North Carolina Zoological Park, Asheboro, NC

Saturday, January 7 was our first family outing (other than visiting family) since our first daughter was born on October 17. The weather was nice, no chance for rain and afternoon temperatures between 65 and 70, so we decided to head towards Asheboro and the North Carolina Zoological Park, about 90 minutes from Raleigh via US-64.

It was still chilly in the morning, but we left the house around 11:00 and made it to the zoo around 1:00. I recommend eating lunch prior to entering the zoo. During the off season, the Africa entrance and parking area is closed, so we'll be starting our visit in North America. 

Having been to the zoo before, we decided to head directly towards Africa, as last time we skipped half of this section. It also helps that the Polor bear exhibit is closed until next year for renovations, one of the highlights (when Knut isn't alseep at least) of North America. It isn't a boring walk as we still saw many of the North American exhibits during the walk, the black bears (who were sleeping) , the grizzly bears (also sleeping) and the red wolves (resting, but not asleep). 

Red Wolf 

After most of the North America Exhibits, this sign lets you know there is a break before you have to walk uphill anymore. 

Once we get to Africa, see see the Chimpanzee's and then we head over to Lemur Island and then to see the lions. Today, the lemur's were playing around, and, the lion, like the bears, was asleep.

Next we headed down towards the Giraffe's, and then made are way to the elephants.

After this, we made are way back to North America. We were getting tired, who knew a three month old would be so much work, and decided to skip most of the primates and headed towards the Sonora Desert building. 

My daughter's favorite animal this trip, a desert Quail

After the Sonora Desert, we were exhausted and headed back to the entrance. We skipped over the Streamside building (otters, bobcats, snakes, etc), the Cypress Swamp (alligators, cougars), and the Rocky Coast (seals) but were happy with everything that we did get to see.

Currently, its $12 for adults and $8 for children aged 2-12. Or  for $74 a year, become a member, and get free admission for two adults living in one household and all their children. You also get free admission to all three NC Aquariums for a year, plus free or discounted admission to a number of zoos and aquariums around the country. Doesn't take too many visits for this to pay for itself.  As members, we never feel like we have to see everything as we know we will be back again every few months. 

Be sure to check out the Zoo website for any changes to the admissions fees or park hours.

www.nczoo.com

Historic Oak View County Park

Jenn had planned on one of her friends taking maternity pictures for us today at Historic Oak View County Park, just outside the beltline in Raleigh. Her friend got sick however, so our photographer ended up being the self timer on the camera. Needless to say those pictures didn't turn out so well. For kids though, there are a few things do to, there are a few friendly goats, some old farm buildings, and lots of open spaces to run around and play. Not really worth a drive from out of town, but for locals this could be a nice place to spend some time on a spring or fall day.

For lunch, we got a quick bite to eat at the Roast Grill in downtown Raleigh. They serve hotdogs, coke in glass bottles, beer, and not much else. There were featured on eposide of Man Vs. Food a few years ago. There was a short line out the door when we arrive, but were eating after a short wait. Hotdogs come with your choice of chili, slaw, onions, mustard. Nothing else, and don't even think about asking for ketchup on your hot dog here. The Roast Grill has been open since the 1940's, and has a lot of character. The chili was pretty good, but I wasn't that impressed with the hotdog. Don't get me wrong, it was good, but I can't see driving from out of town to eat there.

After leaving the Roast Grill, we headed over to NC State to kill some time. We already had tickets to an evening movie, and didn't feel like driving home, and then back out again. Being a holiday weekend, many students had already fled back to their parents' homes, but some where still on campus getting ready for the football game. The NC State Creamery sells Howling Cow ice cream from the DH Hill Library, this is the same stuff you used to only be able to get during the state fair. Unfortunately, they are closed on Saturday :(

Not the most exciting or thrilling Saturday, but it was a day off work at least.


Links:
Historic Oak View County Park
The Roast Grill
NC State University

Guilford Courthouse National Military Park and Tanger Outlets

So, over the weekend, Hurricane Irene came to North Carolina and the east coast. There was a lot of damage to the Outer Banks and to some of the sound areas, but the Triangle was unscathed other than the ran. On Sunday, it was time to do something...anything. Obviously anything to the east was ruled out. It was almost noon already, so it had to be something quick, looked at the map for a while, a decided, hey, why don't we go towards Greensboro, and go explore the Guilford Courthouse National Military Park.

Depending on how traffic is, Greensboro is about an hour west from the Raleigh area. Instead of taking the interstate, we took US70 most of the way there just for a different view, and likely added a few minutes to the drive time. Right before the Guilford Courthouse National Military Park, is the Tannenbaum Historic Park. A sign on the visitor's center indicated it would be closed until Spring 2012, however, the bathrooms were still open.

 Tannenbaum Historic Park
Tannebaum Historic Park had several old buildings on a small lot. The early archeticture was interesting, but the buildings themselves were locked up. We took a few pictures here, and moved on.

Guilford Courthouse National Military Park

We arrived at the Guilford Courthouse National Military Park around 3:00 PM. The park gates close at 5:00, even during the summer. There is a small museum in the visitor's center detailing the Revolutionary War battle that took place on this spot. In addition, there are a number of monuments on the grounds, and over 2 miles of walking trails that can take you to them all. There is also a 2.5 mile driving tour that circles the park. With Jennifer being 8 months pregnant, and the temperature in the mid 90's, we decided to just do the driving tour. The one way road for the driving tour is also very popular with walkers and cyclist, so be sure to pay attention. There are a number of places to stop and very short walks from the parking spaces to the monuments. In the time it took us to drive from one end to the other, we actually saw someone else walk it in the same amount of time. We'll have to do this again in the spring  when it isn't quite so warm, and Jenn isn't pregnant.







Tanger Outlets
On the way back to Raleigh, we stopped by Tanger Outlets in Mebane. We both had gift cards leftover from the Grand Opening nearly a year ago and decided we should use them up before they start incurring fees. We got some good deals on shoes, and I got a pretty sweet Columbia jacket for this fall that I'll use for cycling and hiking. Outlet centers are outlet centers, check the website to see if there is anything there that interest you.

Food:
On this trip, we actually ate lunch before we left the house, and we didn't have dinner until we got back to the Triangle. We did still have a really nice dinner at Rockfish Seafood Grill. Food was good, many entrees from $10-$15. We both had the crab stuffed flounder and really enjoyed it. I've eaten there before and knew it was a chain, but didn't realize how small of a chain it was untill I looked the the website, 13 locations in Texas, and just the one in North Carolina. 

Links:
Guilford Courthouse National Military Park
Guilford Battleground Company
Tanger Outlets - Mebane
Rockfish Seafood Grille

First Post

Over the weekend, it was suggested that I start writing up some of the day trips Jenn and I take. Most of the trips here will be day trips from the Triangle, but, most should be easily adaptable from your location.

You may notice that there are some posts that are "older" than this one. The magic there is predating articles. For trips that we've taken prior to now, I'm going back and adding them when they happened, so the dates aren't always right.

Wings Over Wayne Airshow

On April 16, several tornadoes touched down in North Carolina, including one that did some minor damage to our home. Compared to those who lost everything, the damage we suffered was minimal. Luckily, we were not home at the time, as we had whet to Goldsboro for the Wings Over Wayne airshow at SJAFB. The airshow was called early, so we headed home, luckily avoiding the stoms as they came.

The next day, April 17, we really just wanted to get away for the day so we headed back to Goldsboro and the airshow. The weather and flying was awesome on day two.

More Photos at Flickr

Pine Knoll Shores and Fort Macon

Just over three hours from the Triangle is the Crystal Coast of North Carolina. Emerald Isle and Atlantic Beach are very popular destinations in the summer. In the winter, well, this area is not very crowded at all. We started our trip by driving to Pine Knoll Shores, home of the newest (most recently remodeled I should say) of the three North Carolina Aquariums.

The Aquarium is pretty nice, with a large indoor waterfall, huge tanks full of fish, and very reasonable entrance fees. Annual memberships are very affordable, and AZA reciprocity include free admission to the NC Zoo, and many other aquariums and zoos around the county. Membership typically pays for itself after three visits to an eligible park.

After we left the Aquarium, we headed up the island to Fort Macon State Park. Fort Macon is very well preserved and is a neat way to spend an hour or so exploring. There is a lot of history here and some neat things to photograph.

After leaving Fort Macon, we headed back to the mainland, and drove around Morehead City and Beaufort. Being the off season, we didn't find anything to do this trip, so we started to head back home to the triangle via New Bern, NC.


New Bern, was once the Capital of North Carolina, and Tryon Palace is a popular tourist destination. It is also the birthplace of Pepsi-cola. For today's trip, we were here for only one thing, seafood at the Stingray Cafe. We had eaten here once before, in May, and had steamed blue crabs that were delecious and very reasonably priced. Blue crabs aren't exactly in season in January, so we had to get something different. Jenn ordered the softshell crab, and I had a craving for clam strips. Still good, and even more affordable than the crabs we had last time. This has become our go to place when we are in the area.

Links:
Crystal Coast NC
Fort Macon State Park
NC Aquariums - Pine Knoll Shores
Stingray Cafe - Urbanspoon

Raven Rock State Park

Just outside of Lillington, NC, off Highway 421 is Raven Rock State Park. On the Cape Fear River, this park features many miles of hiking trails that are both people and pet friendly. The trails can be muddy after a rain, or a rare North Carolina snow event.

Links:
Raven Rock State Park