Raleigh, North Carolina To Catch Up With Friends

As we head out from South Carolina on the Travel Day, we saw there are so many trees along the road – just like Louisiana, Mississippi, etc, that you can’t see anything else. So, they have fun billboard signs. Oh – these signs are so tall they almost give you a neck pain looking so high above the trees to the signs. HA  Anyway, Buc-ee’s always has fun signs and now we were entertained by South of the Border signs. So, south of the border, huh, we are in South Carolina. Then we figured out it is south of North Carolina border. HA As we passed it, we saw it is a huge complex with hotel, several restaurants, rides, mini golf and more. What a fun place, it seems to be. 

As soon as we crossed over the state line into North Carolina, literally, as soon as we crossed, we started seeing beautiful farm fields. Also, there is construction on I-95 from there until past where we got off that freeway at mile marker 88. However, it was the best construction to go through! Why? Because they are just adding lanes and the current road was as smooth as can be. Whew. It was tight but not as tight as a lot of construction. 

We came to Raleigh, North Carolina because we have quite a few friends that live in the area. We stayed at North Carolina State Fairground Campground. When we go to the entrance, we were suppose to call for check in. Kevin did. It is nice to be here – the site is plenty wide for us to park the truck next to HOWE (footnote 1). There is one tree behind us – we are so glad to have “some” openness. We watched one couple try to back in next to us. Oh what a time they had! Kevin said their bumper pull trailer and their long bed truck is more than they can handle. I definitely saw body language was not happy between the two. They would pull forward and back up still with the door open to the trailer. Many times. Finally they got settled and they seemed to be happy again.

Kevin’s former co-worker lives in the area. They met up at a BBQ place close by. They worked together in 2002! Kevin really enjoyed the visit. Since I had only met him once, I insisted that I stay home (footnote 2). That way Kevin could focus on the visit and not have to interpret for me, since I am deaf. He had a great time and I was thrilled.

Presbyterian Communion Tokens, NC Museum Of History, Raleigh, NC 03/24

On Good Friday we went to North Carolina Museum of History. Thankfully, most of downtown Raleigh must have been off for the day because traffic was light and we got to park for free in a lot. We have noticed there are no straight roads here in the Raleigh area. Not kidding, the compass is always changing on our map and we are very turned around. 🙂 We got to the museum right as it opened. This museum is free of charge, huge, and gets an A for all videos closed captioned. The displays are just enough information without getting bogged down. There is plenty of space to stand and read and others can read as well or walk past you. I soon noticed on all the walls each has a large photo, sometimes with a smaller one in a frame. What a great way to use those huge and tall walls. I really thought it was fantastic. We saw a display of 3 Communion tokens. Signs says “Communion tokens were given to Presbyterian congregants who had been tested by a minister on their knowledge of the Bible and church doctrine and were deemed eligible to receive the sacrament.” Also, Kevin and I didn’t realize there were so many German U-Boats right off the coast in North Carolina. The area was called Torpedo Junction. 

Struggling Through Poverty (Depression) With Dignity, By Mary Wootten, NC Museum Of History, Raleigh, NC 03/24

A display of photos caught my eye. Mary Bayard Morgan Wootten “pioneered in aerial photography by taking pictures of her hometown, New Bern, from a Wright brothers plane” in 1914. She gained recognition through her photos of people struggling through poverty with dignity. They teared up my eyes. 

Upstairs in the huge place were more things to see, including a sport area, which we didn’t go through. They did have a great room filled with the Alphabet. Q was for quilts, of course and three were on display. G was for gold. Sign says “One morning in 1799, 12-year-old Conrad Reed was playing in Little Meadow Creek in Cabarrus County when a large yellow rock caught his eye. He lugged the 17-pound stone home. His family used it as a doorstop for three years, until a jeweler identified it as gold. News spread, and soon the Caroline gold rush- the nation’s first- had begun. Northern Carolina led the nation in gold production until the California gold rush began in 1848.” Can you imagine…a doorstop?! HAHA By this time we were done and it was 2:30 p.m. 

Convenience Store – Lock Up! Raleigh, NC 03/24

We went to Home Depot where Kevin purchased a few things, including some big bolts to nail down his desktop. It seem his desk chair bounces enough on travel days that it push up on the desk top and has actually pulled it away from the drawers. Crazy! After this, Kevin was thirsty and wanted to try a convenient store he has seen the name of around here: Sheetz. We were in the northeastern part of the city. As Kevin walked in to get us drinks, I noticed a sign, “Sheetz, hey there, don’t forget to lock up!” And then below it says a bunch of words to take with you all valuables, etc. Wow, what kind of place is this? The area felt safe to us but Kevin said it also had an armed guard inside. So sad that these are needed. The pop wasn’t good tasting, either.

Tatting Ladies Gave This To Me, Mordecai Historic Park, Raleigh, NC 03/24

Mordecai Historic Park is just north of downtown Raleigh. We walked along the grounds, saw several buildings, including the building President Andrew Johnson was born in 1808, and went across the street to the visitor center. This looks like it used to be a house. At the end of the building was a classroom and three ladies were in there doing tatting. We walked over and they were a delight to talk with. They shared about what they were doing and making. One lady pulled out a picture on her iPhone of these little pieces added to a quilt. She offered me one to take. So sweet.

Birthplace Of President Andrew Johnson, Moved To Mordecai Historic Park, Raleigh, NC 03/24

We walked through the park and saw about 7 buildings that have been moved to this property. Mordecai plantation was the largest one in Wake County. It had over 1200 acres and over 120 enslaved people. 

“What’s Growing Here?” Historic Yates Mill County Park, Raleigh, NC 03/24

Next we went to Historic Yates Mill Country Park. As we walked up to the visitor center I saw some plants around a millstone. I pointed with glee when I saw a small sign: “What’s Growing Here?” Two plants were named. Yes, finally someone puts a sign up so we know what is growing there. We knew the place was free to visit but they had a $5.00 tour of the mill. We said we didn’t need to do the tour. We walked up to the first display, Kevin turned around and said, “We need to do the tour”, walked over and bought our tickets. LOL The tour started about 20 minutes later. Kevin asked if the film is closed captioned or a script. No and no. Really? Ok. We walked around the displays. Soon a man with a key chain (he must have been a supervisor) came up to me and handed me a script for the film. They went from F for failing to an A. Kevin said the words were word-for-word right along with the film. Awesome! 

Historic Yates Mill County Park, Raleigh, NC 03/24

A display reads “Wild rumors and wise advice: Yates Mill was a ‘rumor mill’ thanks to the gossip shared here. … And since Yates Mill was a popular courtship site, there was always plenty to talk about!” HAHA Another display reads “Two stones-each weighing as much as a rhinoceros- never touch, yet one rotates so closely above the other that together they shred tiny grains of wheat. The friction of the grinding heats the grain so much that the miller had to keep ‘his nose to the grindstone’ or his produce might scorch.”! Fun to learn where these sayings come from. The tour was great. This mill was built around 1856. The mill closed in 1953 and parts were thrown into the pond. Years later, a hurricane with through and broke the dam. With all the water gone, people found so many pieces of the old mill and were able to put it back together for a historic site. Afterwards we sat on a porch in big rocking chairs and just looked across the pond and to the mill. Nice and relaxing.

On Easter we met up with friends who we knew way back when. They moved to the Raleigh area back in 2012 so it has been a long time since we have seen them. We went to church with them and then to their lovely home for dinner. It was a delight to visit with them and catch up. An added bonus was her parents who joined us for dinner.

We Made Smashburgers, North Carolina State Fairground Campground, Raleigh, NC 03/24

How does this look to you? Come on over! Kevin got out the Blackstone griddle. He grilled Green Chili Smashburgers. I had picked up Hawaiian brand hamburger buns, too. Added a side of Bush’s Baked Bean and it was a scrumptious meal!

One afternoon I had FaceTime with Bridget. She is an full-time RVer and just the sweetest and fun lady. FaceTime allows us to see each other as we use American Sign Language. I am deaf and she is learning more ASL. We do this about once a week. This day, she got us good! I was reviewing with her ASL for colors and then she signed “fingerspell” and then showed me a container that was blue. I signed blue. Then she signed “fingerspell again” and I signed blue again. She repeated and repeated and repeated. I was getting so confused. Then she said “again” and I got the joke! HAHA Then I had Kevin come over and she did the same joke to him. Oh, it was funny.

Hush Puppies, Ole Time Barbecue, Raleigh, NC 04/24

We went to Ole Time BBQ, where Nick and Kevin went. It is a very small place, but clean and family owned. The hush puppies are long strings and perfect. Kevin said Nick said North Carolina is known for its BBQ pork so I decided I needed to try it. The sides were potato salad and mashed potatoes and brown gravy, since they were out of baked beans. The meal was so great that I told Kevin it was good I came on our last day. Otherwise, we would have been there several times. HAHA Rated: Every Time We Come To Raleigh. Now, a side note, North Carolina BBQ sauce is very vinegary. That taste isn’t something my taste buds like.  Kevin likes it, a tiny bit. The good thing is, the pork didn’t have the sauce on the meat; you add it yourself at the table from a bottle. Whew! 

1. “HOWE” is what we named our Alliance Avenue 36-ft 5th wheel. See: Home On WhEels and we pronounce it Howie. We live and travel in it full-time around the country.

2. “Home” is where we park it. Home is our 2022 Alliance Avenue, 36 ft, 5th wheel.