North Carolina: Cary, Durham, and Raleigh

I spent 3 days in and around Cary, Durham, and Raleigh, North Carolina with family.

My trailer was set up at the North Carolina State Fairgrounds campground as my home base for visiting the area.

Several events took place while I was there including the DIXIE Gun & Knife Show, an annual event.

This was the biggest gathering of family members on my trip!  Pictured are cousins Mike, Patti, aunt Shirley, sister Jan, me, uncle Bob, and Denny the Bichon at Bob & Shirley's home in Cary.  We enjoyed much visiting and dining together.  Thanks to Bob & Shirley for hosting us!

Mike and his wife Annamarie took time off Thursday to go out for lunch and to visit the Duke Gardens and the Duke Chapel in Durham.

We all met Mike's son Joseph to enjoy lunch at Bullock's Bar-B-Que, an institution in Durham! https://www.bullocks-bbq.com/

Next stop: Duke Gardens and Duke Chapel

It's a few minutes walk from the Gardens to Duke Chapel.

On Friday Mike took Jan and me to the North Carolina Museum of Art and the State Farmers Market in Raleigh.

We walked the Blue Loop around the grounds of the Museum of Art to see some of the outdoor works of art.

Next we checked out vendors at the State Farmers Market that's open 7 days a week.

Ordering seafood for lunch at the market, quite a busy place:

On Saturday Jan and I drove to downtown Durham where vendors set up on the streets near Durham Central Park.

Jan purchased some hand-spun yarn from this vendor and they enjoyed talking about needlework.

A few of the murals near the park:

Cousin Mike's booth in the Durham Farmers' Market was our pimary destination.

It was a beautiful afternoon and business was good at his Terra Clotha booth!

Jan and I modeling the matching shirts we happened to choose from Mike's selection of hand-dyed goods:

After shopping we walked several nearby blocks to see more murals and the iconic Bull statue in downtown Durham.  Local civil rights activist and attorney Pauli Murray is pictured on this wall:

After the Farmers Market closed Mike, Annamarie, Joesph, Jan, and I met for a delightful lunch at Guglhpf Bakery, Cafe & Biergarten.  After lunch we viewed more murals and landmarks around Durham:

And then, a little time at Mike & Annamarie's to put our feet up and meet the chickens before I dropped off Jan at the airport for her flight back to Seattle.