Duke Farms

It's been a beautiful summer weekend. Alison had a plan for us to check out Duke Farms, a local attraction, that I had known about for some time, but did not really know much about.

It turns out it's a pretty fascinating place. Tobacco magnate James Duke, consolidated thousands of acres of farmland in nearby Hillsborough. There are all sorts of man made lakes, and man made hills, it's a beautiful place. When he passed away, his daughter, "world's richest girl" Doris Duke, sued her mother and one of the awards from the suit was this property. She decorated it with the spoils of her globe-trotting and incredibly fascinating life. Eventually she opened it to the public, it was closed for a few years, but re-opened in 2012.

Our first trip basically ended when Jackie's peanut butter and jelly sandwich dropped in the dirt, maybe 30 minutes in. We spent another hour and change alternating between crying Catherine, and crying Jackie, and sometimes both, but it was still a pretty nice trip. I'm glad such a great place is nearby for us to explore, it's free, and we'll definitely be going back.

Jackie did a lot of running on the paths... which was a good thing, she slept pretty well that night.

Run...

More running

Enjoying the fountain

This was her silly picture, and pre pb&j drop

Catherine enjoying a cool beverage

It was tough to convince her to pose after the sandwich mishap

Looking for Bears.. I told her that her loud complaining scared them all away