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.

Museum of History

North Carolina History Exhibit

Early this afternoon, I made the hour-long drive north to Raleigh so that i could visit the North Carolina Museum of History. Located in the heart of the capital city, the museum's main exhibit (and entire first floor) is dedicated to the state's history. I was actually surprised at how many historic items could be found so close to home; the museum's collection had a large number of items from the state's colonial days.

After viewing the main exhibit, I continued upstairs to the traveling exhibits, which change every few months. The current attraction is a collection of memorabilia from the movie Gone with the Wind. This extremely popular exhibit included costumes, the original score, Academy Awards, and much more. It was a nice display, though I was a little disappointed by the display of the costumes (you would think they could have gotten real mannequins; fortunately, the interesting screen tests (from a variety of Hollywood stars) made it worth the trip.

Besides the Gone with the Wind exhibit, there were also small exhibits on the Girl Scouts and North Carolina's military history (though I wasn't really interested in either of those exhibits.) After my time at the Museum of History, I considered visiting the Museum of Natural Science - but decided to return home early instead. Still, it was enjoyable first trip to Raleigh.

Vivien Leigh's dress from Gone with the Wind

Cape Fear River Trail

Since today was perhaps the last lingering day of warm fall weather, I decided to make good use of it with my first North Carolina hike. Since everything in Fayetteville is still relatively new and unfamiliar, I was actually able to have my first adventure in town.

Starting on the north side of Fayetteville, I began at Clark Park and continued along the Cape Fear River Trail (which was featured in my new hiking book, 100 Classic Hikes in North Carolina. The trail (which was actually a paved pathway through a city park), was extremely busy with runner, bicyclist, and families out enjoying the beautiful fall day.

Although the "trail" was a little disappointing after all my walks through the real "wildness" out West, I did enjoy the beautiful fall foliage! Sadly, the trail didn't provide many views of the actual river; instead, it passed along a cliff overlooking the river - with hundreds of trees blocking the view. (I'm assuming the view might be a little better during the winter months once the leaves have all fallen.) However, it was a nice walk on a warm autumn day!