Being so close to Durham - about a 30 minute drive - Zack and I took a small day trip and headed to Duke University! I didn't really know what to expect...I know they are usually good in basketball?? but that's about it. We showed up and wow! The. Campus. Is. Beautiful. Trees were everywhere, the buildings were made from gorgeous stone work - almost medieval but with a more classic beauty - and Duke Chapel was in the center of it all. Before we hit the heart of the campus grounds, we saw a garden - Sarah P. Duke Gardens - which looked nice and we quickly realized how massive it was! It has different sections - a moss garden, Japanese garden, ponds, amphitheater.. it just kept going. Turns out it's around 55 acres with what felt like a million paths to take. On a day like today, it was the perfect time to visit with great weather and so many trees blossoming...so so pretty.
The gardens eventually emptied us into the rest of campus. The grounds were pretty with grassy lawns and magnolias and oaks lining the sidewalks. Fun fact for the day - the library has spin bikes with a table top so students can workout in the library while studying countless hours! Sounds like a great idea right?? Too bad no one was using them.. Maybe getting all sweating and panting really hard in a quiet library isn't the most appealing thing for a student hah.
We headed to the Chapel after...but it took us forever to get there. I think we found ourselves at the back of the library?? maybe?? but there was not clear path at first to the chapel. We could see the bell tower (it was so close) but we kept finding dead end after dead end ha..clearly we needed a map, but hey, we got a see more of the pretty campus! Eventually we found it! The inside was amazing. The stained glass windows covered the walls and they were...how do I put it.. busy? The colors were so vibrant and there was a lot going on but it looked really cool.
Commentary by Z: Something I find strange but also appreciate is that Catholic chapels just have their front doors open and let people wander in all the time and take pictures. I get that the idea is to always be welcoming, which is cool, but it's gotta be annoying for people that want some quiet prayer time to have to deal with tourists!
If you head east and maybe a little north from Durham, Falls Lake is a must see! Being that it's winter, we did't have to pay an entrance fee..but the fees during summer are pretty reasonable something like $6 a car. It was a little windy, but we had the place _almost_ to ourselves! There's something so amazing about a lake being surrounded by woods - everything seems more peaceful and inviting. We have a kayak (not canoe! I always call it a canoe for who knows what reason) that we did not bring on this trip but now I am kicking myself that we didn't - the price we pay for our smaller car with waaaay better gas mileage! From our vantage point we only saw a fraction of the lake and our kayak would have given us a chance to see more. I definitely want to come back!!
Commentary by Z: Driving 4477 miles (our total so far) in the Wrangler with a kayak on top has 0 appeal to me.
Final thoughts about Raleigh?
We love the area! They have great parks and outdoor trails for all ages which is pretty awesome. Growing up in California and Colorado, we both love the outdoors and this city definitely has the outdoorsy vibe! They have tons of food options in the heart of the city and even in the suburbs which makes it convenient and exciting to try new places and not our everyday chains (no fear though, they have chains too!).
We wish we could have taken more time to go to the nature preserves and other hiking trails near Cary but once again we never seem to have enough time! I think we could both see ourselves living here one day and really loving it, but for now we will just have the memory and joy that Raleigh gave us!
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