The Sites: Raleigh, Durham, and Chapel Hill

While much of the collections come from far-flung places, some more exotic than others, a good portion comes from close to home, some even from home itself.


Forming the Research Triangle, the landscapes of Raleigh, Durham, and Chapel Hill are dotted with a total of 16 colleges and universities - large and small, public and private, well-known and hidden gems.  The people that live here are a mix of native North Carolinians and transplants from elsewhere who came for work, for school, for other opportunities.  It is easy to see why we stay: the blend of cultures, the pace that is at times both fast and leisurely, the wealth of ways to spend your time indoors and out.

NC State Fair; Raleigh

Each fall, the North Carolina State Fair brings everyone together for everything there is to love (or not) about a fair: livestock, rides, and food concoctions that sound both wrong and irresistible.  It is people-watching in the purest form combined with a showcase of all things North Carolina, from garden shows to crafts to agriculture.

NC Botanical Garden; Chapel Hill

Tucked away off a busy highway in Chapel Hill is the North Carolina Botanical Garden.  Its paths are lined with the flora of the state, from the mountains to the coastal plain, gathered together in one place to bloom in a veritable symphony of greenery and color.  True to nature, the blooms change with the seasons, making this a natural place to return throughout the year.

Double rainbow; Durham

I spent several years living in what was once described as a "treehouse" - my building nestled up against a grove of pole pines and seemingly anemic oaks that were nothing like the majestic, sprawling trees I'd previously known.  The songbirds adopted my feeder as their local nursery and cafeteria, granting me the privilege of watching their chicks learn to fly and forage.  As wonderful as this was, the proximity of the trunks left me with only a small pocket of sky, compounding the claustrophobia I still feel in the eastern forests after having spent my entire life living in more open spaces.  A recent move freed me from the tyranny of the trees (the grove is a good ten to twenty yards out now) and gave me access to the sky again.  I am able to sit upon the deck, watching the storms roll through, thankful for both the third floor unit and the roof that protects me (and my camera) from most of the elements.  Of course, this also means I have a birds-eye view of the calmer side of nature as well, which never ceases to amaze me.