The Gardens

I seem to go every year..so this year is no exception. Sarah P. Duke Gardens is still changing and is as beautiful as ever. They just constructed a new fountain in the middle of what was, a circle of roses.

This time however was Aunt Elaine's first visit.

The terrace gardens are still my favorite.

Loved these!

Kathy and I.

Aunt Elaine, Kathy and I.

Beepa, Kathy and I...phrase for the day "UP your NOSE!"

Had lots of fun ♥

More At The NC Zoo

We just recently made another trip to the NC Zoo. This time around the weather was much cooler. Of course the last time I went was in the month of August, eek! First thing those two wanted to do when we arrived, ride the merry-go-round! ☺

I took over 200 photos, I go a lil' crazy knowing I have a digital camera and an almost endless amount of pictures I can take. I tried not to post too many repeats from my last zoo post.

Funny lil' flamingo fellow...

Baboons...grooming ☺
...and hangin' out.

The zoo had some visitors (only April-October). A couple albino crocodiles!

Ostrich

Rhinos!

More elephants

Super cute giraffes

Got some pics of the chimps this time!

They were going bananas..no pun intended.

And in the mix was the new baby chimp and her adopted mommy! She was adorable, she was born August 2010.

Got some good pics of the gorillas...and this "little" lady is expecting!

She is just a few months along, the zoo is all excited, this will only be the second baby gorilla born at the NC Zoo. The last was 20 years ago!

Mr. Gorilla

He was munchin' on a cucumber ☺

Bison

More of the bobcats

Harbor seals were having fun...

Water dancin'

Alligator

Hurray, I got pictures of the cougars!!

Funny how they aren't really any different from my kitties at home. Except for one little thing, they could eat me if they wanted! ☺

Here kitty kitty!

Had SO much fun!!

Here's Your Sign

This sign amuses me, used to drive by it all the time......it's a bit off.
☺

Outer Banks Adventure

Vicki finally made it to NC for her vacation!! This is just some of the hundreds of pictures we took...

It didn't take us long and we had decided to get tattoos!! Yes, real tattoos. Though I am terrified of needles, I finally sucked it up and got one! With everything I went through I had been seriously considering getting one for awhile now.

(mine would be the red)

Day 1:

The next day we were off to the Outer Banks!! Music was blaring as we were zippin' down the road...

...so excited!

Made a pit stop and sampled some Fried Green Tomatoes for the first time! They were delish! ☺
...also tried some cheddar...
...and apple fries, YUM...after all the junk I ate this week, no more eating for awhile :-p
When we saw the Piggly Wiggly, we had to stop!

After 5+ hours on the road, we arrived safely at our hotel for some much needed sleep!

Day 2:

Started off our day by going to the beach, just across the street from our hotel!

The wind was so strong that day we were literally getting sand-blasted! ouch

We collected lots of sea shells.

Followed this lil' guy for awhile...

Then we headed on over to the Wright Brothers National Memorial...

We could see the monument from our room.

It was SUPER windy!! Hence my demonstration...

...not good on the hair :-p

...Vicki holding on to the memorial for support, there were wind advisories all day...

...off of the huge dune, was the statue replica of that famous first flight...

...each granite marker shows the exact spot all four flight attempts landed...

The rest of our day was spent resting and hiding in our room from the possible storms/tornadoes coming. Luckily we just got a lil' rain and that was it. Thankfully the next day the wind was down to a small breeze!

Day 3:

Before heading home we headed further down the coast and saw the infamous Cape Hatteras Lighthouse...

The lighthouse was huge (it's the tallest in America) and just breathtaking ☺

Then one more stop at a random beach.

Some people drove on to the beach and were fishing, others were surfing...
One last look...

Had a FANTASTIC time!!! Hope to do it again! ☺