9/19/20: Raleigh, NC: Definitely, a Sight for Sore Eyes!

Steven and I stopped in Raleigh, the capital of North Carolina, last September while on a road trip between visits to Grayton Beach State Park on Florida's Panhandle. When the city was founded in 1792 and named for Sir Walter Raleigh, it was on land purchased specifically for the state capital. The original plans called for the city's square grid pattern and subsequent expansion hasn't changed much in the intervening centuries. In 1975, the city was named the first 'Green City' in the country and is known as the 'City of Oaks.'

We were surprised, albeit disappointed, to find this memorial on the capitol grounds was the only nod to the state's veterans of the Vietnam War. It looked pretty paltry compared to those we'd seen in other state capitals. 

The current state capitol was built in the Greek Revival style on Union Square from 1833 to 1840 after the first statehouse that had been built in 1796 burned down in 1831. 

More monuments from around the capitol:

As Steven and I had hoped to visit the interior of all the state capitals, we were pretty bummed when civil unrest in and around the capital had forced the closure of the state capitol building. Thankfully, as I have been known to have the gift of the gab, I was able to cajole a police officer into using my phone to take photos of her choosing inside the capitol so we would have some sense of its beauty and history. 

The centerpiece of the rotunda was a 1970 replica of the neoclassical sculpture of George Washington that had been commissioned by the state in 1815. The Italian sculptor who had done the original work had never seen Washington and depicted him in the uniform of a Roman general with a tunic, tightly fitting armor, and a short cape! Continuing the Italian theme, Washington was shown with a stylus in his hand, writing on a table in Italian. The original statue was destroyed when the first statehouse was burned in 1831.

I read in the brochure the officer also got me that most of the architectural details – columns, moldings, ornamental plasterwork, and honeysuckle crown above the dome – had been carefully patterned after features of ancient Greek temples. 

As you can see in the above photo, there were a number of busts and plaques in the rotunda surrounding Washington's statue. The officer must have thought they were important so here are photos of some of them! I counted myself very lucky that I was able to get any photos so I sure didn't complain about those I did receive.

Across the street was the attractive Sacred Heart Catholic Church. We were soon to find out that there seemed to be a church on every corner of downtown Raleigh!

A block away was the Museum of Natural Sciences with a gargantuan globe out front! A sign said the latter had been made possible by the State Employees Credit Union. 

As it was a Saturday morning, the Bicentennial Mall near the capitol was empty. We laughed when we spotted all the garbage cans every few feet along the mall. I daresay you'd agree they were a bit of an eyesore as there were so many!

Decorating the mall was the Rachel Carson Sculpture and Wildlife Garden.

Exhibits along the mall told of the city's agricultural roots and the so-called Three Sisters crops of corn, beans, and squash that had been cultivated by Indigenous Americans in North Carolina. What a brilliant and innovative way to introduce farming to city dwellers.

One cannot speak of agriculture in North Carolina without mentioning tobacco, long one of the state's major cash crops. Used for centuries by the first citizens, it quickly became a leading export for the colonies. Tobacco production increased until it became fifth in the nation at the onset of the Civil War and was still one of the three top industries from the late 19th through the 20th centuries. 

Another exhibit showed plants from a Winter Garden, plants that included leafy greens such as collards, kale, and cabbage, and members of the onion family that could be grown and harvested during the fall and winter months. 

The statue on the mall represented Thomas Day (1801-1861), a free Black American from North Carolina who created fashionable furniture and architectural elements before the Civil War. The sign was one of the few I've seen that was also in Braille. 

Nearby was the National Historic Landmark Christ Episcopal Church that had been founded in 1821. People were encouraged to 'enter, rest, and pray.' What perfect words for a church, I thought. 

If you've been reading this blog for a while, you'll probably remember that Steven and I have been trying to also look at the Governor's Mansion in every capital in addition to the statehouse. Raleigh's official residence was completed in 1891 on Burke Square. This was as close as we got to the Raleigh one.

Being big fans of farmers' markets, we took a spin through the 75-acre State Farmers' Market next even though it took twenty minutes to find a parking spot. 

We were surprised to notice that there was almost 100% mask-wearing compliance among market attendees, the best of any place we'd been to. However, a local we shared a picnic table with while chowing down some delicious BBQ, mentioned that if we drove just an hour away, we'd find compliance was much less.

This is the only mural photo in this post as I have removed the others and put them in a post of their own as they deserve further examination in my opinion. I included this one of a cardinal on the side of the Cardinal Bar because we saw its beer trolley returning with far happier, i.e. more lubricated, participants than when we'd seen them an hour earlier in another part of the city!

With the nationwide civil unrest following the horrific murder of George Floyd by police officers in Minneapolis, there was considerable discussion about 'defunding the police.' I don't know your opinion but this sign in Raleigh captured my beliefs on the issue perfectly. 

We were sorely in need of a chocolate fix by then so the Videri Chocolate Factory in the Warehouse District fit the bill even though it was only open by curbside service!

Next, we toured the Mordecai Historic Park that featured the 1780s Mordecai family home, the oldest home in Raleigh on its original foundation. When we entered the Visitors Center, we had to provide our names and phone numbers for contact tracing after our temperatures were taken and we were asked if we had Covid-19 symptoms or been around anyone with Covid. 

We learned in the home that many Black Southerners viewed the Civil War as a fight to end slavery as they believed that God was leading them out of bondage just as He had led the ancient Israelites out of slavery in Egypt. Slaves and Free Blacks were both active participants in the struggle for emancipation. Slave men often fled plantations to join the Federal Army. 

By the end of the Antebellum era, the Mordecais were one of the largest slaveholding families in the state. Moses Mordecai posted a reward notice in 1820 for the return of a fugitive slave named Jim Gundy in The Star and North Carolina Gazette. A common form of slave resistance was running away; some escaped to freedom but most remained nearby and only left for a short time. Notices like this one were common in papers of the time. 

The area around the historic park was once part of a huge tract of land owned by Joel Lane, a prosperous farmer, and prominent politician who played a major role in the founding of Raleigh in 1792. Lane sold 1,000 acres to the state for the establishment of the capital city. The Mordecai property grew significantly between 1820 and 1860, eventually becoming a sprawling plantation with a Greek Revival-style fashionable manor house. 

The Plantation Office next to the home was built circa 1826 as an office for the family as they ran the plantation. It may also have been used for the family's law practice. 

The Allen Kitchen was built in 1842 in Anson County in the yard of the Allen family home. It was moved to the historic park in 1968 and placed where the Mordecai kitchen was once located. 

The historic park included the recreated Ellen Mordecai Garden.

Historic structures in the park included several that had been relocated by the city in the 1970s. The Badger-Iredell Law Office  was built in 1819 and became a law office in the 1820s for George Badger, an eventual US Senator, and then James Iredell, who later became a governor and senator. 

This Federal Building, built around 1847, is sometimes referred to as an early post office according to local tradition. Paint and architectural analysis indicated it was a government building of some type. 

The Smokehouse was an integral component of plantation life. I was surprised to learn that a year's supply of meat, enough food for all who lived here, could be stored in the smokehouse. The meat was smoked, then cured to help prevent the growth of mold and bacteria.

The Mordechai Historic Park was just one more reason I recommend you stop in Raleigh if you're anywhere close. The city had grown on me the more we saw.

After learning that the city's Pullen Park was home to the 1911 Dentzel Menagerie Carousel, we made a beeline there. It was one more in our discovery of carousels around the country since the pandemic began!

How I would have loved to have had our granddaughters with us so we could enjoy the carousel even more! Perhaps, someday my hope may become a reality.

The park was founded in 1887 on farmland donated by Richard Stanhope Pullen to the city of Raleigh in 1887. He wanted the land to be used for recreational opportunities for the inhabitants of Raleigh as well as visitors. His vision ensured it was the first public park in North Carolina. It was also the 14th oldest amusement park in the world! 

IF we'd had more time, it would have been such a hoot to rent a paddleboat and explore more of the lake rather than just walking around it. Somehow, there's never enough time for all we want to do.

About a mile away was the WRAL-TV Azalea Garden that was created by the station's founder, A.J. Fletcher, as a service to the community in 1959 and was located next to the station. Fletcher loved azaleas and enjoyed finding new varieties so much, he personally oversaw the planting of a thousand azaleas in the original gardens.  

When's the last time you've heard the melodic sound of wind chimes in a public garden? For us, never. We have some here at home so it's a sound we obviously like a lot. I hope our neighbors do, too!

Weddings are hosted at the beautiful venue from April through mid-September.

The President Clay Azalea:

I was curious to note these were Formosa Azaleas. IF we're ever lucky enough to visit Taiwan (as we'd hoped to do this fall until the ongoing pandemic nixed our Asia travel plans), I wonder if we'll be lucky enough to see this variety in their native habitat. 

I loved the wonderful fragrance of the Encore Azalea Autumn Sangria variety.

The WRAL Azalea Celebration has given away more than 5,000 azaleas to over 100 non-profits throughout the state to beautify communities and introduce unusual varieties to people around the state. If we lived in Raleigh, I sure would want to support WRAL!

Cute sculptures, huh!

With coral being one of my favorite colors, I was especially partial to the Encore Azalea Autumn Coral variety.

It was too late to visit more than the huge park that surrounded the North Carolina Museum of Art in the far west part of Raleigh. The park was really popular with dog walkers and kite flyers alike. We both loved the city so much I hope we can return one day and visit some of the museums that have merited top status in tour books. 

Unfortunately, I didn't have a wide-angle lens to capture the inspirational sayings on one side of the art museum.

As a teaser for the next post, look at this beautiful mural that took up all of one wall of the museum's facade. The Good of the Hive was an artistic initiative founded by Matthew Willey on a personal commitment to hand-paint 50,000 honeybees, the number necessary for a healthy, thriving hive, in murals around the world. How many of the eleven on this one mural can you spot!

Even though the reason we'd come to Raleigh was to explore the statehouse, that obviously didn't happen. Steven and I were so, so lucky, however, that we found so much more to discover and frankly, love, about Raleigh that not walking around the interior of the statehouse mattered not a whit in the end!

Next post: I think I've given it away already - many more of Raleigh's murals!

Posted on May 27th, 2021, on our son's 31st birthday. I had planned to write this post while Steven and I were out visiting Alexander, his wife, Cory, and their daughter, Max, in San Francisco this past weekend for Max's first birthday. Somehow, hanging out with all of them was a greater lure than hunkering down to write this post - sorry, therefore, for the delay!