Carolina: Education and Adventure

The last couple of days we have combined school and adventures each day. We went to Bennett Place, a farm near Durham where two Generals from the Civil War (Sherman and Johnston) met three times to negotiate the end of the war. Ironically these meetings happened after General Lee had surrendered to General Grant in Virginia, but at that time the pony Express was not as fast as the technology we know today and the poor Generals in NC didnt know that they were still fighting a war that was over elsewhere. Anyway, it was super interesting and our first taste of Civil war history.

We also attended the Tree of Hope Christmas tree lighting at the Duke Cancer Center, where Blythe receives all of her care for Ovarian Cancer. She continues to celebrate remission so it was nice to be with her to celebrate and to meet some of her caregivers at a really nice reception.

Blythe was pretty tired but we headed back to Dericka for dinner and then she went home for a good night’s rest. On Friday we went to a tour of Duke Homestead, where the Duke family started the American Tobacco Company from very humble beginnings. Washington Duke was widowed twice and had 5 children as a solo parent and started what would become one of the largest industries in his backyard. Very cool.

Friday night we went to see a showcase at the studio where Blythe has taken aerial classes for almost 10 years. It was a great show with very cool music and they had modern dance as well as aerial and lyra performances. The performance was a dress rehearsal and they welcomed a group of special needs attendees, one of whom asked Marleigh to do a cartwheel at the end of the performance. A fun time.

Today we met Chip and Blythe for breakfast at their favorite place in Durham, Elmo’s. We then decided to pursue one of the items from this book that my friend Hendo gave me, highlighting unusual sights in all 50 states. We always see if we are near one of these, and today’s trip took us about an hour away from Durham to Siler City to see the Devil’s Tramping Ground.

The Devil’s Tramping Ground is a 40 foot area in the woods that is unable to grow anything. A tad creepy and in the middle of absolutely nowhere rural North Carolina, but a nice ride and a fun story to share!

We then ended up in Pittsboro for some shopping and dinner at S & T’s Soda Shoppe. A fun day!

Tomorrow we head towards Wilmington- we are thinking that we will take the ferry to Ocracoke and then up the Outer Banks as we make our way towards Southeastern VA for Christmas. The next chapter of the adventure begins!

Cheers for now!