Vacation Day 5 - Durham, NC... Sarah P. Duke Gardens...

This is the first site of Durham, North Carolina on the Hwy coming in from Burlington.

We made plans to meet at Parker & Otis for brunch, a dog-friendly place I found on Bring Fido.

 When we got into town Awbri took an interest in the architecture :-)

 Durham is an old Tobacco town. The architecture is all from the tobacco production era.

 All the old tobacco buildings have been turned into something new, like little shops or markets or even a campus.

This building looks like a fortress...

This is where Parker & Otis is... on the second level...

We made it! All 4 of us together again...and Buddy & Awbri.

This place is awesome so we came back a couple of times. I believe Otis is Parker's dog :-)

https://www.google.com/search?q=parker+%26+otis+durham&ie=&oe=

Next to it is Brightleaf Square... so we walked through.

There are plenty of places to sit and take a break, enjoy the flowers, get a beverage...

I was happily able to sit in the shade and take pictures.

It is a good place to walk around or if you have a wheelchair. You can go inside the shops and restaurants or stay outside. It was very hot so we went inside to cool off and with the dogs it was no problem.

 Our next destination... Duke Gardens.

 How pretty is this?

This "castle" looking structure is actually Duke University...

 Now I have to mention the parking again. There is a new system in North Carolina. The parking lots do not have booths but they are monitored by parking patrol. There is a pay-station, you have to remember the number of your parking space and put money into the slot for the designated space. So have dollar bills with you. And they are rated per hour usually so you want to pay for more than the amount of time you think you will be there. If you go over the time you WILL be ticketed!

Yes, those Elephant Ears are black! If you are a nature, garden, flower lover... this place is beautiful and peaceful.

 It is not wheelchair friendly though. The paths are not smooth.

There are plenty of benches for resting in the shade so you can take it slow and walk as much or as little as you want.

 But bring water.

This tree looked like it had giraffe skin.

 It was a very hot day so we spent a lot of time sitting in the shade drinking water :-) ...

I'm so glad I have the zoom lens on my camera so I can take pictures like this from a bench in the shade.

 

 We bring a collapsible bowl for our pups and water bottles.

 Awbri practiced her "pointing" skills... she saw a Robin in the bushes.

 These lilies were towering over us. They were 7-8 feet tall.

 This is a frog habitat... didn't see any frogs though.

 A Swallow Tail Butterfly

A Hummingbird Hawk Moth!!! I've only seen 3 in my life :-) I'm so happy I got this shot.

 This is called Pineapple Lily...

Ready to go someplace cool and have a beverage...

As I mentioned before breweries are now all over the place and they are usually dog-welcoming. And they also serve non-alcoholic beverages. So we visited several.

First... Fullsteam ahead...

I was trying to get shots of the architecture and the scene downtown as we drove through

 I kind of like the way I captured the picture in the mirror and the building behind.

Pink penguins in the window..?

 Our next stop...

Fullsteam Brewery

We had a couple of beverages but decided to go around the corner to Geer Street Garden for food.

 We had excellent food. They were so accommodating to us and our pups. It was delightful.

They gave Miss Awbri her own water bowl.

And that's the end of our first day in Durham.

Tomorrow ~

The Bull City and it's all about tobacco.

2016 Vacation Day 4 Asheville, NC

This is the scenery at the Motel 6, Asheville.

It really looked like swamp creatures in a lagoon with the fog.

We wanted pastries for breakfast and some good coffee.

On my list of dog-friendly places is the Well Bred Bakery in Biltmore Village.

"Biltmore Village was conceived by a visionary millionaire, designed by world-renowned architects and home to humble estate workers, Biltmore Village was created as a counterpart to Biltmore Estate. It was a planned community for estate workers as well as an independent community all its own.
It has evolved and changed in the years since. Today, it is hard to classify the village. It’s a bustling, contemporary shopping destination – home to both national retail outlets and one-of-a-kind independent shops. It’s the perfect night out for foodies and friends. It’s a must see site for history buffs and architecture aficionados."

I loved Biltmore Village. The sidewalks are brick paved.

The street lamps and signs are vintage.

It was a cloudy morning but the trees and flowers everywhere made it cheery.

We all enjoyed a breakfast of pastries, coffee and cocoa. Yep, the pups too.
I had read about the Cathedral of All Souls and I have a love for old Cathedrals with stained glass windows. It was right around the corner from the bakery (only about 50 yards) so we walked.

 We had to get a photo of this wall...

it curved into half moon shapes the whole length of the property.

And there is Buddy... :)
Directly across the street is the Cathedral.

I would have loved to go inside and get pictures but there was a service going on.

The architecture and the stained glass windows...

I can only imagine the sunlight coming through these windows and how beautiful it is.

 We appreciate these things so much.

I don't think I've ever seen a circular Cathedral like this.

 
The brickwork, the tiles, the windows...

 And the bells... I can imagine how the bells sound.

 I want to come back someday and go inside.
Biltmore Village is delightful...

We just walked back to the car, taking our time and taking breaks on benches...

 I love this weathervane... for a yoga studio :) . I love that there is yoga studio here.

 This little shop was the first place I was drawn to. I didn't go inside but just enjoyed what I could see from the sidewalk.

 These beautiful blown glass ornaments were hanging from the tree in front of the shop.

I think I will have to get some of these to hang in a window like this. It would be like a stained glass window with the sun light coming in through the colored glass balls.

 I want to know the person who made this bench! I'm sure we would be friends.

 Asheville is also knows for it's Breweries... and the Asheville Brewery has "Wetnose Wednesday" for pups. Since it was Wednesday and our pups deserved something special, we left the Village and went in search of the Asheville Brewery.

From a Cathedral to a Brewery...

 We drove around in circles looking for a place to park. That is the one negative about Asheville...

Parking is challenging.

 But we did finally find a place to park...

We each tried a local brew... I had BeerWine for the first time. Richard had a cider.

We had yummy treats and so did our pups! That's a plate of dog cookies...

On "Wetnose Wednesday" the pups get bandanas.

This "Cornhole Toss" thing is a big deal. We saw these everywhere we went and they have tournaments. 

This wall was in the bathroom...

And this sign just cracked me up...

 Back in the car... Buddy actually wearing his bandana :) he hates wearing anything, but he was okay with his new bandana.

It was around 90 degrees and started raining.

We had a few hours of driving up to Burlington.

 It rained hard on us for a little while but not for long.

When we got to the motel in Burlington is was sunny...

We were excited to see our dear friends.
We planned to meet them in Durham at a dog-friendly eatery but there was an accident so we came back to the motel and had pizza.
This was in the sky after the accident.

We saw this as a sign that it was going to be alright and the next day we would be with our friends in Durham.