We've recently been staying more at Cracker Barrel parking lots because they are reliable (dedicated RV parking spots), and quieter (no loud generators from trucks coming and going at all hours) than rest stops. The Cracker Barrel we stayed at in Greenville overnight, however, was an exception: we were awoken in the wee hours of the morning to garbagemen collecting the trash, thrashing the bins around us. It seemed that no sooner had the banging subsided, we then heard the loud buzz of a whipper snipper (that's the Aussie term, we think they're called weed whackers in the US?). Needless to say, we had a poor nights' sleep!
But we wearily got out of bed, noting that the parking lot was full once again by the time we hoisted the blinds up to see folks piling in and out of the Cracker Barrel. We are yet to try the food here, but plan to at some point since it's been our go-to spot to park for so many places! Wiping the sleep from our eyes, we drove out and arrived at the Vollis Simpson Whirligig Park. Vollis Simpson was a folk artist, known for his wind-driven structures which he called "windmills", but came to be called whirligigs. He built a number of large whirligigs on his property, which became a top tourist attraction for the county, referred to as "Acid Park" by locals, because of how the sculptures would reflect car headlights when people came out after dark. As his artwork became more known, his pieces were displayed in places like department stores in New York, and became part of private and public art collections worldwide.
In 2010, the Whirligig Park was created to permanently house about 30 of Simpson's 60 feet (18 meter) tall, kinetic structures, which are made from recycled agricultural and industrial parts. The artworks are all vibrant in color, and rather hypnotic to watch as the different components rotate in varying directions. It's like standing in the middle of a circus, with all these objects swirling up around us!
William B. Umstead State Park
Just 10 miles northwest of downtown Raleigh is William B. Umstead State Park, a recreational park for activities including hiking, jogging, camping, fishing, paddling and horseback riding. It's free to enter, and the drive in was absolutely stunning, as we drove over crunchy fallen autumn leaves, and were enveloped among the tall trees as we headed to the carpark. It is very hypnotic driving while the leaves are slowly fluttering to the ground, and even Michael admitted that it can be hard to focus!
After parking at the Sycamore parking lot, we walked along the trail, passing other people jogging or walking through the forest. There's a beautiful, well-constructed and abandoned wooden hut, and not much further down is an incredible carving of animals (we could see squirrels, owls, rabbits, a fox) and leaves on one fallen red oak tree. The tree is huge (about 25 feet long), which was transformed by artists Jerry Redi and Randy Boni of Smoky Mountain Art. The log remains lying well-preserved inside the park, where it's now a popular destination and photo spot.
As we were heading back to the RV, we heard some rustling ahead of us and saw a stag jump out onto the trail in front of us--how cool! It stopped in the middle of the trail, turning its head to look at us for a couple of seconds to judge whether we were a friend or threat, before dashing across the trail and running deeper into the woods. Perhaps this experience was a positive omen of some sort for us!
Catching Up With Hannah and Her Family
In the evening, we'd planned to catch up with our friend Hannah and her family. When we moved to San Francisco, Hannah and Lisette worked together at the PR agency where Lisette worked. Lisette and Hannah worked together again at another agency when Hannah moved to New York. Hannah and her husband, Joe, have now been living in Durham for several years, raising their 2 young kids. It's been a few years since we've last seen them, but we've always kept in touch over the past 15 or so years, and track all the major milestones we've had over that time!
We met for a casual dinner at Lakewood Social, a bar and restaurant with a big outdoor seating area, which serves up small bites, sandwiches, as well as draft beers, wines, and cocktails. When we arrived there was a kids party going on outside, but since we had Sheila with us we found a bench outdoors. Hannah and Joe soon arrived, and it was so lovely to catch up and trade stories over burgers, broccoli cheese melts, and drinks. Hannah's parents were in town from Boston as they regularly come to visit them and their grandkids, and they brought their two young children along from home. Similar to our experience when we visited Knoxville in Tennessee, Durham/Raleigh seem to be great cities for raising a family, and Hannah readily agreed that while they hadn't necessarily planned to stay long-term in Durham initially, it did tick a lot of boxes as they started to settle down.
The weather was warm enough to wear a t-shirt during the day, but once the sun set it did get a bit chillier. After a couple of hours or so of catching up, we had to figure out a place to park, and wound up tailing Hannah and Joe to their neighborhood, where we found a quiet spot to park on their street that didn't seem to be in anyone's way. Tomorrow we'll be visiting more friends who have moved to the Durham/Raleigh area from other cities, decided to settle down with their families and call this place home.