New Bern

Tryon Palace

This morning, I headed east to the town of New Bern - the English capital of colonial North Carolina. Today, the town's main attraction is the reconstructed colonial governor's "palace" from the early 1770s. Located in the historic center of town, along the Trent River, the original Tryon Palace was destroyed by a fire in the late 1790s - and only rebuilt in the 1950s. (Though great lengths were taking to make it as historically accurate as possible.

Tryon Palace (which was named after the colonial governor who built it) had a great tour that gave a realistic view into colonial life in the 1770s. I was especially impressed to see all the traditional garments worn (I never really knew what women wore under their skirts to get them to stick out to the sides (I'm more accustom to seeing the later hoop shirts and petticoats. The house also had an interesting kitchen area, where female volunteers were cooking traditional recipes using colonial techniques.

Gardens of Tryon Palace

Outside Tryon Palace, there are a variety of gardens (which all seemed to be in full bloom!) The grounds included: a traditional French-style hedge garden, a "native" garden (which featured plants from North Carolina), and a kitchen garden with a variety of vegetables. Sadly, the view of the Trent River behind the palace was ruined by a number of ugly concrete bridges...

John Wright Stanly House

In addition to the palace, there was a tour of two other "smaller" houses from the colonial period. The John Wright Stanly House was built during the same period as the palace, and even hosted President Washington when he toured the Southern states. The house was very beautiful, but the thing I found most interesting was the fact that this building served as the town's public library from the 1930s - 1960s. I can't imagine working in a building that was over 200 years old! (Something tells me they wouldn't appreciate 40 preschoolers shaking their sillies out in a historic home...) After the tour of the Stanly House, we also viewed a slightly newer (1810s) Dixon House, which had belonged to one of North Carolina's early congressmen. All in all, it made for a very interesting trip back into the 1700s.

Fayetteville Camellia Show

This afternoon, I finally visited the Cape Fear Botanical Garden so that I could attend the annual Fayetteville Camellia Show. Since this was the first flower show I have ever attended, i wasn't exactly sure what to expect. Inside, the Camellia Show was primary table after table of camellia blooms in tiny glasses. It was interesting to see all the different varieties (though it got to be a little overwhelming.)

The show also had a small collection of informational booths; sadly, the displays were a little information heavy (with pages and pages of small print on each poster.) Although it was useful information, I don't think it was displayed in the best method. There were some lectures scheduled for the afternoon, but I wasn't that interested in the topics (and the start time was an hour later.) I did enjoy looking through the collection of camellias the Camellia Club had for sale, but I didn't buy any since they're probably not the best indoor plant (and I wasn't going to spend $25 to put a plant outside a rental unit!)

For a first visit to a flower show, I can't really complain. If I were to return in the future, I would probably try to attend on Saturday rather than Sunday - I think they blossoms would have been a little fresher looking, and there would have likely been a larger selection of plants for sale.