Hello friends! I'm finally back with another portion of our North Carolina adventure. It's hard to believe it was almost a full month ago now. Though it is still fun to look back at the pictures and relive the fun like it was just yesterday. For today, I'm taking you along for our visit to the North Carolina Arboretum. We hadn't originally planned on coming here, but I'm so glad we ended up adding it to our visit!
According to the Arboretum website:
For more than 30 years…Cultivating Connections between People, Plants and Places…amid a 434-acre public garden, The North Carolina Arboretum is located within the Bent Creek Experimental Forest just south of Asheville and adjacent to the Blue Ridge Parkway at Milepost 393. Surrounded and crisscrossed by forested coves and meandering creeks in the botanically diverse Southern Appalachian Mountains, The North Carolina Arboretum is set in one of the most beautiful natural settings in America.
Given my desire to spend as much time outdoors, after researching the site, it was the perfect spot to go on a crisp, yet sunny Saturday morning. We got up, had breakfast, then made the 30-minute drive from our Airbnb to hit the trails. And boy were there trails. Initially I though the Arboretum would be similar to our Atlanta Botanical Garden, but despite many similarities, it was a wonderfully unique experience.
The trail map was a little overwhelming at first, but once you get out and start exploring it made for a wonderful treat just meandering through the woods. We started out on one of the closer trails, with signs posted throughout giving information about all the different trees and other life found in the forest. There was a meadow in the middle of the loop just past the main gardens that was quite lovely. I can only imagine it in the spring!
The trails were easy to navigate, with plenty of signage and while there were some hills to climb, nothing too strenuous. After looping around the first set of trails, we came back in to the main gardens and explored some of the exhibits there.
While a lot of the flowers were no longer blooming, I still can't get over how gorgeous the backdrops of the changing leaves were during our whole visit. The picture above doesn't quite do it justice, but you get a little idea.
In addition to the foliage, there were plenty of interesting sculptures throughout, like this one of Frederick Law Olmstead. Though the Arboretum didn't come to be until well after his time, it is apparently a part of his legacy as one of the many landscapes he left his mark on across the country.
In the photo above you can see the empty beds where they create gorgeous quilt-like designs out of seasonal flowers. I am a bit sad there were none while we were there, but it's good motivation to go back and explore some more.
Besides the regular sculptures and exhibits, they were also getting ready for the holiday lights displays. We were just a few weeks too early for that, but I loved some of what we saw already! Gnomes are apparently very "in" this season.
I can only imagine how the gardens look all lit up and glowing with Christmas cheer. It has given me the push to finally go see the lights here at the Atlanta Botanical Garden, since I have never been to those either!
There was a darling little train set up close in to the main gardens, as well. It wasn't running the day we were there, but I'm sure it's a big hit with the kids. And adults alike...
There was also a small indoor bonsai display, which teased at the outdoor exhibit just on the other side of the visitor center. I held back from buying any plants they had in the sale they had going on just on the other side of the bonsai, but kind of wish I had grabbed a few of the darling succulents and potted plants to bring home.
I was amazed how many different types of bonsai trees there are. As usual, Mother Nature is quite generous in her abundance. Also a reminder to do what we can to protect that...The enclosed area was nice to warm our hands for a bit as it was still chilly outside, especially back in the woods.
The outdoor exhibit was just exquisite, though. I loved the whole design, weaving around each corner to discover a new beauty. We left the bonsai exhibit to grab a warm cup of coffee (well, at least I did, @dksart had his hands full with his camera), before setting off on some of the longer trails to keep exploring.
Even after spending over three hours, we still didn't make it to the outer loop of the trails! It was well worth the $16/per car entry fee. I could absolutely see being a member if we lived closer. The trails are great to get some exercise (we saw bikers and a few joggers), plus you can't help but feel buoyed by the sheer delight of being outdoors.
After we left, there was an overlook on the Blue Ridge Parkway where we were able to stop and enjoy the views a bit. However that section of the road was blocked off, so we couldn't go far. We did follow the lead of a few others and walked a ways up the road. I'm sure it's not often you would want to be a pedestrian on such a winding mountain road!
We got back to our cozy rental with just enough time to clean up and relax for a bit before meeting up with @dandays and his better half for a fun evening out! The perfect ending to an already great day. Still drooling over that delicious meal. And next time I won't hesitate to just say "yes" to anything else planned. This homebody just needs a little nudge sometimes. 😉
If you're ever near Asheville, don't hesitate to stop at the Arboretum! I hope I've done it justice with my post because it definitely deserves a plug. This is actually the last adventure in North Carolina I have to share because our last day we actually ventured closer to our own home turf...
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What an adventure in nature with the wonderful colours!
We are into the grey and white of winter up here and this brings me back a couple months when everything was ablaze.
Your plug is great and the backlink from all the Hive webpages will help them with SEO. What I have been doing lately to help these businesses AND promote the blockchain is finding them on Facebook, sending a PM with the link to the blog post, and saying something like, "I loved my visit and wrote a blog post about you if you are looking for social media content"
Awesome stuff again!
We really did hit it just right! There's a few stragglers hanging on to the trees here, but it's starting to get pretty bare. Though we don't often get much of the white stuff this far south.
Ooh, I always forget how all the different ways to view the blockchain definitely help on the SEO side. Great idea to shoot them a message with the link, too. I'm sure this place gets plenty of visitors, but I still think it's great to plug places like this that do such a fantastic job to preserve nature's beauty!
Hope all is well with you and yours! How's your little veggie-lover?
Veggie lover is killing it and enjoying such an active and creative life! Success!
With the small businesses, it is a little tiresome to be constantly talking about how great your business is. Having someone else crow about you is valuable and the easy content is a little break in a hectic week.
Busy but glad I got caught up with your blog after a couple months!
What kinda phone you got? Sure does fancy enhancements that's for sure. No way it's that pretty.
I've seen so many fall docs now, those colors only do that here. Seeing articles from around the world, just doesn't really compare other than Canada. Not even close in Ca.
Part of your perfect ending is our pleasure. You guys make traveling across a couple states fly by. 💖
Just Say Yes!
It definitely didn't take much more than a wee bit of extra sharpness to make those pics sing! You know after getting back, it made me realize we do get some nice color here, too. Just like Fiona and I hit on, I think it's easy to forget what beauty we have right near us. But those mountains really were something else!
Yes. Got it!
What a beatiful place! Your saying that you've not been to the botanical gardens in Atlanta reminds me how we often need to be tourists in our own turf...
It really is so true--we all have so much beauty and wonder just outside of our door! I have been to the gardens, but not for the holiday lights. They're supposed to be amazing, though, so I don't want to miss out another year!
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Hiya, @LivingUKTaiwan here, just swinging by to let you know that this post made it into our Honorable Mentions in Daily Travel Digest #1401.
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Thanks a bunch @livinguktaiwan and @pinmapple! Always fun to keep adding pins to my profile. Though I need to keep venturing out further... :)
The North Carolina Arboretum looks like the ideal place for any nature lover like me, lol.
We do have some botanical gardens over here but they are not so diversified and well maintained like this one unfortunately. 😢
Anyway, I absolutely loved the pictures with the bonsais because I love that tiny tree and have one at home too, but my dream is to purchase all types of this species one day and have them all placed on a shelf or around the house ❤️
Absolutely! I can imagine you'd be like me and go all the time if we lived closer! The bonsai really were so neat to see. I can only imagine how much good energy they could bring to a household. Perhaps I'll have to get my first one for home, too.
Went through different photos of autumn in North America. You're right it's not fair to the pictures. It doesn't show true beauty like the eyes
It really is so hard to capture the full essence in a photograph! The scents, the cool breeze--it all just adds that much more to the whole feel, and of course being able to turn around and see the sights from every angle! But at least pictures help keep the memories alive. :)
so we always benefit the most from the eyes and the present. envious :D
It's a good thing you changed your plans and decided to take the time to enjoy this attraction.
A little nudging, I find to be a good thing. At times I feel like I could never leave the farm, but once on the road I always have such a great time.
Thanks to @farm-mom I'm constantly getting an elbow in the ribs.
Very cool meeting up with @dandays and Pura.
I can see that being a real good time!
It was very cool meeting up with them! The icing on the cake of an already fantastic trip.
Don't we all need that elbow to the ribs sometimes? ;)
That was what my mom would say when we were little and she would fill our plates. Say when, meaning tell me when to stop filling your plate.
I didn't use that word too often.