The street where our friends Caz and Craig live is really quiet and peaceful, so we had a good night's rest (definitely way better than the Cracker Barrel parking lot the other night!). The street curves on one end, and walking towards it is stunning at this time of the year because it's covered in autumn leaves from the tall trees that line the street. Also perfect for Sheila to slosh her way through for a walk this morning, she may well enjoy the sound of crunchy fallen leaves as much as we do!
Indoor and Outdoor Art
Caz and Craig had a few work meetings for their This is Raleigh website, so we headed to the North Carolina Museum of Art after breakfast. Admission is free for this as well as the 164-acre Ann and Jim Goodnight Museum Park outside of it, how wonderful!
We managed to squeeze into a parking spot at the museum, and navigated past a couple of folks whose job it was to draw people into a discussion so they could get charity donations. Not sure what they're called, but they're the people who have to try all sorts of tactics to get attention, like dancing a silly jig, making jokes or just yelling out "HI THERE!" while everyone else tries to swerve past, avoid eye contact, or make an apologetic excuse ("Sorry, I'm in a rush to get to my doctor's appointment/kid's birthday/dog's adoptversary/tooth extraction.") Definitely a tough gig!
The Ann and Jim Goodnight Museum Park features both permanent and temporary art installations, which we could see while walking the various recreational trails. While we didn't get to see all of the artwork, it was such a pleasant walk to be outside while appreciating all the sculptures! It was a rather warm day, and there was also a Rodin Garden outside, where we could see replicas of the famous sculptor's works.
We ventured inside the Museum of Art afterwards, where we saw diverse contemporary collections. A separate building with the Museum's cafe, there were much older artworks from Ancient Egypt, Ancient Greece and Europe to 1910. There were also a lot of religious artworks from Europe. There was so much to see (and it was free!) that we ended spending a lot longer here than anticipated! It's definitely worth the visit and we could have stayed for longer.
Free Expression Tunnel & Coffee
We saw another type of artwork next, driving to the University of North Carolina to check out the Free Expression Tunnel, an underpass where students can legally spray paint messages, art, and celebrate events. It's a graffiti wall that's been around for decades. Despite it being a Saturday, there was someone at work, spray painting inside the tunnel when we were there. We've seen a number of graffiti tunnels and alleys throughout the trip, and there are always so many layers of paint. It's chaotic but interesting to identify the different tags and images in one spot, knowing that there have been scores and scores of folks who have left their mark here at some point.
We then met Caz and Craig for a brief coffee at Heirloom, a cozy café downtown, with dishes and drinks inspired by Southeast Asian flavors. Lisette ordered a Lao Red Tea, made with caramelized brown sugar, chrysanthemum, and cloves which was scrumptious!
The Newest Thomas Dambo Trolls
We've seen the Thomas Dambo trolls in various states on this trip, including in Texas, Kentucky, Wyoming. Apparently the goal is to have these trolls in every US state, and one of the most recent additions is in the Dorothea Dix Park in Raleigh, where five giant trolls (a family: Daddy Bird Eye, Mother Strongtail, and 3 babies) had just been installed within the last couple of weeks when we were there.
It was already late afternoon when we arrived at the park, but it was still packed with families who were running around among the other various art installations and playgrounds there. How wonderful to have so many places for families to be playing and coming together in the city! There was one kind of playground that was made out of tubes in various sizes, which 2 or 3 of them stacked on each other. Kids and adults were clambering from one side of the stacked tubes to the other. It looked fun, but also quite precarious, especially when we'd see multiple people standing on one wobbly tube!
The trolls are scattered throughout the park, but we managed to find and take photos of 3 of them before it got too dark. Because they are so new, there were long lines that had formed of people waiting to take photos next to the trolls, but we didn't have time to wait (nor did we want to get into a queue). The trolls are always so cool to see, and apparently the family of trolls in Raleigh encourage discovery in nature, with a message to protect trees.
A Fun Evening With Friends
We got back to Caz and Craig's place just before they did, so we gave Sheila her dinner and got her ready for bed. We had a night in, ordering food from a restaurant that offered Mexican and various Asian dishes, and spent the evening chatting, and listening to classic Aussie music (Michael has a Spotify playlist with 19 hours worth of hits--think Midnight Oil, INXS, Powderfinger, Australian Crawl, Diesel, Crowded House and so much more). As Aussies I think we all felt rather nostalgic listening to music that transported us back to when we'd listen to these songs growing up, who we were and the experiences we'd had during that era. We chatted well into the night; how fabulous to meet old friends and new on this RV trip!