changing the world in STEM, (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics), careers. Bring your children to this exhibit and read a several of the bios. We need them, especially our women, to make our world a better place.
Here are a few of the amazing women represented at this exhibit.
This talented Chicago born gal is an engineer and physician who flew into space during an 8 day mission. Here she studied weightlessness, motion sickness, and bone cells. She also is a talented modern dancer and was the inspiration for the Lt. Khura character on Star Trek.
This China born woman has no post graduate degrees nor the usual credentials for scientific research, however she discovered artemisinin, a compound to treat malaria that has saved millions of lives. In 2015 she won the Nobel Prize for her discovery.
This Austrian woman was one of the first to discover nuclear fission in 1939. She was the second woman to obtain a doctoral degree in physics at the University of Vienna in 1905.
Born in London in 1920 this woman is known as the dame of DNA. Her work allowed Watson and Crick to understand the structure of DNA.
This American astronaut flew on the Space Shuttle Columbia in 1997 and was the first woman of Indian origin in space. She died with the Space Shuttle Columbia disaster, and was awarded posthumously the Congressional Space Medal of Honor.
This German biologist identified genes which cause an egg to be fertilized. Primarily working on fruit flies it gives information regarding our embryonic roots. She won the Nobel Prize in 1995 for her work.
Another NASA woman who in this instance innovated the space program by developing transmitters to transmit images from space. Her technology is also is used in surgery and television screens.
Nicknamed “Amazing Grace,” this Navy Admiral was the first to build a computer compiler converting code into English words through a series of “0’s” and “1’s.” She began the words debugging and computer bug when actual insects were found in the machine. The components for Fortran and Cobol computer languages were also developed by her.
And let us end with a climate change innovators…
This woman studies atmospheric change so we can predict weather and climate. She works with NASA and is co-director of the Berkley Institute of the Environment.
Photo by Markus Spiske temporausch.com on Pexels.com
And let us not forget Greta Thurnberg. This 16 year old Swedish woman recently spoke at the United Nations regarding climate change. She is a strong advocate and I am sure we will hear more of her.
And, discover I did of this amazing museum with much to offer. This kid friendly museum provides much, read on.
Of particular interest to children seemed to be the dinosaur exhibit. Passing through I heard the oohs and aahs of many under aged as they viewed these creatures. Quite frankly, I did as well.
Then there was the tribute to the Carolina Coast.
And the creatures of the forest..
As well as the minerals from the Tar State.
Documentaries are available at the Museum. Those I viewed were Earth Flight, concerning bird migration, and Great White Sharks, informative but not scary. Pricing is reasonable and with membership discounts are available. The Museum web site is:
Young Retiree Needs a Life 