Alligator in Bald Head Island

Bald Head Island in North Carolina is well-known for its natural beauty.  Tree and wildlife are well protected.  There are ponds on the island.  If we are extremely lucky, we will be able to see alligator in those ponds.

Once we see it, we will of course take some pictures.  Once we have it on photo, we are lucky whenever we pull out the photos and watch them.

We are going to share one of those photos with you.

Lufeng Dinosaur Quarry of China

Human has been extremely interested in dinosaur.  Dinosaurs lived on earth way before any human appeared.  We have seen a lot of full size sculpture of dinosaurs by reconstructing from dinosaur fossil in parks and museums.  There are several places on earth where we can find fossil of dinosaurs.  We had a chance to visit one of them, the Lufeng Dinosaur Quarry of China where fossil of dinosaurs are found.  That place is now a park and we can learn about dinosaur there.

Lufing Dinosaur Quarry of China is a place where dinosaur fossils are found.  At the same time, it is being developed as a park.  So, we can see dinosaur sculptures everywhere.

These are full size dinosaurs.

These dinosaur sculptures are also placed in a natural environment imitating how they lived long time ago on earth.

In one of the indoor display, the real dinosaur fossils are displayed.

There are a lot of dinosaur fossils still in the ground being discovered.

The houses around that area have painted dinosaurs.

Hanging Rock Park in North Carolina

In North Carolina, Hanging Rock Park is a popular place for North Carolina citizens to go.  It is a state park and it is well maintained.  One can hike and one can swim.  You can always find fun things to do being there.  All year round, hiking up to the summit of the rock has continuously been our favorite outings whenever we have a chance.  The hike itself is easy and therefore it attracts many people with wide range of ages to go.

It is really amazing to see a big rock in the middle of somewhere.  In less than an hour hike, we reach the top of the rock.

Some trees grow lively on the rock creating a nice photo composition.

We would spend hours there enjoying the environment and breathing the fresh air.

The fall foliage is a good motivation for us to visit the park again.  There are just beautiful scenes all around us.  In no time, we find that we have taken hundreds of photos.

Occoneechee Mountain in Hillsborough North Carolina

Fall is the best time of the year to being outdoor and enjoy nature.  When the time is right, not too cold and leaves turn color, it is so enjoyable to walk on some hiking trails.  This fall, we spent an afternoon to hike the Occoneechee Mountain State Natural Area in Hillsborough, North Carolina.

The trail is well-maintained, very pretty with fall foliage.

We see leaves turned color everywhere along the trail.

We see these kinds of scenes all the way.

When we reach to the highest point of the mountain, we can overlook the city of Hillsborough, very quiet and peaceful.

On the trail, there is a certain section where we can overlook Eno River too.

Beaufort in North Carolina

The town of Beaufort in North Carolina was established in 1709.  Beaufort is the third-oldest town in North Carolina.  It is a very beautiful small town with population just a little over 4000.  It is located by the coast of North Carolina.  It is quiet, peaceful, and pretty.

The downtown Beaufort has a lot of shops with friendly store keepers.

The Maritime Museum in Beaufort is open for public free of admission fee.  You may want to spend a couple of hours in there to get a taste of coastal cultures and maritime history.

Within walking distance, everyone has access to the beautiful beaches in Beaufort.  Father and son are having a short walk on the beach.  

Jamestown in Virginia

In July 2012, we finally had a chance to visit the famous and the birthplace of the United States of America, Jamestown in Virginia.  We went to the place where the first settlers lived.  It is now a national park and many researchers and students are there to explore the site to learn about the early settlement in US.

This is the monument dedicated to commemorate Jamestown as the birthplace of US.

This is one of the structure inside the park, nothing fancy.  We can imagine that the early settlers were living in hard condition.

This is the statue of Captain John Smith.  He was one of the leaders in the settlement in the early days.  He learned Indian language and therefore he was able to communicate with the Indians promoting communication between early settlers and the Indians.

The church has been rebuilt several times since the first one around year 1600.

It is believed that there is a fort in the site but researchers are still trying to prove that.

Arlington National Cemetery in Virginia

Arlington National Cemetery is located in Arlington, Virginia.  Many people who travel to Washington DC would have no objection to spend a few hours to visit the cemetery.  When we went there this summer, it was so hot but it did not stop people from going there.  There was a big crowd.

Of course, there are graveyards everywhere in the cemetery.  We have our total respects to those people who lost their lives in helping this country to move forward.

Sadly, we do not even know their names for some of the heroes and they are honored in the Unknown Soldier Tomb.

There is a soldier guarding the Unknown Soldier Tomb at all time paying respect to the unknowns.

Unfortunately, we keep getting heroes burying in the cemetery.

Mount Vernon in Virginia

In US, nobody would not know the name "Washington".  George Washington is the first president of the United States.  His house is located in Mount Vernon in Virginia.  We visited that mansion again in July 2012.  That old house stands out under the blue sky creating a beautiful picture.

The front yard of the mansion is a huge green lawn.  When we were there, it was hot and humid.  We are surprised that there are not many trees to provide shade.

Apparently, there was not any air conditioning when George Washington was living there.  However, he was smart to have this cupola in the middle of the house above the roof.  When those windows are open, the hot air inside the house will funnel through it providing good ventilation to cool down the whole house.

The back side of the mansion has some big area with chairs for visitors to sit and enjoy the view.

The back of the house is facing the Potomac River, very beautiful.

Fishing in Bald Head Island

Many people consider fishing is a sport.  We totally agree.  Fishing is quite big in Bald Head Island and we have met many people on the island who are crazy about fishing.

We saw this cart in Cape Fear in Bald Head Island with all the gears one can think of for sea fishing, fishing poles, pole holders, etc.

For sea fishing, you want to catch big fish.  To catch big fish, they use small fish as bait.  To get small fishes, they use the net, throw the net to the water to do that.

Then, they would throw the bait and the hook to the water far away from the shore.  To get it far from the shore, many would get into the water too.

Next step will be waiting patiently for fish to get onto the hook.  Patience is very important in this step.  Many people get big fishes, about 3-6 feet long, get them on shore, unhook them, take some pictures, then, let them go back to the water alive.

Flowers in Chapel Hill

Spring is always the wonderful time of the year.  After a long cold, icy, wet winter, it will be hard to find someone who does not welcome spring.  In Chapel Hill, North Carolina, the University of North Carolina campus, flowers are blooming like crazy celebrating the coming of spring.

We found this flower in the Coker Arboretum.  It is labeled as "Thin-fruit Sedge", very pretty.

Right in front of the Morehead Planetarium, there is a rose garden.  Roses are quite photogenic.

Nature has its own way to display itself.  We are so used to see flowers with dramatic color expression. However, some others may not be that colorful but they are still very nice.  This one is labeled as "Golden-larch".  It is very simple looking but humbly telling us that it is there.

Vollmer Farm in Bunn

Spring has come.  People are getting away from their indoor hideaway and come out to enjoy the weather, the environment, and most importantly the social gathering.  We are of no exception.  In early April, together with a lot of friends, we visited the Vollmer Farm in Bunn, North Carolina.  The farm is about an hour drive away from Raleigh.  The main purpose of that trip was to pick strawberry, particularly, organically grown strawberry.

The past winter was quite warm.  Also, we had record high temperature in March.  The strawberry comes out earlier this year.









The strawberry field is organized in rows.  It will take a few minutes to walk from one end to the other end.

While we picked strawberries, we had a lot of companies. We saw people with age from a few years to a little less than a hundred kneeing down in the field to pick strawberries.

This sign was right at the entrance of the strawberry field telling us that these strawberries are organic.

The soil under the strawberry plant is wrapped by black plastic.  We believe it is to avoid the strawberries from prolonged contact with water.