I've had a couple of visitors in the past month, the first being my good friend, Jessen. She came down from Boston to spend a couple of low-key days with me on her spring break. We tried out Mez, named tunes at West 94th Street Pub, and did a couple daytime exploration trips.
The first of those was taking in the mid-spring blooms at the Sarah P. Duke Gardens. As always, the terrace of lilacs was gorgeous, though we were scared away by a school field trip.
The tulips were also lovely and I swear, I took nearly the same picture two years ago, when I went with my sister.
We spent the next day exploring a few blocks of downtown Raleigh, with the help of Walking Raleigh/Durham by Rebecca Mann, a guidebook I picked up when we first moved to the area. We mainly checked out the statuary on the capitol lawn and I really must take a tour inside the building sometime.
We also explored out the Knights of the Black Flag exhibit at the North Carolina Museum of History. I can never say no to pirates. The exhibit was well put together and I was most intrigued by this reproduction of a navigation system used in the 1600s.
I'm determined to work something like that into a fantasy story. Doesn't it just look fascinating? Also interesting was the display on how x-ray is used to identify the artifacts found in what is believed to be the wreck of the Queen Anne's Revenge, Blackbeard's last ship. The curators also did a great job of linking pirates from their earliest history to today's profiteers in Somalia and Indonesia. Definitely check out the exhibit if you have a love for pirate lore. It will be in town through the end of the year.
"Travel Guide"
My travelogues tend to follow my day’s schedule when I’m out exploring. I chronicle my meals and sweet treats along with tourist sites worth checking out, including hiking trails. Sometimes, I may include just one particular trip highlight; other times, I’ll include several so you can make a day trip out of them.