Memorial Day Vacation in Raleigh - Durham: Day 4

Day Four

My last day in Raleigh was last Tuesday (sorry for the slow post). Miriam had to go into the office, so I was on my own for the day. I knew I wanted to go back to the North Carolina Museum of Natural Sciences to see their butterfly exhibit, and I hadn't had the chance to visit the other wing called the Nature Research Center. Here are the highlights from that 2-hour excursion:

The  Nature Research Center had these cool displays of different animals and plants.

I didn't know you could put a pacemaker in a dog!

What looks like a piece of wood is actually a piece of baleen from a whale! The holes are from testing the baleen (I think for age?), and you can see the little hairs at the bottom, which help to trap the krill that the whales eat.

The fish at the bottom are called Lookdowns for obvious reasons. 

Remember the two-toed amphiuma? They have a live one! How cute are those little legs?

After poking around the Nature Research Center, I returned to the main wing of the museum to visit the butterfly garden. I am SO glad I went back to see this. You felt like you were in a tropical fairy land with all of the butterflies around you! I could have stared up for hours watching them flit about. 

There weren't just butterflies in there: there were two turtles and even a sloth!

You'd never guess that this butterfly (see below)

Is actually blue! I wasn't able to get a picture of one with its wings open.

Then I returned to the apartment for my last hour of Raleigh sunbathing and ate some lunch. But after that I still had more than four hours left in the day before Miriam would be back from work, so I headed out again for some more educational adventures.

I quickly stopped in Munjo Munjo to buy a little gift for Miriam. I think this is the real Munjo.

I had already passed the North Carolina State Capitol building when walking around the previous days, so I thought I should stop in and check it out. It was a brief visit, and the main rooms are where the state senate and house (used to?) sit. But there were a few nuggets I took from the trip:

This statue looks nothing like George Washington.

There were a lot of women honored in the building, which I thought was pretty cool:

LOVE that quote

This room is for the senate.

This room is for the House of Representatives.

View from upstairs in the balcony

There was a whole room dedicated to the state geologist! How neat is that?!

 

SUCH a dreamy library. Sigh...

This is the office of the current governor, Roy Cooper.

Most of my afternoon was spent at the North Carolina Museum of History (which is right next to the natural sciences museum). As soon as I walked in, the first thing I noticed was this race car:

This was Dale Earnhardt's car. I didn't realize he was from NC. He made such an impact on the sport of NASCAR.

I saw there was a new quilt exhibit at the museum, and since my mom quilts, I knew I had to check that out first. Afterward, it made me want to watch How to Make an American Quilt so badly!

This quilt, made by Mamie Dameron, includes more than 11,650 pieces!

The museum noted that reds and greens were very popular in quilts.

This design may look simple from afar, but look at all those tiny, intricate stitches up close!

This one already looks complicated, but as you zoom in, it's even more delicate and elaborate.

And this one looks kind of drab, but it's actually very decorative and detailed.

My mom has made many a crazy quilt like this one.

The note about this quilt said that while other colors tended to fade, this orange color remained vibrant. But eventually the color fell out of style when people realized the dye could be toxic.

Each of these squares tells a story from history. It's so cool!

Mary Robertson made this quilt. It makes me think of the quilts my mom has made where everyone signs their name on it.

Mary Blount Grimes made this quilt out of the fabrics from neckties of past suitors and her own gowns.

While the design seems simple, I love the clean lines and the clear patriotic message.

Gladys Baker and her quilting students made this quilt to tell the story of Wake County, North Carolina in honor of America's bicentennial. This is just a zoomed-in photo of four of the squares.

I think this is a log cabin quilt design, which my mom has made several of. This one was made by the slave Patience White, who only learned to read and write when she was in her 50's (or perhaps older).

This quilt was covered in signatures, like this small one in the middle of the star.

This quilt was made from the ribbons that came with flower bouquets from the funeral of the creator's husband.

Edith Smith made this quilt as a wedding gift for one of the white children she helped raise. But it is unclear what the "H" means, or why there is a single "O" on the quilt.

This was another quilt made by a African-American domestic servant or slave. This creator's name was Margaret Smith.

This quilt is made from the fabric samples that stores used to get when ordering men's suits.

Some of these fabrics are called "Alamance Plaids" in honor of the Alamance Cotton Mill that was built in 1837. The mill was the first southern manufacturer to make colored woven cloth.

This psychedelic quilt is so cool! Eula Mae Bagwell made this quilt in 1902 when she was 16 years old.

My mom uses a special paper on the back of her fabrics sometimes, so it's cool to see that newspaper was used for the same purpose.

Who knew that, because women were already using sackcloth as fabric, those companies would start making the sackcloths with patterns and designs specifically for that?

Sometimes it was obvious when a sackcloth was used in a quilt.

After that, I took a look at the different war posters that were hung down the hall. I liked the women ones best, clearly. Here are a few:

Scattered around the museum were paintings by  J. Chris Wilson, who created a series called "From Murphy to Manteo - An Artist's Scenic Journey." The series will eventually include 100 pieces, all capturing the different landscapes of North Carolina. Here are a few:

My next stop in the museum was the North Carolina Sports Hall of Fame.

This was the jersey of Rod Brind'Amour, the captain of the Carolina Hurricanes who helped lead the team to the Stanley Cup in 2006. He is now the team's head coach. 

Of course I liked that they highlighted women in sports specifically. Well, in this one box.

These are Olympians from North Carolina.

It's hard to read, but if you can read the quote, it is inspiring.

I guess there was a basketball team before the hockey team!

This fantastic jacket was given to Marvin "Skeeter" Francis when he retired. 

There was an exhibit called, "One Giant Leap: North Carolina and the Space Race." I had no idea how many North Carolinians had a connection to outer space!

This woman was highlighted in the film Hidden Figures.

I remember this happening when I was in middle school.

Side note: I'm all for museums having event spaces, but putting a chandelier in a conference room does NOT count.

Then I was off to learn more about the people who first "founded" what is now North Carolina:

I'm a little confused on the difference between stickball and lacrosse...

This rock contains many engravings with special meanings to the local indigenous people. Read below to learn more. 

This is what remains of a HUGE canoe that was found at the bottom of a lake. Some canoes could hold 20 people!

This was inside a "treasure chest." Treasure didn't just mean money and gem stones. It included spices, salts, and more.

During this part of the museum, certain pieces would make me think of time-period movies. I especially was reminded of and wanted to see The Patriot and Pirates of the Caribbean.

This display shows how Native Americans began to make pottery that would appeal to Europeans by simulating similar designs.

These bejeweled buckles belonged to Flora Macdonald (above). 

This was a butter print to give a design to butter.

This whole house was inside of the museum!

I had never thought about how Americans, who created a republic based upon that of the Greeks and Romans, would use symbols from those ancient civilizations to represent our own nation. These symbols were used instead of the faces of leaders (although eventually our currency did include those men). 

 As you can see, I only made it to the Revolution in the timeline of North Carolina's history. So clearly I missed a lot! But the museum closed, so my time was up.

As I was walking back to the apartment, I walked by a few memorials and statues:

Then my day was done. I had a quick dinner while I packed up my things, and then I flew home. The Raleigh airport was so small! There was NO line in security (I was almost the only person there), and there were only seven flights departing for that evening. Very different from BWI! My flight was less than an hour long, and then I was home. Such a fun trip!