Furnishings by Uttermost, E Lawrence Ltd, Lillian August, Highland House, Sarreid Limited, Assouline, Legend Accents, Paragon Art, Handknotted Rug from India
“At Green Front Furniture, we believe in going the extra mile to cater to your every need. Step into our welcoming space, where you’ll be greeted with genuine warmth and hospitality. Our team is dedicated to ensuring your shopping experience is nothing short of exceptional.
From traditional to modern, and everything in between, discover tailor-made furnishings, hand-knotted rugs, and home décor. We invite you to visit our store and start your home’s unique story with us.”
-Den Crallé, President / CEO Green Front Furniture
SCOTCH SYMPHONY
CREATURES OF PROMETHEUS
SEPTEMBER 12 - 29, 2024
Fletcher Opera Theater
JEKYLL HYDE
OCTOBER 17 - NOVEMBER 3, 2024
Fletcher Opera Theater
CARMINA BURANA
NOVEMBER 21 - 24, 2024
Raleigh Memorial Auditorium
THE NUTCRACKER
DECEMBER 12 - 24, 2024
Raleigh Memorial Auditorium
BOLERO
FEBRUARY 6 - 23, 2025
Fletcher Opera Theater
ALICE IN WONDERLAND
MARCH 13 - 30, 2025
Fletcher Opera Theater
TCHAIKOVSKY
PIANO CONCERTO
APRIL 24 - 27, 2025
Raleigh Memorial Auditorium
SWAN LAKE
MAY 15 - 18, 2025
Raleigh Memorial Auditorium
Sponsored by:
“
— Mike Cavanaugh, Shop Manager
Ladner photography by Liz Condo
Hangin’ in the Pines The Duke Lemur Center by Hampton Williams Hofer photography by Bob Karp
An elegant Holden Beach home by Ayn-Monique Klahre photography by Catherine Nguyen
Eliza’s Garden The grounds of Haywood Hall by Elizabeth Poland Shugg
Bob Karp
(LEMURS); Forrest Mason (ICE CREAM); Bryan Regan
(RALEIGH STICKER);
Jillian Ohl (CARDINAL)
On the cover: Artist Jen Matthews. Photograph by Geoff Wood.
EDITOR’S LETTER
as Music Director
Carlos Miguel Prieto leads your North Carolina Symphony in beloved classical
My earliest memories of seeing fireworks come from summer visits with my grandmother, my mom’s mom, who lived on a farm outside of Topeka, Kansas. Some years, we’d gather in a nearby town square, spreading out on a picnic blanket to get right under the fireworks. They seemed impossibly high, huge and loud! Other years, my uncles and older cousins would light fireworks in my grandma’s driveway, propping them up in cement blocks and running like heck once they were lit. These weren’t as impressive, but were scarier, somehow, since any minute, the more risk-averse grown-ups warned, someone could lose a finger.
Over the years, I’ve taken in Fourth of July fireworks in various forms. Growing up outside of Washington, D.C., our hack was to park on the highway on the Virginia side of the Potomac River, to avoid the crowds at the National Mall. We’d sit on the hood and tune in to the symphony playing the patriotic songs, then jet home as soon as they were over.
In my New York City days, I made it to the Hudson River once for the big Macy’s fireworks display, thanks to a work party. That was fancy! Another year, when our kids were little, we climbed up onto the roof of the brownstone we lived in and watched the barely visible fireworks from there, listening to the baby monitor.
Many years, we’ve visited Josh’s family along the New Jersey shore for the Fourth of July. There, they do a fireworks display on the beach. We set up blankets in the sand, cold drinks in hand, and the kids run around while we ooh and aah Since we’ve lived in Raleigh, we’ve tried a few different things. A couple times, when the fireworks were still on the NC State Fairgrounds, we’d park along Highway 54 to watch them. One year, after they moved to Dorothea Dix Park, we tried to watch them from the 14th floor of our office building downtown, but another tall building sort of interrupted the view. We’ve watched them from the Boylan Bridge, too, but haven’t yet gotten the angle just right.
But even when we don’t get the best views, I’m always happy we’ve made the effort. I love that pre-finale burst, the one we think is the finale, and then the actual finale, which seems to go on forever. And I love that hushed moment just after they finish, before everyone claps and then packs up to go home.
Ayn-Monique Klahre Editor
A view of fireworks along the New Jersey shore, left, and a peek at the fireworks at Dorothea Dix Park from downtown Raleigh.
JULY 2024
EDITORIAL
Editor
AYN-MONIQUE KLAHRE ayn-monique@waltermagazine.com
Creative Director LAURA PETRIDES WALL laura@waltermagazine.com
Matthew Busch, Jim Dodson, Mike Dunn, Aruna Gurumurthy, Hampton Williams Hofer, Colony Little, David Menconi, Joe Miller, Heather Scott, Elizabeth Poland Shugg, Rachel Simon
Contributing Poetry Editor Jaki Shelton Green
Contributing Copy Editor Finn Cohen
Contributing Photographers
Liz Condo, Jessie Greenberg, Bob Karp, Juli Leonard, Forrest Mason, Catherine Nguyen, Eamon Queeney, Bryan Regan, Geoff Wood
Inquiries WALTER OFFICE 984-286-0928 info@waltermagazine.com
Address all correspondence to: WALTER magazine, 421 Fayetteville Street, Suite 104 Raleigh, N.C. 27601
Interns
Sydney Brainard, Margaret Devitt, Brianna Mannise, Elaine McManus, Henry Thomas
WALTER is available by paid subscriptions for $36 a year in the United States, as well as select rack and advertiser locations throughout the Triangle. Subscribe online at waltermagazine.com/subscribe
For customer service inquiries, please email us at customerservice@waltermagazine.com or call 984-286-0928. WALTER does not accept unsolicited manuscripts.
Please contact Ayn-Monique Klahre at ayn-monique@waltermagazine.com for freelance guidelines.
Owners
JACK ANDREWS, FRANK DANIELS III, DAVID WORONOFF In memoriam FRANK DANIELS JR.
There’s too much adventure out there and too many incredible people to work with, believes Geoff Wood. So his plan is to dive headfirst into life behind the lens, getting dirty and, whenever possible, throwing things into the air. “What a privilege it has been to watch Jen Matthews grow as an artist. Creating these images alongside her was as fun as her paintings of floppy flowers and wobbly vases teetering on the edge of disaster.”
Born in Lincolnton, Georgia, Elizabeth Poland Shugg grew up in nearby Athens and later moved to rural Southwest Virginia. She now lives on 3 acres in Chatham County near Jordan Lake. Shugg has 30 years of experience as a professional writer and editor, and has served as editor of seven magazines, four of which she helped launch. Most recently, she co-founded a quarterly magazine titled Backroad Portfolio. She enjoys hiking and traveling backroads to unique destinations. “Eliza Haywood lived to be 51 — my current age. She birthed 14 children and raised 12 to adulthood, entertained guests her husband brought home with little to no notice, and managed a large estate in a growing city. And was busy!”
WRITER
“When you write about hiking, you can’t take the summer off. Rather, you just have to seek out the trails least subject to summer’s sometimes brutal heat,” says Joe Miller. The five trails in this issue’s “Shady Hikes” reflect Miller’s research between 1992 and 2008 as an outdoor writer for The News & Observer and since 2008 as a hiking guide — one who’s managed to convince hundreds of clients that hiking in 90-degree heat isn’t necessarily a bad thing.
BOB KARP / PHOTOGRAPHER
In 2019, Bob Karp left the Gannett NJ News Group through a buyout, choosing “early retirement” to join his wife in North Carolina. Little did he realize this move would reignite his passion for photojournalism at the Duke Lemur Center. Volunteering as a photographer, he visited weekly over three years, documenting the diverse lemur population. “This sanctuary became my refuge, offering serenity and renewed sense of purpose. Those experiences are now cherished memories, deeply enriching my life.”
Brian Mullins (SHUGG); Jerstin Crosby (WOOD); courtesy
(MILLER, KARP)
FEEDBACK
Congratulations to WALTER photographer Joshua Steadman, who won a Society of Public Designers Merit Award for his photographs of artist Marriott Little in our May 2023 issue!
“The June issue was the best issue ever! The gardens, the barber shops, the wonderful “Pride of Place” article, the Simple Life, the retro motels, even cicadas — all captivating! Having grown up in Raleigh this was all very special. Keep up the good work!”
— Kathy Ogburn Roebuck
Dustin Smith, whose home is featured in the June issue, with his son.
“I couldn’t be more excited to see my Farm Foraged arrangements featured in the beautiful photographs Cat Nguyen took of Dustin and Burton’s beautiful home! A phenomenal article by Colony Little about Isabel Lu, whose stunning exhibition is on view at Artspace. And the cherry on top? A beautiful poem by Jaki Shelton Green presented with an image by Jane Cheek. Bravo, WALTER!”
— Annah Lee
@waltermagazine www.waltermagazine.com
OUR TOWN
The heat is on! Enjoy garden strolls after sunset, live music, fireworks galore and art-forward dinners.
HAPPY INDEPENDENCE DAY! There are lots of fireworks shows to consider. The City of Raleigh and ABC11 have teamed up to put on a lively show at Dorothea Dix Park this year. Before the fireworks at 9:30, enjoy food trucks, an Artsplosure-hosted kids’ zone and entertainment by DJ Rickey Smith (5:30 - 10 p.m.; free; 1030 Richardson Drive; dixpark.org). At Brier Creek Commons, enjoy the Star Spangled Block Party with games, music and, after sunset, fireworks. Bring your own lawn chair or blankets (6 p.m.; free; 8181 Brier Creek Parkway; shopbriercreekcommons.com). The Town of Cary will host its Independence Day Celebration at Koka Booth Amphitheatre, with family-friendly performances by the North Carolina Symphony and a light show over the lake (3:30 p.m.; free; 8003 Regency Parkway, Cary; boothamphitheatre.com). — Addie Ladner
courtesy of Dorothea Dix Park
Glorious 4th – July 4
Come celebrate Independence Day at North Carolina’s first colonial capitol! Hear a reading of the Declaration of Independence as the crowd cheers, followed by cannon and musket firings. Enjoy the tunes of the Fife & Drum Corps as they parade across the grounds. Engage with the militia and the 1st Regiment NC Continent Line at their encampment and visit with a Sutler family. Following the reading and festivities, there will be programming on When Did We Become Us? at the NC History Center.
Glorious 4th – July 4
Come celebrate Independence Day at North Carolina’s first colonial capitol! Hear a reading of the Declaration of Independence as the crowd cheers, followed by cannon and musket firings. Enjoy the tunes of the Fife & Drum Corps as they parade across the grounds. Engage with the militia and the 1st Regiment NC Continent Line at their encampment and visit with a Sutler family. Following the reading and festivities, there will be programming on When Did We Become Us? at the NC History Center. 9:00 am to 12 noon. FREE EVENT
Glorious
4th – July 4
Glorious 4th – July 4
Glorious 4th – July 4
GLORIOUS 4th – JULY 4
9:00 am to 12 noon. FREE EVENT
Come celebrate Independence Day at North Carolina’s first colonial capitol! Hear a reading of the Declaration of Independence as the crowd cheers, followed by cannon and musket firings. Enjoy the tunes of the Fife & Drum Corps as they parade across the grounds. Engage with the militia and the 1st Regiment NC Continent Line at their encampment and visit with a Sutler family. Following the reading and festivities, there will be programming on When Did We Become Us? at the NC History Center. 9:00 am to 12 noon. FREE EVENT
Glorious 4th – July 4
Come celebrate Independence Day at North Carolina’s first colonial capitol! Hear a reading of the Declaration of Independence as the crowd cheers, followed by cannon and musket firings. Enjoy the tunes of the Fife & Drum Corps as they parade across the grounds. Engage with the militia and the 1st Regiment NC Continent Line at their encampment and visit with a Sutler family. Following the reading and festivities, there will be programming on When Did We Become Us? at the NC History Center. 9:00 am to 12 noon. FREE EVENT
Come celebrate Independence Day at North Carolina’s first colonial capitol! Hear a reading of the Declaration of Independence as the crowd cheers, followed by cannon and musket firings. Enjoy the tunes of the Fife & Drum Corps as they parade across the grounds. Engage with the militia and the 1st Regiment NC Continent Line at their encampment and visit with a Sutler family. Following the readingand festivities, there will be programming on When Did We Become Us? at the NC History Center. 9:00 am to 12 noon. FREE EVENT
Come celebrate Independence Day at North Carolina’s first colonial capitol! Hear a reading of the Declaration of Independence as the crowd cheers, followed by cannon and musket firings. Enjoy the tunes of the Fife & Drum Corps as they parade across the grounds. Engage with the militia and the 1st Regiment NC Continent Line at their encampment and visit with a Sutler family. Following the reading and festivities, there will be programming on When Did We Become Us? at the NC History Center. FREE EVENT
Come celebrate Independence Day at North Carolina’s first colonial capitol! Hear a reading of the Declaration of Independence as the crowd cheers, followed by cannon and musket firings. Enjoy the tunes of the Fife & Drum Corps as they parade across the grounds. Engage with the militia and the 1st Regiment NC Continent Line at their encampment and visit with a Sutler family. Following the reading and festivities, there will be programming on When Did We Become Us? at the NC History Center.
Rev War Day - July 13
Rev War Day - July 13
9:00 am to 12 noon. FREE EVENT
Rev War Day - July 13
Here Comes the 250th! Join the NC Continental Line, Fife & Drum Corps, SAR, DAR, and others as they parade onto the Palace grounds. Engage with soldiers at the military encampment and watch drillings, bullet making and cooking over a campfire. Hear musket and cannon firing. Participate in lawn games, drilling, and drum games for children. Learn about the Harlowe Patriots, the Marquis de Lafayette, apothecary, spinning and weaving, and more at the NC History Center. A day for all to experience the 1770s and the coming of the American Revolution! 9:45 am to 3:00 pm. TICKETED ($10).
Rev War Day - July 13
Rev War Day - July 13
Rev War Day - July 13
Here Comes the 250th! Join the NC Continental Line, Fife & Drum Corps, SAR, DAR, and others as they parade onto the Palace grounds. Engage with soldiers at the military encampment and watch drillings, bullet making and cooking over a campfire. Hear musket and cannon firing. Participate in lawn games, drilling, and drum games for children. Learn about the Harlowe Patriots, the Marquis de Lafayette, apothecary, spinning and weaving, and more at the NC History Center. A day for all to experience the 1770s and the coming of the American Revolution! 9:45 am to 3:00 pm. TICKETED ($10).
REVOLUTIONARY WAR DAY – JULY 13
In August 1774, the Provincial Congress met in New Bern in open defiance of royal authority. It was the first in America to do so! The 28 resolutions that were drawn focused on “the rights of British American subjects,” and adopted “economic sanctions against Great Britain.” Celebrations include a parade of the NC Continental Line, Fife & Drum Corps, SAR, DAR, and other Rev War reenactors, patriotic and civic groups to the Palace, a keynote address by Chief Justice Paul Newby, a rendering of Honors to the 71 Delegates and Resolves of the 1st NC Provincial Congress, and conclude with cannon and musket firings. 9:30 am to 3:00 pm. FREE EVENT
Here Comes the 250th! Join the NC Continental Line, Fife & Drum Corps, SAR, DAR, and others as they parade onto the Palace grounds. Engage with soldiers at the military encampment and watch drillings, bullet making and cooking over a campfire. Hear musket and cannon firing. Participate in lawn games, drilling, and drum games for children. Learn about the Harlowe Patriots, the Marquis de Lafayette, apothecary, spinning and weaving, and more at the NC History Center. A day for all to experience the 1770s and the coming of the American Revolution! 9:45 am to 3:00 pm.
Here Comes the 250th! Join the NC Continental Line, Fife & Drum Corps, SAR, DAR, and others as they parade onto the Palace grounds. Engage with soldiers at the military encampment and watch drillings, bullet making and cooking over a campfire. Hear musket and cannon firing. Participate in lawn games, drilling, and drum games for children. Learn about the Harlowe Patriots, the Marquis de Lafayette, apothecary, spinning and weaving, and more at the NC History Center. A day for all to experience the 1770s and the coming of the American Revolution! 9:45 am to 3:00 pm.
Here Comes the 250th! Join the NC Continental Line, Fife & Drum Corps, SAR, DAR, and others as they parade onto the Palace grounds. Engage with soldiers at the military encampment and watch drillings, bullet making and cooking over a campfire. Hear musket and cannon firing. Participate in lawn games, drilling, and drum games for children. Learn about the Harlowe Patriots, the Marquis de Lafayette, apothecary, spinning and weaving, and more at the NC History Center. A day for all to experience the 1770s andthe coming of the American Revolution! 9:45 am to 3:00 pm.
In August 1774, the Provincial Congress met in New Bern in open defiance of royal authority. It was the first in America to do so! The 28 resolutions that were drawn focused on “the rights of British American subjects,” and adopted “economic sanctions against Great Britain.” Celebrations include a parade of the NC Continental Line, Fife & Drum Corps, SAR, DAR, and other Rev War reenactors, patriotic and civic groups to the Palace, a keynote address by Chief Justice Paul Newby, a rendering of Honors to the 71 Delegates and Resolves of the 1st NC Provincial Congress, and conclude with cannon and musket firings. 9:30 am to 3:00 pm. FREE EVENT
250th Anniversary of New Bern Resolves Celebration – August 24
250th ANNIVERSARY OF NEW BERN RESOLVES CELEBRATION – AUGUST 24
250th Anniversary of New Bern Resolves Celebration – August 24
250th Anniversary of New Bern Resolves Celebration – August 24
250th Anniversary of New Bern Resolves Celebration – August 24
Here Comes the 250th! Join the NC Continental Line, Fife & Drum Corps, SAR, DAR, and others as they parade onto the Palace grounds. Engage with soldiers at the military encampment and watch drillings, bullet making and cooking over a campfire. Hear musket and cannon firing. Participate in lawn games, drilling, and drum games for children. Learn about the Harlowe Patriots, the Marquis de Lafayette, apothecary, spinning and weaving, and more at the NC History Center. A day for all to experience the 1770s and the coming of the American Revolution! 9:45 am to 3:00 pm.
Here Comes the 250th! Join the NC Continental Line, Fife & Drum Corps, SAR, DAR, and others as they parade onto the Palace grounds. Engage with soldiers at the military encampment and watch drillings, bullet making and cooking over a campfire. Hear musket and cannon firing. Participate in lawn games, drilling, and drum games for children. Learn about the Harlowe Patriots, the Marquis de Lafayette, apothecary, spinning and weaving, and more at the NC History Center. A day for all to experience the 1770s and the coming of the American Revolution! 9:45 am to 3:00 pm.
In August 1774, the Provincial Congress met in New Bern in open defiance of royal authority. It was the first in America to do so! The 28 resolutions that were drawn focused on “the rights of British American subjects,” and adopted “economic sanctions against Great Britain.” Celebrations include a parade of the NC Continental Line, Fife & Drum Corps, SAR, DAR, and other Rev War reenactors, patriotic and civic groups to the Palace, a keynote address by Chief Justice Paul Newby, a rendering of Honors to the 71 Delegates and Resolves of the 1st NC Provincial Congress, and conclude with cannon and musket firings. 9:30 am to 3:00 pm. FREE EVENT
In August 1774, the Provincial Congress met in New Bern in open defiance of royal authority. It was the first in America to do so! The 28 resolutions that were drawn focused on “the rights of British American subjects,” and adopted “economic sanctions against Great Britain.” Celebrations include a parade of the NC Continental Line, Fife & Drum Corps, SAR, DAR, and other Rev War reenactors, patriotic and civic groups to the Palace, a keynote address by Chief Justice Paul Newby, a rendering of Honors to the 71 Delegates and Resolves of the 1st NC Provincial Congress, and conclude with cannon and musket firings. 9:30 am to 3:00 pm. FREE EVENT
In August 1774, the Provincial Congress met in New Bern in open defiance of royal authority. It was the first in America to do so! The 28 resolutions that were drawn focused on “the rights of British American subjects,” and adopted “economic sanctions against Great Britain.” Celebrations include a parade of the NC Continental Line, Fife & Drum Corps, SAR, DAR, and other Rev War reenactors, patriotic and civic groups to the Palace, a keynote address by Chief Justice Paul Newby, a rendering of Honors to the 71 Delegates and Resolves of the 1st NC Provincial Congress, and conclude with cannon and musket firings.
In August 1774, the Provincial Congress met in New Bern in open defiance of royal authority. It was the first in America to do so! The 28 resolutions that were drawn focused on “the rights of British American subjects,” and adopted “economic sanctions against Great Britain.” Celebrations include a parade of the NC Continental Line, Fife & Drum Corps, SAR, DAR, and other Rev War reenactors, patriotic and civic groups to the Palace, a keynote address by Chief Justice Paul Newby, a rendering of Honors to the 71 Delegates and Resolves of the 1st NC Provincial Congress, and conclude with cannon and musket firings. 9:30 am to 3:00 pm. FREE EVENT
250th Anniversary of New Bern Resolves Celebration – August 24
250th Anniversary of New Bern Resolves Celebration – August 24
In August 1774, the Provincial Congress met in New Bern in open defiance of royal authority. It was the first in America to do so! The 28 resolutions that were drawn focused on “the rights of British American subjects,” and adopted “economic sanctions against Great Britain.” Celebrations include a parade of the NC Continental Line, Fife & Drum Corps, SAR, DAR, and other Rev War reenactors, patriotic and civic groups to the Palace, a keynote address by Chief Justice Paul Newby, a rendering of Honors to the 71 Delegates and Resolves of the 1st NC Provincial Congress, and conclude with cannon and musket firings. 9:30 am to 3:00 pm. FREE EVENT
DATEBOOK
WALTER’s list of things to see, do and experience this month.
by ADDIE LADNER
ALICE GERRARD’S 90TH BIRTHDAY CELEBRATION
July 13 | 7:30 p.m.
Bluegrass lovers know all the lyrics to songs like “West Virginia My Home” and “Goodbyes” by folk musician Alice Gerrard. Originally from Seattle, the Grammy-nominated artist has had a long career in the roots music scene, particularly in her adopted home of North Carolina. For Gerrard’s 90th birthday, PineCone is hosting the legendary musician at the Martin Marietta Center for the Performing Arts, accompanied by experienced local and regional musicians like pedal steel player Rebecca Branson Jones, mandolinist Reed Stutz and fiddle player Tatiana Hargreaves. From $25; 2 E. South Street; pinecone.org
EVENING YOGA FLOW
Tuesdays | 6 - 7 p.m.
On Tuesdays, stretch (and sweat) it out at Raleigh City Farm among the
zinnias, butterflies, fragrant herbs and summer fruit trees. Instructors Renée Balyoz of Maitrī Yoga and Wellness and Will Florence from Yoga Soullective Raleigh will alternate leading this summer yoga series. Bring your mat, water and any props you might want. “The classes are great for students of all levels, or even new to yoga, with modifications offered to meet everyone’s needs. And we are very lucky to enjoy gentle downtown breezes at the farm,” says Balyoz. $18; 800 N. Blount Street; raleighcityfarm.org
ARE WE ALONE IN THE UNIVERSE?
July 2 | 12 - 2 p.m.
Should you be considering swapping life on Earth for one out in space, head to the North Carolina Museum of Natural Sciences for World UFO Day. In a lecture series in the SECU Daily Planet Theater, Dr. Rachel Smith and Dr. Patrick
Reserve the whole space for an evening for a private tasting party from 2 to 20 people! You bring the food, we have the wine Offering a range of wines from everyday to special occasions
Tuesday-Saturday
12 PM to 7 PM
2002 Fairview Road
919-917-7003
fivepointswine.com
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DATEBOOK
OUTDOOR FILMS
All month | Various times
Celebrate summer with a familyfriendly movie al fresco. This month, the North Carolina Museum of Art is showing Moana (July 12) and Barbie (July 13) and in its outdoor theater (8:30 p.m.; from $10; 2110 Blue Ridge Road; ncartmuseum.org). Cary’s retail complex Fenton is hosting a familycentered series on Wednesday mornings with films like Migration (July 10) and The Secret Life of Pets (July 31) (Wednesdays, 10 a.m.; free; 21 Fenton Main Street, Cary; fentonnc.com). If you’re up for an hour-plus trek, Raleigh Road Outdoor Theatre offers an old-school drive-in experience (really — it was built in the 1940s!). Movies are announced the week prior to showing (Opens at 7 p.m., movies begin at sunset; from $10; 3336 Raleigh Road, Henderson; raleighroaddrivein.com).
Treuthardt with the museum’s Astrophysics Research Lab will discuss fact and fiction surrounding UFOs, the potential of life outside of Earth and the mysteries of far-away galaxies. Free; 121 W. Jones Street; naturalsciences.org
OAK CITY SALSA SOCIAL
July 3 & 17 | 6 p.m.
CAROLINA MUDCATS
July 4 - 6 | 6:30 p.m.
On the first and third Wednesdays of every month, Oak City Music Collective hosts a fun dance series at Transfer Co. Food Hall. There, you can enjoy a live salsa band, onthe-spot lessons, themed cocktails and vendors to shop from. Admission is free and all skill levels and ages are welcome. Lessons start at 6:30 p.m. and the music begins at 7 p.m. Free; 500 E. Davie Street; oakcitymusic.com
What’s more all-American than an evening of baseball and fireworks? Over Independence Day weekend, The Carolina Mudcats will take on homestate rivals, the Down East Wood Ducks from Kinston, over three games at Five County Stadium in Zebulon. Try to track down mascot Muddy the Mudcat for a photo op, and stick around for the post-game fireworks show. From $13; 1501 NC-39, Zebulon; milb.com/carolina-mudcats
EVENING STROLL
July 9 | 4:30 – 7:30 p.m.
Enjoy a rare chance to meander through the JC Raulston Arboretum at dusk in this unique-to-summer event series. Participants will meet at the Bobby G. Wilder Visitor Center
and then enjoy a guided walk with one of the arboretum’s summer interns through the spacious public garden to take in all that’s blooming, including lantana, zinnias, cosmos and a wide range of native perennials. This month, the arboretum is asking folks to vote for their favorite in the trial beds, where various annuals and perennials are planted to test growth, color and overall performance. Free; 4415 Beryl Road; jcra.ncsu.edu
SUMMER BLOCK PARTY
July 13 | 1 - 4 p.m.
Book Harvest, a Durham-based organization working to improve literacy in underserved communities, is hosting a Summer Block Party at the Durham Bulls Athletic Park. Enjoy kids’ activities, entertainment (including beloved local magician Happy Dan the Magic Man!) and the main draw — free books! Have your pick of diverse, educational and fun books for infants and teenagers alike. Free; 409 Blackwell Street, Durham; bookharvest.org
THE COOKOUT
July 13 - 15 | 8 p.m.
Presented by Triangle Comedy Sketch, enjoy comedy and culture at TR Studio. Showing for three nights only, THe Cookout is a celebration of Black creativity and community produced by pro wrestler and entertainer Roni Nicole, who will host other Black stand-up comedians. From $16; 3027 Barrow Drive; theatreraleigh.com
SUNDAY DINNER SERIES
July 14 | 6 - 8 p.m.
The African American Art Collectors Guild and 21C Durham have teamed up with CAM Raleigh to produce an intimate dinner series. On July 14, artist Jermaine Powell will dine with 12 guests over food and conversation.
Included in the ticket price is a signed print by Powell and a three-course meal from Counting House. In an open conversation, Powell will discuss his process, career and upcoming projects. “This is an opportunity for creative minds to enjoy a blend of culinary delight and stimulating conversation,” says Tahlia L. Cummings, a member of the African American Art Collectors Guild. “We’ll be exploring new perspectives and artistic insights, all while honoring the tradition of Sunday supper.” $95; 111 Corcoran Street, Durham; camraleigh.org
SIDEWALK SALE
July 19 - 21 | 10 a.m. - 6 p.m.
For three days, participating shops in The Village District will host one big sidewalk sale, with retailers offering specials on select merchandise for an outdoor shopping extravaganza. Participating retailers include clothing boutique Fab’rik, running shop Fleet Feet Raleigh, outfitter Great Outdoor Provision Co., stationery shop If It’s Paper and many others. After working up an appetite from all the shopping,
stop into one of the nearby locally owned eateries for a bite or cup of tea. Free admission; 2068 Clark Avenue; shopvillagedistrict.com
RECYCLED ART WITH THE SCRAP EXCHANGE
July 25 | 5 - 7 p.m.
Draw inspiration from three bodies of work on view at the Gregg Museum of Art & Design, BABENGA — THe Sacred Forest, Material Messages: THe Tales Textiles Tell and Selections from the Collections, which each include work made from repurposed materials. In partnership with the Durham-based artsy thrift store The Scrap Exchange, make your own piece of art from recycled materials in the museum’s pollinator garden. This event is limited to 15 attendees, so go ahead and register! Free; 1903 Hillsborough Street; gregg. arts.ncsu.edu
OUR TOWN
July 25 - Aug. 4 | Various times Raleigh Little Theatre’s 2024 Teens on Stage and Teens Backstage summer program presents its grand finale, Our Town. Set in an idyllic, fictional New Hampshire town, the plot follows its citizens as they navigate their everyday life in the early 1900s. This 21st-century adaptation based on the Pulitzer Prize-winning play consists of three acts — “Daily Life,” “Love and Marriage” and “Death and Eternity”— incorporating culture and language from the present day. From $16; 301 Pogue Street; raleighlittletheatre.org
RALEIGH’S PREMIER WHITE GLOVE DELIVERY SERVICE
JK Transportation has been providing white glove delivery services to the RaleighDurham area since 2020. We partner with Interior Designers for full installations. We offer shipping and receiving in our climatecontrolled warehouse.
DATEBOOK
O.A.R.
July 16 | 6:30 p.m.
Longtime rock group O.A.R. is on the road for their summer tour. The quartet — made up of Chris Culos on drums, Richard On on guitar, vocalist Marc Roberge, bassist Benj Gershman and Jerry DePizzo on saxophone and guitar — will play some of its most popular feel-good tracks like “Hey Girl” and “I Feel Home.”
Opening the show is the upbeat pop group Fitz and the Tantrums (from $44; 500 S. McDowell Street; redhatamphitheater.com). Beforehand, check out rooftop bar 10th & Terrace, which is offering a summer cocktail menu inspired by shows at Red Hat. For this show, that’s “I Feel Home,” a blend of Four Roses Yellow Label bourbon, lime juice, maple syrup, St. Elizabeth’s Allspice Dram and bitters (from $13; 616 S. Salisbury Street; 10thandterrace.com).
TUNE SWINGERS
July 28 | 6 - 8 p.m.
The City of Raleigh’s summer concert series returns to Fred Fletcher Park and Pullen Park. Bring a picnic and a blanket to enjoy local music and singing groups most Sunday evenings. On July 28, jazz and swing group Tune Swingers Orchestra will be featured. The series will run through September, alternating between parks. Free; 820 Clay Street; raleighnc.gov
Dig up excitement for your next event at the Museum by adding the VIP Dueling Dinosaurs package to your experience.
Exclusive after-hours access to the Museum’s newest exhibit will leave your guests in awe as they explore the fascinating world of paleontology. Enhance your event further by engaging one of our expert scientists or educators to provide guided tours and interactive demonstrations, making your gathering a truly unique and memorable one!
Book your unforgettable experience today: naturalsciences.org/rentals | 919.707.9891
Ice Cream Queen
A new outpost in Raleigh Iron Works from Andia Xouris
by RACHEL SIMON
Andia Xouris remembers the exact moment when she knew that her eponymous ice cream shop was going to be a success. It was one week after the grand opening of the Andia’s Ice Cream on Green Level Church Road in Cary, a broiling-hot day in July 2017. When Xouris went outside to thank customers for coming, she saw that, despite the 90-degree temperature, the line was so long it went all the way into the parking lot. “That’s when I realized we had something special,” she says.
In the seven years since, those lines have only gotten longer — for good reason. Andia’s offers award-winning, premium ice cream and shakes in an ever-changing range of flavors. The brand has become so popular with Triangle residents that Xouris and her husband/ cofounder George have opened two more storefronts, including, as of last August, a location at Raleigh’s Iron Works. They’ve also started shipping pints nationally via Goldbelly and hired dozens of employees to keep up demand.
Andia’s — voted one of the top four ice cream shops in the country by USA Today in 2023 — offers unique flavors like Butter Toffee Popcorn and Malted Twix, plus Instagram-viral “Monster Shakes,” so over-the-top they made it onto an episode of Good Morning America. One mouth-watering example: the “Torched S’More” shake, featuring Double Dark Chocolate ice cream, a graham crumb rim, Hershey’s syrup drizzle, whipped cream and no less than three toasted marshmallows. But getting to the brand’s current level of success wasn’t an easy journey.
The Xourises, who’ve been together 32 years and have two adult children (both of whom are now part of the Andia’s team), first got the idea to open an ice cream shop in the early 2000s, when their family was living in New Jersey. Andia, a stay-at-home mother, and George, who sold financial software, had bonded early in their relationship over their shared love of dessert and entrepreneurship. They even floated the idea
photography by FORREST MASON
of buying a local ice cream shop, but the place they had in mind never went up for sale. Fast forward to 2009, after the Xourises had moved to Cary, and George brought up the idea once more. Andia was hesitant — “I honestly thought he was crazy, because we knew nothing,” she laughs — but with their kids getting older and George in-between jobs, she knew they’d have the time and ability to give the project the focus it deserved. It wasn’t long before she got on board.
Over the next several years, the couple traveled across the country to attend ice cream conventions and visit popular shops, eager to learn all they could about the dessert-making world. George, the more analytical-minded of the two, focused on mastering the business side of things, while the highly creative Andia put her efforts into their future shop’s marketing — and making the ice cream itself, taking courses for professionals to learn to craft the frozen treat.
A talented home cook, Andia was shocked to discover how difficult it could
be to make high-quality ice cream at a large scale, whether it was the need to memorize specific ratios of sugars and fats, learning various freezing points for different flavors or mastering a just-right texture. “I did not take to it easily,” she admits, adding that she “hated” chemistry in school.
But with time, her skills grew, until her homemade ice cream — in flavors inspired by childhood visits to her grandparents’ home in Cyprus, such as Rose Pistachio and Baklava — was strong enough to test out on friends and family. They loved it, but she wasn’t convinced. “I thought they were just nice to me because they were my friends,” she says.
The couple started selling their ice cream, under the name The Freezing Pointe, to wholesalers and at Triangle farmers’ markets. “People would come up and ask, where can I buy your ice cream?” she says. “I couldn’t believe that strangers liked my product enough to buy it.”
In 2017, the Xourises decided to open a retail location. But first they decided to
change up their branding, after hearing from customers that The Freezing Pointe didn’t really communicate the familyowned aspect of the business or the quality of the ice cream. The couple launched Andia’s Ice Cream in 2017 in Cary Town Park Center, decorating the cozy space with a giant blackboard listing their flavors and a large neon sign reading “Scooped With Love” above the cases.
To help attract attention, the Xouris children began advertising the shop’s flavors on TikTok and Instagram, with multiple videos — including behindthe-scenes looks at the process and an amusing monthly series rating the “scoopability” of each new flavor — going viral. It wasn’t long before Andia’s began garnering praise in the form of both customers (some of whom, spurred by the social media hype, admitted they’d driven hours to try it out) and awards. In addition to honors like the USA Today list, Andia herself is also the recipient of the prestigious Grand Master award from the North American Ice Cream
Association, one of only 15 people in the country and the only woman in the South and Southeast.
With so much early success, it was a no-brainer for the Xourises to open a second location. The Andia’s in the Cary Village Square Shopping Center launched in summer 2020, and although business was initially slow due to the pandemic, it soon picked up. Eager to also expand into Raleigh, the couple then focused their sights on Raleigh Iron Works, drawn to the Midtown development’s potential for foot traffic and focus on local businesses.
Like all small businesses, Andia’s has had its share of failures: buying the wrong equipment, accepting ill-advised deals, hiring employees who ended up not being a fit. Not every ice cream flavor has worked: Andia wistfully recounts a Hot Cheeto-cream cheese combo that bombed with customers. (It came out during the pandemic, so she blames that at least in part to the inability to offer samples.) But as “painful” as these mistakes have been, she says, they ultimately helped her and George learn what worked for their business to grow at the proper pace.
Now, the couple are focused on expanding strategically, with collaborations with eateries like Jubala Coffee and Madre and a Durham location opening at the Can Opener Food Truck Park this month. The shop has also partnered with multiple charities, donating profits to the Duke Children’s Hospital & Health Center and the Frankie Lemmon School, among others.
With so much constantly going on with the brand, Andia herself says she’s rarely taken time to soak in the shop’s success. “I don’t stop and think about it enough,” she admits. But during our talk, she teared up multiple times when discussing her family’s business journey. “We have been through so much, especially going into an industry that we knew nothing about,” Andia says. “I am incredibly grateful for this rollercoaster ride, because I would not be where I am today without it.”
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Souvenir Shops
Here’s where to find the goods to show off your Raleigh pride
by RACHEL SIMON
photography by BRYAN REGAN
If you love living in Raleigh, then you likely also love getting to show it off to visitors and new residents. Once you’ve taken your guests on a tour of the city and filled their stomachs with pimento cheese, send them home with a Raleigh-themed trinket from one of the many boutique souvenir shops located around town. From oak-tree-scented candles to mugs that show the city skyline, the gift options are endless.
CURATE
15 W. Hargett Street; 4325 Glenwood Avenue, Suite 2079
Founded by the creators of the popular Triangle Pop-Up (which still operates at various locations across Raleigh), Curate offers an eclectic selection of Raleighthemed goods in its two permanent shops. All of its products, from fun “City of Oaks” stickers to tongue-burning hot sauces, are made by North Carolina vendors, so “every purchase is supporting a local, small business in the Raleigh area,” says business manager Abby Moody, who runs the company alongside her sisters, owner Sarah and manager Julia.
Both of Curate’s cozy shops are decorated with its signature “groovy, retro branding,” says Moody, which is reflected in the fun, brightly colored products themselves. The average item price is around $20, and the 60 vendors chosen each quarter regularly change up their selections, so there’s always something new to discover.
Nestled into Mordecai’s Person Street Plaza, Edge of Urge is filled to the brim with one-of-a-kind items made largely by independent North Carolina designers, including plenty of Raleigh-themed products. The store’s vibe is “maximalist, colorful and playful,” says founder Jessie Williams, and the quirky wares (which vary widely in price) range from wine glasses etched with Raleigh maps to t-shirts listing local eateries. The sheer number of options can be overwhelming, but if you tell an employee about the per-
son the gift is for, they’ll put together a Mystery Box filled with items they think the recipient will love.
When you’re done shopping, hop across the street to Unlikely Professionals, another gift boutique run by Williams, which has a “more masculine vibe” and features camping gear, beer accessories, hats and more.
STANDOUT ITEMS: Ceramics made by Raleigh artist Liz Kelly, who “makes timeless gifts and home keepsakes,” says Williams.
NOFO @ THE PIG
2014 Fairview Road
A Five Points staple since 2001, NOFO is loved by Raleighites for its delicious food, old-school vibe and extensive gift shop. The spacious store (which opens to a cafe below) is full of “rustic wooden tables and display cases showcasing curated collections of unique finds,” says Mary McKinney, NOFO’s director of marketing, with prices for the products ranging from $5 to $150.
In addition to all the house-made meals and snacks for sale, you can find tea towels emblazoned with Raleigh imagery, colorful art prints depicting local landmarks and many more options — almost entirely made by city residents. “We have a dedicated staff member who recruits local artists to sell their wares in our store,” McKinney says.
STANDOUT ITEMS: Candles with scents inspired by North Carolina towns, made by Raleigh’s South Street Candle Company. “The scents are mesmerizing and the vessels are simple and elegant, complementing any decor,” says McKinney.
DECO
207 S. Salisbury Street
In the 12 years since DECO opened its doors downtown, the colorful shop has become a must-stop for residents looking to stock up on thoughtful items like skyline-decorated glassware and Raleigh-themed jigsaw puzzles. “At any given time, we will have the work of 80 to 100 North Carolina makers, artisans and brands,” says owner Pam Blondin,
“including many product exclusives.”
Don’t be intimidated by the store’s organized chaos; employees can help curate gift bags in specific Raleigh themes, such as a cooking-centric box featuring cookbooks from local chefs, hand-printed kitchen towels and North Carolinamade spices, Blondin says. Prices for local items range from $10 to $60.
STANDOUT ITEMS: Blondin loves the DECO X Canes exclusive “large, frameable prints” from local artists Autumn Cobeland and Adam Cohen; 5% of the proceeds are donated to The Carolina Hurricanes Foundation.
NORTH CAROLINA MUSEUM OF HISTORY
5 E. Edenton Street
Visitors to the Museum of History don’t only get to learn about the state’s past; they can also shop a unique, curated collection of items tied to current exhibits: locally made wooden toys to coincide with a showcase of North Carolina fur-
niture or tea towels depicting dogwoods (the state flower) during an exhibit on plant life. Prices for small souvenirs like magnets and mugs can start at just a few dollars, and larger specialty items like pillows showing Raleigh landmarks and pottery made by local artists can cost $100 or more.
The money you spend at the store has an important purpose. “When you buy here, you’re supporting this museum and the state of North Carolina,” says Lynn Brower, the shop’s director of retail operations. “It’s kind of like the gift that gives twice.”
STANDOUT ITEMS: Each year, the museum adds a new North Carolina-themed ornament to its Museum Ornament Series, which started in 1982. The collection includes beautiful artwork depicting sites like lighthouses of the Outer Banks and the State Capitol in springtime. “We carry 10 to 15 different ornament styles on a regular basis,” says Brower.
A WORLD Inside a Weed
This common pollinator plant has a unique structure and a host of insects to feed
words and photography by MIKE
DUNN
For a naturalist, an ideal summer day is one filled with wildflowers and butterflies. A group of plants that fits nicely into this idyllic scene are milkweeds. North Carolina has 17 species of native milkweeds that come in a beautiful range of colors, from pink to flame orange. They’re best known as a host plant for the caterpillars of monarch butterflies, which lay eggs on the leaves as they pass through on their migration to and from central Mexico. But milkweeds are also great pollinator plants, attracting a wide variety of butterflies, native bees and other beneficial insects — and they have some unique characteristics that make them particularly fascinating.
Milkweed flowers typically occur in clusters, with all the flower stalks
originating from one location, called an umbel. A close look at an individual milkweed flower shows just how unique it is. Its five petals are curved downward when fully open, which is similar to many other plants. But within the circle of petals, there are five “hoods” that together look like a crown perched on top of the flower. That structure is aptly named a corona. Each hood contains copious amounts of nectar, beckoning pollinators to the all-important reproductive structure of the plant.
Speaking of reproduction, another unique thing about this plant is its pollen, which, instead of being the familiar powder-like grains, is fused into a sac called a pollinium. Two pollinium sacs are attached together like a saddlebag or wishbone to form a structure called a
Swamp Milkweed
pollinarium. Still with me? This is where it gets really strange: When an insect visits the flower, its leg may slip down into one of the slits between the flower’s hoods and snag a pollinarium as it pulls its leg out. This is the flower’s goal.
As the insect moves to another flower, the wishbone arms of the pollinarium dry out, causing them to rotate, moving the structure into the proper position to be inserted into the receptive parts of the next milkweed flower. When that insect lands on another flower and its leg goes into a slit just right, the saddlebag breaks apart and deposits the pollen bags. As I’ve spent time watching pollinators like bumblebees on milkweed flowers, I’ve been able to observe these amber-colored saddlebags on its legs.
If this all seems like a lot of effort on the part of both the flower and the pollinator, you may be right. Only a few flowers in each umbel will actually get pollinated and develop into mature seed pods. The seed pods vary in size and shape between the species, but all split along one side when they mature to release the seeds. The seeds have fluffy white tufts of “hairs” (called comas) which help the seeds disperse in the wind. Many milkweeds also reproduce asexually through rhizomes (underground stems that produce new shoots), which seems like a good idea for a species that has such a complicated pollination process.
The name “milkweed” is derived from the milky sap that most species of this group contain in their leaves and stem, combined with the belief that certain species have been considered “weedy” in pastures and other managed landscapes. But many species of milkweed have also been prized for their practical value. One of the most interesting uses I’ve read about is that silky fibers attached to the seeds were used to fill life vests during WWII. Due to the many medicinal uses of this group of plants, all of our milkweed species are in the genus Asclepias, which is from the Greek name Asclepios, who was the god of healing. But be aware that all parts of these
plants contain toxins like cardiac glycosides that can make you sick, or worse, if carelessly used.
The namesake milky sap of most species is best seen in a broken stem or torn leaf as it oozes out. It is a latex that starts to coagulate when exposed to air, acting as a defense mechanism. The sap can help protect the plant from chewing insects by clogging their mouthparts or making it difficult to move once the plant surface is punctured. The toxins contained in the plant discourage most herbivorous insects and mammals from feeding upon it. However, there are a few insects that can successfully dine on milkweed plants and a host of other invertebrates that make up the community of creatures you often find on milkweeds. The insects that have adapted to feed on milkweed can store the plant’s toxins in their bodies so that they themselves are not palatable to predators. The best-known example of this is the Monarch butterfly: both the caterpillars and adults store the toxin,
so they’re distasteful to birds and can actually make them sick. Birds learn to leave them alone. Adult monarchs have distinctive orange-and-black warning coloration, as do many of the other species that feed on milkweed. In addition to the monarchs, here are a couple of the other species with these warning colors you may see on milkweeds.
The Milkweed Longhorn Beetles feed on leaves and stems of Common Milkweed as adults. They lay eggs at the base of the stem and the larvae bore into the stems and roots to feed. They are also known as four-eyed beetles, since their compound eyes are each divided into two parts by a groove for the antenna.
The Small Milkweed Bug (with a black X on its back) and the Large Milkweed Bug (with a black band across its back) primarily feed on the seeds of milkweed. Nymphs and adults often form clusters on milkweed pods, which probably enhances the deterrence of their warning colors. They feed by using their needle-like beaks to pierce the
Clockwise from top left: Milky sap in broken Common Milkweed leaf; a Few-Flower Milkweed seed pod; Swamp Milkweed detail.
milkweed pods and suck juices from the developing and mature seeds.
Clusters of tiny orange-yellow blobs along the stems are Oleander (or Milkweed) Aphids. This introduced species has naturalized in the United States and feeds extensively on Common Milkweed. Interestingly, they are entirely parthenogenetic, with no known males in the population. They are sometimes tended (and further protected from predators) by ants to collect a sugary fluid known as honeydew that’s excreted by the aphids as they feed.
Look closely at a milkweed plant and you may also see all sorts of predators, parasitoids and other invertebrates coming to feed on the plant, the nectar-rich flowers or on each other.
While the name may have “weed” in it, these plants can be a great addition to any home landscape. Three of the more common species available in area nurseries are Common Milkweed (Asclepias
syriaca), Swamp Milkweed (A. incarnata) and Butterflyweed (A. tuberosa). I have all three in a sunny area near our house. I fell in love with Common Milkweed while doing monarch larva monitoring for a citizen science project at the North Carolina Museum of Natural Science’s Prairie Ridge Ecostation years ago. Common Milkweed grows in dense stands of tall plants whose flowers have an incredibly sweet fragrance. It is a magnet for all sorts of pollinators and other critters and a favorite host plant of Monarch butterflies. I was warned that it likes to spread if you plant it in your yard, and that has turned out to be very true. But it is easy to pull up wayward plants, and I find its beauty and wildlife value worth the effort.
Swamp Milkweed is a more delicate species that prefers to have wet feet, although it can thrive in a sunny spot with normal garden soil. It tends to be better behaved than its larger cousin
and does not spread as much. The flowers are a beautiful light pink in color. The stem fibers are very strong and were used by many Native American tribes for cordage. Several bird species, such as Yellow Warblers, peel these fibers to use in nest construction.
Butterflyweed is one of my favorite wildflowers. It is hardy, drought tolerant and blooms for a long time, adding a bright splash of color to any garden. The typical form has bright orange flowers, but varieties can also range from red to yellow-orange. It grows in a more compact mound-shaped form to a height of 1 to 2 feet. Unlike most milkweeds, it does not have milky sap, but still contains the cardiac glycosides that make it unpalatable to most animals.
I hope you can find space in your home landscape to plant a few of these wonderful native plants. The migrating Monarch butterflies (as well as a host of other insects) will thank you.
MAKE THIS SUMMER
BEAT THE HEAT
July marks the start of the dog days of summer, the hottest and most humid stretch here in North Carolina — which is why garden expert Helen Yoest encourages folks to take it easy. “It can be brutal out there and you don’t want to stress yourself out,” she says. For Yoest, whose book Beginner’s Guide to Garden Planning and Design came out last month, that means enjoying her yard from her covered porch: “I like to have coffee in the early morning or a glass of wine in the evening to watch things grow and see what wildlife comes.” Here are her tips for this month.
PREVENT FUNGUS
In humid months, fungus like powdery mildew can easily spread between your lawn, vegetables and ornamental plants. Keep it at bay by spraying with Neem Oil or Captain Jack’s Copper Fungicide, says Yoest. She also suggests watering first thing in the early morning: “When the sun comes up, it will dry all the extra moisture from the watering and the early morning dew.”
RETHINK LAWN HEIGHT
Fescue is a lush, soft lawn grass in this area because it stays green in the winter, but in the summer, cutting it too short can expose the soil to too much heat and sun. This can damage the roots, resulting in dry patches, slower growth and an overall parched lawn. Adjusting your mower setting — Yoest suggests raising it to 3 inches — can help. “Longer grass will help keep the roots cool,” she says.
PAUSE PLANTING
Summer typically brings a drought, and that risky time starts this month. So even though you might be eyeing someone’s vibrant dahlias, now is not the time to plant them. Instead, make a list to revisit once the temperature has dropped and the risk has decreased. “For trees, shrubs and perennials, I encourage people to wait until September and October,” says Yoest.
—Addie Ladner
Anything but EASY
It’s been almost a decade since Lonnie Walker’s last album. You don’t know the half of it.
by DAVID MENCONI
photography by EAMON QUEENEY
It’s been nine long years since the Raleigh rock band Lonnie Walker released new music, the sort of lengthy hiatus that usually turns out to be permanent. There were all the usual travails that various members had to contend with: health and life matters; an album recorded and scrapped; and the pandemic shutdown.
But the main reason for such a long gap was singer/guitarist/frontman Brian Corum falling into a black hole of heroin addiction. He was homeless for an extended period of time, during which it wasn’t clear if he’d ever make music again.
But things are on the upswing. Corum has been clean and sober for about five years now, and somehow Lonnie Walker has kept the same lineup of guitarist Eric
Hill, drummer Raymond Finn, keyboardist Justin Flythe and bassist Mike Robinson alongside him. And the new Lonnie Walker album, Easy Easy Easy Easy (Sleepy Cat Records), is spectacular. It’s an ironic title, because getting it into the world has been anything but easy.
Catchy and loose-limbed, it’s like a cross between Bob Dylan’s surreal mid-1960s verbosity and the angular push-pull of ’90s alternative bands like Pavement or Modest Mouse. Easy Easy Easy Easy is also as harrowing as it is listenable. That especially goes for “Funny Feelin’,” a rollicking account of withdrawal in which Corum declares he’s “keepin’ it together best I can” before solemnly concluding, “even when surrounded by your friends and family whispering condolences, you die alone.”
Dark stuff.
“It is,” Corum agrees. “The darkness is not all over the album, but certainly in some songs, especially that one. I didn’t start that one thinking it would turn into my own experience trying to get clean. But… it did.”
Lonnie Walker originally formed not quite 20 years ago in Greenville, where Corum was earning a photography degree from East Carolina University. Early on, their shows were raucous and even multimedia affairs, including an onstage visual artist who would paint murals behind the band as they played.
The group’s 2009 debut These Times Old Times showed abundant promise, roots rock with a quirky pulse. But that was around the time Corum began slipping into drug use out of curiosity, thinking he could control it.
He started with opioids, turning to heroin when those became harder to get. Soon he had a full-blown habit. Addiction would be the subject of various songs on Lonnie Walker’s second album, 2015’s Earth Canals.
“I started out thinking I was using
Left to right: Mike Robinson, Brian Corum, Raymond Finn and Eric Hill
Catchy and loose-limbed, it’s like a cross between Bob Dylan’s surreal mid1960s verbosity and the angular push-pull of ’90s alternative bands like Pavement or Modest Mouse.
them for fun,” Corum says. “Early on, I thought they made me feel like a better version of myself. But they made finishing things so hard. Being in that state was like a full-time job. So that was the main cause for the pause, the year and a half I spent in a homeless shelter.”
Corum says he “would have kicked myself out of a band a long time ago,” and he struggled with going in and out of rehab. There was a several-year period of “rudderless show-playing” when Corum was well enough to play, says Hill, his Lonnie Walker bandmate of longest standing.
After sobriety finally took hold, Corum was ready to get back at it, and he had some of the best songs he’d ever written. But getting them recorded was a difficult process, in which they scrapped an entire version of the album.
“That first version just didn’t have the vibe we were looking for,” says Hill. “We tried to do this complex piecing together of tracks and it turned into a humongous fiasco. But the second one is my favorite thing we’ve ever done. All live, everybody playing in the same room at the same time.”
Highlights of the new album include “Natural Lady,” which might be the most overt love song Corum has ever written, and the zippy kiss-off “Pissin’ Off the Scene.” And for groove and feel, the droning psychedelic tones of “Cool Sparkling Water” can’t be beat.
“That one’s kind of a sober psychedelic song that gets back to the essence of life, which is water,” says Corum. “It sounds like it could be an LSD trip. I was almost
embarrassed to show that one to the band because it’s just a drone where I was hitting E on the bass over and over. But everyone liked it. We agreed not to play it all the way through until recording because we didn’t want it to get too tight, lose the essence.”
With Easy Easy Easy Easy coming out into the world in July, Lonnie Walker will probably spend some time on the road this year. Offstage, Corum keeps busy running Rabbit Press, a custom screenprinting company (a process he learned while studying photography). He also works with The Healing Place, a Raleigh rehab center, trying to help get people on the same path he’s been on.
“We were really worried about Brian for a long, long time,” says Hill. “I don’t want to inflate his ego, but I’m super proud of him.”
Top to bottom: Lonnie Walker plays at Oak City Cycling; drummer Raymond Finn; bass player Mike Robinson; singer Brian Corum.
Shady HIKES
A full tree canopy and room for circulation make these walks a summer breeze
words and photography by
JOE MILLER
The beauty of a summer hike in the Triangle? Fewer people. The less beautiful part? The heat. Unless you know where to hike.
According to the U.S. Dept. of Energy, a full tree canopy can lop 10 degrees off the air temperature. But a full canopy doesn’t tell the full story. A crowded understory — the shorter dogwoods, ironwoods and redbuds — and a carpet of shrubs can prevent cooling breezes from making it feel even cooler. To make your summer hike as pleasant as possible, you want a thick, green ceiling above and little greenery below.
The following five trails meet that criteria, offering some of the coolest summer hiking around. Keep ‘em in mind the next time you’re tempted to sit out a walk in the woods on a hot summer day.
Seven Mile Creek Natural Area
GEORGE AND JULIA BRUMLEY FAMILY NATURE PRESERVE (South Tract)
University Station is where you’ll find the best tree cover and least understory in the region. (Note: This is not Brumley’s North Tract on Old State Highway 10, which offers great hiking but is exposed to the sun, nor is it the South Tract entrance off New Hope Church Road, which is popular with mountain bikers.) The short (0.4 miles) Lava Loop Trail introduces you to house-size boulders beneath towering oaks and hickories; from there, the 0.8-mile Black Cohosh Trail leaves the boulders behind as it rolls over gentle hills, still sheltered by that protective canopy. You’ll find a modest midlayer on the Running Cedar Loop (nearly a mile), but by the time you circle back to Black Cohosh, you’ll have developed only a hint of a… glow, which will disappear on your cooling return to the trailhead. You can hike less than a half mile, or you can do the full route described here, which is open only for hiking, for about 3 miles. If you’re really ambitious, hook into Brumley South’s nearly 16-mile multiuse network for a very long day hike. 3801 University Station Road, Chapel Hill; 4 miles of trail; triangleland.org
WHITE PINES NATURE PRESERVE
It’s not so much the preserve’s namesake white pines that soothe summer hikers. Rather, it’s the more dominant hardwoods that create a cooler microclimate here, with temperatures generally 10 degrees cooler than in downtown Pittsboro just 8 miles north. White Pines was the first nature preserve opened by the Durham-based Triangle Land Conservancy more than 35 years ago. It was targeted for those cool-weather-loving white pines, which once peppered the Piedmont but largely disappeared 10,000 years ago, at the end of the last ice age. Today, they exist here only on cooler, well-shaded north-facing slopes.
White Pines is further blessed by the convergence of two rivers — the Rocky and the Deep — which also help hikers keep their cool. From the lower parking area (the first encountered driving in),
The quarry’s cooling waters are especially popular on summer weekends.
Eno Quarry
White Pines Nature Preserve
Shiner’s Way Trail takes hikers to the half-mile Rocky Bluffs Trail, which catches ridgeline breezes, before T-ing into the mile-long Schoolkids Trail. Schoolkids descends into a mature bottomland forest before following an old roadbed that will make you think you’re in the Southern Appalachians. Stick with the outer edges of this trail network and you’ll have a nice 5-mile hike.
548 South Rocky River Road, Sanford; 5.8 miles of trail; triangleland.org
ENO RIVER STATE PARK, PLEASANT GREEN ACCESS
From the access off Pleasant Green Road, the trail follows the Eno River downstream through a rich floodplain forest. The flat first third of a mile makes for a nice warmup before the trail climbs a bluff overlooking the Eno. You’ll encounter some tight, but brief, passages through mountain laurel before being deposited in a forest of high pines. Drop back down to the Eno and moments later you’re at the Eno Quarry, the deep green waters of which will cool you even more. Spend roughly three-quarters of a mile
circling the quarry before returning the way you came. One caveat: The quarry’s cooling waters are especially popular on summer weekends. If you value solitude, this route is best explored on weekdays or on a quiet Sunday morning. Of course, these rules apply to nearly all of the popular Eno River State Park trails. But this option is the state park’s coolest!
4770 Pleasant Green Road, Durham; 3.6 miles (Laurel Bluffs and Eno Quarry trails); ncparks.gov
OCCONEECHEE MOUNTAIN STATE NATURAL AREA
Think of a big rock with a bunch of trees glued to it, and you’ve got Occoneechee. The natural area is small, just 230 acres, and 3 miles of trail may not seem to some like it’s worth the drive — but it is. For one, this isn’t a 3-miler you’ll hammer out in an hour. At 867 feet, the summit rises 350 feet above the Eno River, which marks the park’s northern boundary.
Despite its rocky nature, the mountain is covered by mature hardwoods. There’s understory and ground cover in spots,
but even they will inspire a sudden chill: on a stretch of trail along the Eno, a 30foot north-facing cliff face supports not only mountain laurel and rhododendron, two Appalachian staples, but also pungent galax, the defining ground cover of the high country. And that 3 miles of trail is deceptive.
You’ll want to hike the entire 2.2-mile Occoneechee Mountain Loop Trail, which circumnavigates the mountain. But you’ll also want to explore the Chestnut Oak Trail (0.9 miles) to explore higher elevations; the Overlook Trail (0.3 miles, out and back) for unobstructed views to the north; and the tenth-of-amile Brown Elfin Knob Trail, named for a rare butterfly that calls the mountain home. With doubling back, you’re looking at 4 miles easily.
625 Virginia Cates Road, Hillsborough; 3 miles of trail; ncparks.gov
SEVEN MILE CREEK NATURAL AREA
Seven Mile Creek? You likely haven’t heard of the creek (a tributary of the Eno River), let alone the natural area. But there it sits, on 360 acres that slope from a plateau down to the creek (and slightly beyond). The slope is dominated by rich hardwoods, including what is believed to be the last remaining large stand of sugar maples in Orange County, making it not only a cool summer hike, but a colorful one come fall.
The preserve’s obscurity bodes well if you like solitude. Though the low thrum of traffic on I-40 just a half mile north is ever-present, the preserve excels at offering escape that outsizes its size and location. It also begs to be hiked early in the morning, with a high canopy and west-facing slope that accommodate early morning sunlight knifing through the woods. It’s an especially good hike after a rain as well. Seven Mile Creek has a nice, rocky drop through the preserve, creating a torrent akin to a mountain creek. A good place to take folks visiting from out of town who don’t hike, but might, after exploring here.
2187 Moorefields Road, Hillsborough; 2-plus miles of trail; orangecountync.gov
Occoneechee Mountain State Natural Area
The Magic of MAHJONG
This pretty parlor game combines luck and strategy — but it’s the connection between players that’s the real draw
by HEATHER SCOTT
photography by JESSIE GREENBERG
Ladies in puffed-sleeve floral dresses and sneakers fill a sunny room at Surcie in The Village District. It’s late morning on a Tuesday, and these done-up women — mostly in their 30s and 40s — are ready to sprint to carpool pick-up or back to work when the time comes.
They’re gathered at tables in groups of four, each group surrounding a pile of rectangular mahjong tiles poured out in the center. Each tile is a tiny work of art, its details etched in bold, complimentary colors. They have the texture of polished ivory and are just heavy enough to feel substantial.
Each tile represents both potential and risk. Discard the wrong tile or pick the wrong line and you could end up with a dead hand.
These are the trappings of American Mahjong, a parlor game that’s recently become an activity of choice among young-ish women of means, particularly in the South. Shops like Charlotte’s in The Village District and La Maison in North Hills not only stock beautiful, modern mahjong sets, racks and mats, but also carry bags, miniature travel sets and cups and napkins decorated in mahjong motifs. (Last Christmas, the mahjong-themed ornaments at Charlotte’s sold out as quickly as they were put on display.) Invite-only classes at the Carolina Country Club are booked full and lunchtime at
North Hills Club on Tuesdays has mahjong players at almost every table. “Interest in mahjong ebbs and flows, but right now, it’s a tidal wave,” says Dana Lange, a Durham-based mahjong instructor who’s been traveling the world for more than 25 years teaching people how to play.
American interest in the game dates to the 1920s, when Joseph Park Babcock, a civil engineer for the Standard Oil Company, was sent to work in Suzhou, China. There, he and his wife developed a love for mahjong, and Joseph began importing mahjong sets from Shanghai. In 1935, Babcock rewrote and simplified the Chinese rules in order to make the game more attractive to Americans.
To oversimplify, the goal of mahjong is to collect 14 tiles in a specific pattern by drawing and discarding tiles. In the United States, a new set of winning tile combinations, or “lines,” is released each year by the National Mah Jongg League card. The card is much anticipated every spring — fans order it online, then it arrives in the mail.
Each line consists of 14 tile patterns; matching any one line from the card will win the game. There are three suits, Cracks, Bams and Dots, and each has numbered tiles, from one to nine, plus a matching dragon. There are four of each tile per suit. Then there are unsuited tiles, including Flowers, Winds, Jokers and Blanks (Blanks are optional and somewhat controversial — some think using them makes for a less serious game). The tiles are discarded and picked up in a flurry of activity: pick a tile and you could match a winning line, but pause and someone else might get it first. It’s addictive.
“You can never touch another woman’s rack,” Lange quips. “Well, at least not without her permission.” Lange remembers learning to play with her grandmother in her Hope Valley neighborhood in Durham. Years ago, she was asked to teach as part of a fundraiser for Durham Academy and now she teaches
roughly nine classes per week, and her weekly Beginner and Beyond Beginner classes fill up weeks in advance.
Each April, after the National Mah Jongg League releases its Official Hands and Rules Card, more than 300 players attend Lange’s classes to review the new lines, where she’ll walk them through the best hands and backup plans. “There truly are rules for every situation, so if there’s a disagreement you can just refer back to them — it makes for a friendlier game,” she says. (Not everyone agrees: Lange has seen party cups printed with “Don’t Tell Dana” circulating among the rule-breaking younger set.)
After discovering mahjong for myself a few years ago, I’m now in a group that plays weekly. When we travel together, one of us will bring our set. I recently hosted two lessons at my home to introduce a new set of friends to the game. Our instructor was Ashley Sigmon, co-owner of Charlotte-based Mahj in the City, who travels far and wide teaching groups to play. Along with 15 friends, I listened as Ashley gave overviews of each tile and suit, the stages of play and rules.
In between playing and learning, we were catching up with one another, laughing, connecting — which is maybe the real point. “The pauses between the rounds of play, when you shuffle the tiles, are just long enough to have a quick conversation, but not too long to be taxing,” says Anneliese Heinz, the author of Mahjong: A Chinese Game and the Making of Modern American Culture. “It allows you to get to know someone over the course of the game, which makes it particularly powerful for building community.”
Whether you’re a young mother trying to squeeze in connection between responsibilities, or you’re just using the gentle click of tiles as a backdrop to catch up with old friends, the true magic of mahjong is its gravitational pull, drawing us in to play together once again.
Opposite page: Playing a mahjong game at the author’s home. This page, left to right: Some of the game’s equipment. Mahjong fans Mary Mac Jenkins, Maggie Hutten, Christy Chattleton, Heather Scott, Emily Holt Best and Ashley Sigmon.
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Primitive PLAYGROUNDS
When I was a kid, we had a lot fewer amenities — but were we really missing anything?
by MATTHEW BUSCH
Sitting on a plastic park bench, I watch my 3-year-old daughter play on a plush green cushioned pad in Pullen Park. She’s nonstop, but I get the sense that she could bounce off any of these surfaces unscathed. No scraped knees, no splinters from coarse hemp ropes, not one limb stuck, pinched or twisted. The choices at Pullen Park today are staggering compared to what they were in my youth.
I’m hunched over in my usual poor posture, shaking my head. You don’t realize how good you’ve got it, kid, I think to myself. With fingers laced in my lap, I’m rolling my thumbs. I chuckle to myself, feeling 40 going on 87.
The sun is setting by the time we’re ready to leave. I notice aspects of the park that haven’t changed since I was a kid: the train tracks, the deep-green foliage of trees, the shrubs creeping out, edging towards the pond. The comforting heat of summer when the sun’s rays are low. It’s magnificent.
Looking at the pond’s embankment triggers a memory. When my cousin was a child, we had a portrait taken of him on that very spot. I can see him sitting there, wedged in the liriope, laughing out at the water, with a cane pole in hand. I think of being a child again, and what Raleigh playgrounds were like in the 1980s.
Short version: they were a blast. Back
in my day, playgrounds resembled an Army basic training course, outfitted with simple materials like concrete, tires, sand and wood.
At Lacy Elementary School, we had the tire ramp, a marvelous obstacle with six rows of giant tires nailed to wooden beams. It sat in an open field like a sundial, and by recess it was hot enough to fry an egg. An athletic kid, which I wasn’t, could have climbed it for exercise. I preferred it as a perch to relax and bask in the sun. By mid-spring, when the weather was heating up, I’d tie a sweatshirt around my waist to protect my legs from the blazing black rubber, then lean back with my fingers laced behind my
head to take in the Carolina blue skies.
And then there was the giant concrete pipe in the sand. By fourth grade, I knew that if I wanted to get romantic, its elegant coziness was unmatched. Palms flattened, I’d frantically sweep out all the sand, then recline, legs crossed, ready to welcome the first female passerby to join me: “Oh, did you want to get in here too? Come on in — I’ve just been sitting here gazing upon this lovely chewing gum fresco.”
And then they put in another concrete pipe right beside it. Kiss romance goodbye and bring on the game of war! Magnolias were our preferred weapons. The buds would drop along the fence line and we’d turn them into grenades, breaking off the little stems like firing pins. When the teacher wasn’t looking, we’d form teams and hurl them at makeshift targets.
Outside of school, the playground offerings were just as interesting and just as interpretive. Pullen Park playground offered psychedelic structures made of concrete: free-standing slices of Swiss cheese to climb for hours, dolphins and turtles rubbed smooth from years of children’s hands and feet. When we got hot, we’d climb onto the water fountains, feeling the bumpy texture of the yellow pea-gravel concrete, cool from the water pipes embedded inside.
A block over on North Carolina State University’s campus, the athletic fields were empty in the summer, which made them prime real estate for us. Here, we found giant green sports fields and sandpits full of molded concrete weightlifting equipment. We’d play shirts versus skins tag football, and by the end of the game the shirtless team would be itching from bug bites and grass scratches. Near the steaming red-rubberized track was a water jump pit for the steeplechase events; by sum-
mer the somewhat questionable water was filled with tadpoles for catching.
When the SAS All Children’s Playground opened in 1991, high-tech name met high-tech park. The wooden structure was all turns, staircases and bridges, something straight out of an M.C. Escher lithograph. There, we’d play “castle,” hoisting a triangular red flag up a pulley to the top of a steeple (earning splinters and rope burns in the meantime). But even this intricate playground left plenty of room for play, sparks for imagination. Back to present-day: I look at my daughter’s face as she wildly climbs a synthetic-rope spider web. Her brow is scrunched down; she’s intensely focused as she makes it to the top and back down. As soon as she’s done, she’s on to yet another part of the park. No pause. All kinetic. It’s circuit training. It’s as if these attractions were created to maximize the exertion of energy. A nearby mom tells me they’ve opened a “ninja indoor playground” out past 540. Hmmm, I chuckle to myself, We’re raising ninjas.
As we gather our stuff to head to the car, I say out loud, “Nope, you don’t realize how good you had it, kid.” “What did you say, Daddy?” my daughter chirps. “Oh, nothing,” I respond.
Today’s playgrounds seem safer, they have cooler features — but are they really any better? Back in the ‘80s, we may have had less, but we found deeply gratifying ways of making more.
Follow along and don’t miss a thing.
The Belle of Star City
May her light shine on
by JIM DODSON illustration by GERRY O’NEILL
“Ithink you are really going to enjoy your Great Aunt Lily,” my dad says cheerfully. “She’s quite a colorful character. I call her the Belle of Star City.”
It’s a warm July morning in 1964. We are driving through the Blue Ridge Mountains to Roanoke, Virginia, where I am to be dropped off at Great Aunt Lily’s apartment for the weekend before my parents take my brother, Dickie, on to church camp, then head to a newspaper convention in Hot Springs.
My father explains that Lily is my grandfather’s beloved youngest sister, a strong-willed beauty who spurned
several suitors in rural Carolina before fleeing to Washington, D.C. There, she worked for years as a stage actress and theatrical seamstress.
“I suppose she was something of the family’s black sheep, but a delightful woman. You’ll love her.”
Though I fear I’m simply being dumped for the weekend on a boring old aunt, my old man turns out to be right.
Lily lives alone in a gloomy Victorian brownstone on Roanoke’s First Street, in an apartment filled with dusty antiques and Civil War memorabilia, including a sword she claims belonged to a Dodson ancestor who fought at Antietam
and Gettysburg. There are also exotic paintings of classical nudes and wild beasts adorning her walls, including the stuffed head of an antelope, a gift from her “favorite gentleman friend” who passes through town every winter with the Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus.
On my first night with her, Lily — a large-boned, blonde woman, endlessly talkative, swimming in White Shoulders perfume — takes me via taxi to a Chinese restaurant in the Market District, where we dine with a snowy-haired “gentleman friend” she says was once mayor. He talks about the recent Kenne-
dy assassination and makes a half-dollar coin appear from my ears, pointing out that Roanoke is called Magic City.
The next morning, Lily takes me to breakfast at The Roanoker Restaurant, a legendary diner where she knows everyone by first name. After that, we are taxied up Mill Mountain to have a close look at the famous Roanoke Star. The cab driver, Ernie, has a gold tooth and a quick smile. Lily explains that Ernie is a true “Renaissance man,” a part-time preacher, former Navy cook, full-time house painter and her “dearest gentleman friend in the world.” Reverend Ernie is also her “business partner,” who occasionally drives her to estate sales and auctions to buy artwork and antiques, which Ernie sells to collectors, splitting the profits with her. The sword is one of their recent “finds,” which she hints might someday pass my way. This thought thrills me.
On the Sunday morning of my visit, we attend a small red-brick church to hear Reverend Ernie preach, followed by lunch at the historic Hotel Roanoke, the planned pick-up spot with my folks. Naturally, Lily knows the waiter, who brings me something called a “Roy Rogers” and her a small crystal glass. After we order our lunch, Lily discreetly removes a silver flask from her purse and pours herself a bit of ruby sherry.
gentlemen friends and the interesting places she took me, and even mention the sword she promises to give me someday.
My dad glances at my mom. “I told you she’s a colorful character,” he says. “Glad you enjoyed her. But here’s the thing... ”
He reveals that Great Aunt Lily is about to lose her home and move to Raleigh into a special-care home due to what we now call Alzheimer’s. Lily is scheduled to move around Christmastime.
“In the meantime, sport, she’s coming to stay with us around Thanksgiving.”
My mother chimes in, “And since your bedroom is the bigger bedroom, sweetie, we’re hoping you won’t mind giving it up to Aunt Lily. You can bunk with your brother. It’ll just be temporary.”
Reverend Ernie is also her “business partner,” who occasionally drives her to estate sales and auctions to buy artwork and antiques.
She looks at me and asks if I’d like a taste.
I say yes.
She asks how old I am.
Twelve, I lie, giving myself an extra year.
She slides the glass across the table. “Just a small sip, dear.”
During the two-hour drive home through the mountains, my folks are eager to hear about my weekend with the Belle of Star City. I tell them about her
Four months later, Lily arrives with a large wooden trunk and her sewing machine in tow. On the plus side, she tells me stories about famous men she’s known — the actor David Niven, golfer Sam Snead, Will Rogers. Even better, she shares Lorna Doone cookies from boxes she keeps hidden under bolts of fancy cloth in her trunk. One afternoon as we are having our daily cookie conversation, I ask about the sword. Lily gives me a blank look, then waves her cookie dismissively. “Oh, goodness, child! I gave that silly old thing to the church auction ages ago. I think I paid 10 dollars for it at a yard sale up in Fincastle.”
Predictably, as Christmas Eve approaches, my clean-freak mother begins to lose her mind over our cookie sessions. My father says all Aunt Lily needs is a good hobby. So, he sets up her sewing machine and she goes to work behind closed doors with her machine humming for days.
It turns out to be quilted, floral potholders. Two dozen quilted, floral potholders.
“Lily thinks you can sell them in the neighborhood for Christmas money,” says my dad.
I am mortified. Two pals from my Pet Dairy baseball team live on our block, and so does one Della Jane Hockaday, to whom I hope to give a mood ring.
“Look, sport,” my old man reasons, “Aunt Lily is here for only a couple more weeks. Just let her see you go down the block selling them. You’ll make an old lady who has just lost her home very happy. Lily is very fond of you.”
So, I grit my teeth and do it early on a frosty Saturday morning a week before Christmas. To my surprise, I sell a half-dozen $5 potholders and make $30. Years later, my mom lets slip that she’d phoned every woman on the street to grease the skids, including Della’s mom. The next morning before church, my dad and I drive the remaining potholders to the drop-off box of the Salvation Army store.
He gives me an extra $20 for my trouble and insists that I tell Lily, if she asks, that her beautiful potholders sold out in just one morning.
But Lily never asks. Not long after the new year, my dad drives his aunt and her big wooden trunk and sewing machine to the special-care home.
I get my bedroom back and never see Great Aunt Lily again.
She passes away in the springtime two years later.
Every time I drive through Roanoke or eat Lorna Doone cookies, I think of her with a smile.
The Cardinal
by ARUNA GURUMURTHY
illustration
by
JILLIAN OHL
The sun shines, a masterpiece over miles of wavering grass. Dogwoods blush to the meaning of the breeze, dahlias wake to a whistling cardinal as he shuttles from branch to branch, hopping a cheerful dance. He hides behind an urn in the mud, peeking for my approval, prancing to a chance at love, then shows his red breast to the naked sky. When he looks at me like I look at him, stars shiver down in daylight. No surprise here, I blink, my lips murmur
Dear friend, may I join you in the green?
He warbles a trill and flies.
Aruna Gurumurthy is a creative thinker, author and poet. She has published seven poetry collections since 2015. She lives with her loving family in North Carolina, where she hopes to bring change in the world, one poem at a time.
to be frank
A
longstanding coffee group practices the lost art of conversation
by ADDIE LADNER
photography by LIZ CONDO
Behind a muted pink stone wall adorned with jasmine, rich conversations and hot coffee flow. Tall, breezy live oaks shade a sandy courtyard area populated with miscellaneous folding chairs and a round table. Bluebirds sing, crinum lilies bloom and velvety white gardenias perfume the air. Here’s where you’ll find Frank Harmon and his friends most Saturday mornings, partaking in a rare ritual that encourages mindful discussion and connection.
Harmon and his late wife Judy designed this home and garden on Brooks Avenue as their sanctuary back in the early 1990s. And while the esteemed modernist architect has traveled the world creating award-winning spaces and giving lectures, it’s here in Raleigh that Harmon has created his most meaningful relation-
ships, within arguably his most important design.
About 20 years ago, Frank and Judy started this tradition of having coffee with friends at Cup A Joe on Hillsborough Street. Judy, who passed away in 2013, was a landscape architect who loved to gather with colleagues and friends on Saturdays to discuss her projects. After her passing, the tradition continued as a link to her, the space they created together and their circle of friends. “There was never a doubt if it would keep going,” says Harmon. When Cup A Joe had to change its setup during the pandemic, Harmon moved the gathering to his garden, a 200foot long landscape on the north side of his home. Today, the gathering attracts a familiar crowd of Raleigh architects, musicians, professors and intellectuals of all stripes.
On one summer morning, as people trickled in, a guest joked, “It’s a shame Frank has no friends!” The quip was met with laughter. Dozens of folks have attended over the years, but there’s a core group of about eight that are usually there. (Sometimes there are other very important guests — nesting bluebirds — so the gatherings are moved from the courtyard to the pool deck.)
Among the regulars are Nilda Cosco and her husband, Robin Moore, both co-directors and founders of the Natural Learning Initiative, a group that researches and promotes the benefits of youth spending time outdoors. Cosco is an associate professor at NC State who moved here from Argentina more than 20 years ago. These gatherings make her feel at home. “I love and miss Argentina, the community, the friends, the people, the freedom
“My friends are my most important resource and pleasure. Seeing them each week so we can keep in touch is a special part of my life.”
— FRANK HARMON
to talk and express. That’s why I like this group,” she says.
There’s Bruce Emery, a musician and prolific music writer who often brings his vintage guitar to strum. “I came out of left field, really,” he says, laughing, pointing out that he’s one of the few not involved in academics, horticulture or architecture. “I met Frank when he and Judy came to a swing class in the ‘90s. They were fun to watch, they had great rhythm,” he says. Rachel Wooten, a psychologist; Dan Neil, an automobile columnist at THe Wall Street Journal; and Julieta Sherk, a horticulture professor at NC State, are other regulars. Beyond this core group are people who have been invited along the way, like Elliot Honeycutt, an aspiring architect here for the sage advice the group has to offer his generation. “It offers some-
thing I think is lacking in our culture, which is long-form conversation with other people, without distraction.”
Another regular is climate activist Tim Martin. He has occupied their thoughts lately, as he could be headed to federal prison soon for damaging a work of art in the National Gallery in Washington, D.C.
Listening to the group’s discussion, a listener gets glimpses of Raleigh years ago, like architect Tina Govan’s son’s “creek boys” days, as she refers to the years her children played barefoot. Guests share what it’s like to live in other countries, their views on current events at home and abroad. Honeycutt recalls a lengthy conversation one Saturday, when one of Harmon’s former teaching assistants, who was originally from India,
discussed her perspective on transportation here.
“She was talking about how in India transportation is a very social thing, as opposed to here in the United States, where traveling by car is something you do by yourself,” says Honeycutt. They tell stories of loss and of life — Harmon’s son and daughter-in-law welcomed his first grandchild, a girl, this year. They’re joined by relatives, visiting colleagues and former students, anyone who happens to be passing through.
In spite of the broad list of genuine friendships Harmon has formed throughout his life, the gatherings stay intimate, which is what Harmon prefers. “I find eight people is a good group,” he says. “Twelve people are wonderful too. It just breaks down the conversation into subgroups.”
“The way Frank facilitates conversations is really special. He has a similar approach to social interactions as he does architecture; he sees things from a lot of different perspectives simultaneously,” says Honeycutt. Harmon sees his job as making sure everyone gets a chance to share: “I’m a teacher. If someone hasn’t been speaking up, I let them know it’s safe. I think the reason it’s kept going as long as it has is because everybody gets to speak and everybody listens.”
The gathering, in its longevity and attractiveness to others, is a reminder of the value and art of good conversation, and of the friendship that fosters. “My friends are my most important resource and pleasure,” says Harmon. “Seeing them each week so we can keep in touch is a special part of my life.”
A sifaka lemur named Gordian at the Duke Lemur Center.
hangin’ IN THE PINES
The Duke Lemur Center leads the world in the research and protection of unique primates
by HAMPTON WILLIAMS HOFER
photography BOB KARP
The Duke Lemur Center has a naming convention system for each species. The nocturnal aye-ayes, for example, all have spooky names, including Poe, Medusa and Agatha. This page: Fritz, a ringtailed lemur. Opposite page: When coquerel’s sifakas meet, they greet by rubbing their noses together.
Nestled in the forest, 2 miles from Duke University’s main campus, is the largest and most species-diverse lemur sanctuary on earth. There, hanging in the North Carolina pines, hundreds of these curiously endearing primates also hang on the edge of extinction. The Duke Lemur Center aims to save them.
The rarity of lemurs is almost unbelievable: millions of years ago, their ancestors rafted across the Mozambique Channel from mainland Africa — perhaps atop vegetation knocked loose by a cyclone, maybe even hibernating on the way — and arrived at an island where they had very few natural predators. While lemurs on the mainland went extinct, those on Madagascar blossomed. Isolated for 150 million years, they evolved uniquely, taking up almost every niche on the island.
Today, there are over 100 known species of lemurs — broadly defined as primates native to Madagascar and the nearby Comoro Islands — who are wideeyed, wet-nosed and long-tailed, ranging in size from that of a mouse to that of a small child. Lemurs are full of personality quirks and gentle in nature, and they vary greatly by species. There are the sifakas, who hop on their back legs with their arms raised, and the crowned lemurs that live in the trees and have long noses and keen senses of smell. The mouse lemur has cartoonishly big eyes and tiny curled hands.
Habitat loss now threatens nearly all species of lemurs, as some 90% of Madagascar’s forest cover has fallen to human development. Climate change, poaching and the illegal pet trade are factors, too. It’s easy to see why someone would want a lemur as a pet, what with the soft fur and button noses, but that’s problematic, even though it’s legal in North Carolina. Lemurs are wild, social animals, requiring a lengthy period of maternal contact, and those raised by humans are often isolated, developmentally delayed and riddled with psychological problems.
The DLC is working to teach the public about these dynamic animals, to
research them in order to better protect them in the wild and to keep species alive through breeding. Their work takes place locally and on the ground in Madagascar. “Our mission is to learn everything we can about lemurs, so we never know a world without them,” says Sarah Sorraia, the DLC’s director of communications.
The Duke Lemur Center started in 1966 as a collaboration between John Buettner-Janusch, who was studying biochemical genetics in lemurs at Yale University, and Peter Klopfer, who was studying maternal behavior in mammals at Duke University. They dreamed up a primate facility in Duke Forest aimed at combining their research perspectives, a “living laboratory” to explore the genetic foundations of primate behavior. Established initially on 80 acres, the center has expanded to 100 acres. Since its founding, the DLC has cared for and studied some 4,000 animals across 31 species of nonhuman primates, including lemurs, lorises and tarsiers. Outside of their native Madagascar, more lemur species live here in the Triangle than anywhere else in the world.
Data from research conducted at the Duke Lemur Center has led to groundbreaking insights into the genomics and health of lemurs. One of the most fascinating things about them is their resemblance to our earliest primate ancestors — some species even develop the same plaques and tangles found in the brains of humans with dementia. Other species go into a form of hibernation, which is unique for primates. The better we understand lemurs, the more we’ll understand primate evolution and human health and behavior.
Essential to DLC’s mission is its successful conservation breeding program, which aims to preserve vanishing species like the aye-ayes. More than 200 lemurs currently thrive at the Duke Lemur Center, providing a genetic safety net for their species, and more than 3,400 births have been celebrated in Durham since the DLC’s inception. Recently, a breeding pair of blue-eyed black lemurs arrived from Madagascar, where they were born
from top
Ring-tailed
a mouse lemur; a blackand-white ruffed lemur; a red ruffed lemur named Buzz; a “lemur ball” of ring-tailed lemurs; a critically endangered blue-eyed black lemur; a red-fronted lemur named Cardinal.
Clockwise
left:
lemur Alena with son Atticus;
at a conservation center. Here, they will improve the gene pool of captive members of their critically endangered species. While many of the founding lemurs of the DLC came from Madagascar, these were the first new arrivals to the U.S. in 24 years due to strict import and export regulations set to protect the animals; it took three years of permitting just to get this pair here.
The Duke Lemur Center has also collaborated for 35 years with conservation organizations and communities on the ground in Madagascar, seeing the place where these animals evolved and listening to cultural stories about lemurs. DLC employees have visited the zoos in Madagascar to help care for the animals, improve husbandry practices and create new breeding programs there.
DLC conservation technician Grayson Pellerito recently returned from a threemonth stint in Madagascar, where she worked to support zookeepers at a facility near Toamasina, on the eastern coast. “It feels really rewarding to work at a one-of-a-kind facility, and the fact that other people in animal care from around the world turn to us — it’s incredible,” she says.
Back in Durham, Pellerito’s days include animal observation, cleaning, feeding, training and enrichment. Depending on the day, she might be weighing animals or deep-washing and rebranching their enclosures. “I think most people would be shocked by how much work goes into this job: understanding not just each species, but the specifics about each individual is incredibly important to a healthy colony with superb animal welfare,” says Pellerito. The high expectations for animal care at the Duke Lemur Center are, she says, why she loves her job: “I know I can help give these animals the best life possible and work hard to keep them thriving.”
The work of the DLC goes far beyond housing the animals. They have a world-class education team, a research program, a devoted vet staff, primate technicians and hordes of volunteers. Last year alone, 135 volunteers completed nearly 1,000 hours of service, along with
student, staff and corporate community groups that participated in service events. Many tend to a vast organic garden, from which a recent batch of watermelon had the lemurs going wild: the nocturnal aye-ayes chew a tiny hole at the melon and use their long middle fingers to scoop out the fruit, never cracking the rind.
The better we understand lemurs, the more we’ll understand about both primate evolution and human health and behavior.
The noninvasive nature of the Duke Lemur Center’s research also means that it is open to the public. Depending on species and weather, lemurs at the DLC live in large, multi acre areas of natural forest, as well as in climate-controlled buildings with indoor and outdoor access. More than 35,000 visitors a year stop by to see fat-tailed dwarf lemurs nibbling on persimmons, ring-tailed lemurs swinging through the trees or a newborn pair of black-and-white ruffled lemur twins. Guests can visit the tour path from May to September or stop by the Lemur Landing Gift Shop year-round, with fees funding care and conservation initiatives.
“Other cities also boast great restaurants and basketball championships, but no other city has anything like the Duke Lemur Center, which is so incredibly unique to Durham,” says Sorraia. Thanks to the vigilant work of the DLC, generations to come will have the chance to know and study lemurs, and follow in their paramount example of care and conservation.
The gift shop is a highlight for DLC guests, with offerings like an Adopt-a-Lemur package and paintings done by lemurs (part of the lemurs’ behavioral enrichment program). This page: A mongoose lemur named Nacho. Opposite page, top to bottom: A blue-eyed black lemur; ring-tailed lemur Sierra Mist with baby Scout.
A twist on coastal living for a tight-knit family on Holden Beach
SEASIDE ESCAPE
by AYN-MONIQUE KLAHRE
photography by CATHERINE NGUYEN
COASTAL LIVING
In this home, designer Daniel Sawyer created an elevated take on a beach theme with shades of white and blue and subtle nods to the ocean, like a painting of a boat and crystal fish sculptures, which he found on a trip to Prague. The patterning on the marble mantel evokes waves on the shore. A pair of swivel chairs in the living area offer versatile seating without blocking the view of the Atlantic Ocean.
OOn the outside of Susan and Barry Simmons’ house in Holden Beach is a sign that reads “This is the place for me.” It shows a bear reclining under an umbrella, and it’s a nod to the title of one of their kids’ favorite books growing up, written by Magic School Bus author Joanna Cole. In it, a bear named Morty searches for a new home — before realizing the one he has is just right. And it perfectly encapsulates how the Simmons family feels in this very spot: this is their place, where they unwind, connect and build memories. “Once it gets warm, we’re pretty much down here all the time — it’s our favorite place,” says Susan
The Simmons family — Susan and Barry, their two children and now their four grandchildren — has been making the two-and-a-half-hour drive to Holden Beach from Apex for more than 20 years. “We love it because it’s a quiet, family beach — no neon signs or high-rises,”
Susan says of the beach, which is the longest and the largest of the three South Brunswick Islands.
For a long time, the Simmons family rented a cottage on this same lot, which they later bought. “The first time I set foot here, I remember thinking, this is the perfect spot, whoever owns this home is so lucky,” says Susan. Right in the middle of Holden Beach, it boasts pristine views in both directions, and it’s steps from the ocean. In 2019, they moved the cottage to another lot and sold it, which allowed them to build a larger house to suit their growing family on the property they loved so much.
Barr y, a retired business owner with a knack for engineering, sketched up what his family would need: open spaces to gather all together, well-appointed bedrooms for both grown-ups and kids, and lots of balconies to take advantage of the home’s irreplaceable location. “His brain
never stops working!” says Susan. They enlisted Jerry Baker Builders in Holden Beach to bring the vision to fruition, creating a three-level home in classic Carolina coastal style, with lots of windows and a crisp blue-and-white paint scheme. Then they tapped interior designer Daniel Sawyer, with whom they’d worked on their primary residence, to refine their selections and fill out the house. “They had this opportunity to create their dream home,” says Sawyer. “The directive was to make the home feel coastal, but not so on-the-nose.”
Sawyer incorporated materials that subtly hinted at the beach. For the kitchen, for example, he found cabinet hardware inlaid with capiz shells for a glint of under-the-sea glamor. Above the kitchen island, the circular pendants composed of open discs “feel like ocean bubbles,” says Sawyer. Even the wallpaper in the powder room — a pearlescent,
FINE DINING
In the kitchen, opposite page, leathered granite countertop with blue chips “looks like sand when the water washes over it,” says Sawyer, while the laser-cut marble backsplash “is a nod to water flowing.” The oversize lighting fixtures (each is 32 inches wide) incorporate dozens of suspended brushed-gold circles. “We wanted something open and airy that wouldn’t block the view,” says Sawyer. The ajacent dining area, this page, incorporates lighter gray-washed shades.
RESTFUL & REFINED
The cozy master bedroom, above, incorporates a gray grasscloth wallpaper with blue streaks and paneled ceiling treatment that Susan saw on a home tour on nearby Bald Head Island. “I like the fact that the bedroom is kind of small. We were constrained by the lot size — but truly, we don’t need that much space,” says Susan. In the primary bathroom, below, the shower incorporates marble-look porcelain tiles, with an accent of reflective quartz mosaic tiles in a “waterfall” down one wall. Curved mirrors and a chandelier over the tub add a softer touch to all the marble along the floor and shower stall.
KIDS’ ZONE
All four grandkids pile into the bunk room, which incorporates colorful, preppy bedding. “They love to jump out of those bunk beds, and I tell them, Grandma doesn’t want to fuss at you, but you’re going to break an arm!” says Susan. For the bathroom, Sawyer found “fun and kitschy” prints of sea life.
GUEST ROOM
The adult guest rooms on the third floor each open onto a balcony facing the beach. The one their daughter and her husband use the most often is styled with coral accents, while their son and his wife’s room, opposite page, bottom right, pulls in ocean-blue tones.
nubby gray — is a nod to sand on the shore. “The texture is what makes it feel coastal,” he says.
Sawyer worked with the Simmons family to choose furnishings in a transitional style, using shades of white and cream, gray-washed wood tones and accents of blue. Everything is meant to be comfortable and inviting. “They are form-follows-function sorts of people,” says Sawyer, pointing to the slipcovered sofas in the living room as an example. “They’re easy-care, because they’re washable, but they also make the more formal silhouettes of the sofas feel more casual. They make sense and make style sense.”
The open-plan living area, dining room and kitchen are perfect for casual gatherings. “When we’re at the beach, we’re at the beach — but after dinner, when we’re all worn out from sunshine, swimming and having fun, this is a great space to relax and watch a little TV,” says
Susan. Sawyer tucked cooler fridges on either side of the mantel to make it a help-yourself area for kids and adults. “We wanted to take advantage of every possible space,” he says. A wood paneling accent that extends from the ceiling down the fireplace mantel evokes the inside of a boat.
At mealtimes, the adults will often sit at the dining table while the kids set up on the island. “They just want to be together,” says Susan. They eat most meals at home — Barry is the chief cook, but their children jump in, too — and clean up afterwards. “We’re doing so much that everyone is really hungry!” says Susan. After dinner, they’ll head back down to the beach to look for shark teeth or help the kids fly kites.
The home was built to accommodate three generations of family. The second floor includes the primary bathroom, the open living/dining area and a powder
room, and the third floor includes three bedrooms — two designed for adults — and a bonus room. For their four grandchildren, ages 5 to 11, the highlight is the bunk room on the third floor, which has three sets of bunk beds. “Of course, everyone wants to sleep on the top, and they love to turn the beds into forts!” says Susan. (It also happens to be directly above the primary bedroom. “We turn in pretty early at night, because we know that at 6 a.m. we’ll be hearing the pitter-patter of little feet,” she laughs.)
This tight-knit family is happy to go to Holden Beach any time of year, but are sure to be there over the Fourth of July and the week after Christmas. “We had a hard time letting the original house go, but now this has become our favorite place — it’s our The Place for Me,” she says. “I hope our family will use it for generations to come.”
“THey had this opportunity to create their dream home. THe directive was to make the home feel coastal, but not so on-the-nose.”
— Daniel Sawyer
COMFORT PLUS
A third-floor family room is another space to gather on rainy days and also incorporates a little exercise area. The downstairs powder room has shimmery wallpaper.
OCEAN VIEWS
Susan’s favorite thing about her home is its location in the middle of the island. “When I come off the boardwalk, I’m in the water in two minutes,” she says. Holden Beach builder Jerry Baker worked with the Simmons family to create plenty of space for their family on a small-ish lot. “Jerry’s team was unbelievable,” says Susan.
LOUNGING AROUND
Barry designed balconies to fill the full width of the house on the second and third floors for plenty of spaces to watch the waves and sunsets. A swinging daybed is perfect for an afternoon nap and to wind down with a book. On the ground floor, the home opens onto a heated pool. “The grandkids would get in there even if it were snowing!” says Susan.
Eliza’s GARDEN
A 19th-century dream still blooms in the heart of Raleigh
by ELIZABETH POLAND SHUGG photography by JULI LEONARD
In the early 1800s, spacious 1-acre lots lined downtown Raleigh’s perpendicular streets. Most parcels accommodated a small-frame dwelling with two to four rooms and a chimney, some livestock, a well, an outbuilding and a vegetable garden. There were no sidewalks — just dusty dirt roads upon which Raleigh’s 700 residents traveled by foot, horse and stagecoach.
The 191 Block, which ran between Edenton and New Bern Streets, revealed something exceptional: a two-story Federal-style home on 3 acres with multiple livestock pens and outbuildings, a well, and an unencumbered view of North Carolina’s two-story brick statehouse. At the center of it all, Eliza Haywood — wife of John Haywood, North Carolina’s longest-serving state treasurer and Raleigh’s first mayor — presided over an estate that extended several blocks within Raleigh’s 1-square-mile grid.
This wasn’t just home to the Haywoods. It was also Raleigh’s social center — and where Eliza set out to plant a spectacular flower garden.
Clockwise from top left: Buildings behind Haywood Hall c. 1985; rear of Haywood Hall and its grounds c. 1910s; a front view c. 1931.
Left page: courtesy State Archives of North Carolina/Albert Barden Collection (BLACK & WHITE); State Archives of North Carolina/Elizabeth E. Norris Photograph Collection (COLOR). Right page: Getty Images (FRAME); ncpedia.com (HAYWOOD); courtesy University Library at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill (MAP)
ROOTS OF REFUGE
John Haywood II married Eliza Eagles Asaph Williams on March 9, 1798. He was 43, she was 16. John’s first wife, Sarah Leigh, died in 1791, but bore a son, Lee, who lived to be only 4 years old. Sarah passed away before Lee did, but both are believed to have died from smallpox.
In 1799, John built a grand home near the statehouse where he and Eliza could raise a family and entertain guests. “Haywood Hall is Raleigh’s best example of Federal architecture, and Federal architecture is all about balance,” says Benbury Wood, a guide and historian for Haywood Hall House & Gardens, which now has an address of 211 New Bern Place. “It’s the oldest house in the original city of Raleigh on its original foundation.”
John relied on his young wife to keep their stately home open to guests for meetings and dinners, which were often unscheduled. “This house was the center of activity after-hours,” Wood says. “Eliza was strung out between the children and being the hostess. She found solace in the garden.”
The first seeds of Eliza’s botanical retreat likely took root in 1806, when John received a package of yam seedlings from an unknown source — possibly a gift from a constituent — with instructions to plant them in a garden bed. By 1808, John wrote in a letter to Eliza’s mother, Jane Williams, that Eliza would often ignore the weather and foray into the garden to plant flowers and vines, such as hyacinth and jessamine.
According to Craig Thompson Friend, author of Becoming Lunsford Lane: THe Lives of an American Aeneas, Eliza served more as the garden’s horticulturist and
visionary, while Ned Lane, an enslaved man John had purchased in 1800 to be their gardener, carried out and coordinated the actual planting of the flowers, vines and seeds. Due to the workload, other enslaved workers would have assisted him.
By 1809, Eliza had given birth to six of the 14 children she and John would have (12 lived to adulthood) and was purchasing seeds from local merchants. Her notebooks categorize numerous species of flowers, shrubs, fruits and vegetables. She grew radishes, turnips, peas, cabbage, lettuce, artichokes, asparagus, carrots, spinach and herbs. Friend, who is also a professor of history and an alumni distinguished graduate professor at North Carolina State University, says Eliza had “connections to horticulturalists across the nation, carrying on vibrant conversations with them and purchasing plants from them.”
The garden also contained a mulberry tree from Eliza’s adult son Fabius, who attempted to raise silkworms in the attic of his home nearby. The silkworms ate the mulberry leaves in order to spin silk cocoons. “Fabius had a yard full of mulberry trees,” Wood says. “It would make sense that he gave his parents one.”
In a few short years, her garden accommodated 10 different colors of double-flowered hyacinths, a yellow rose bush, tulips, lilies and grapevine cuttings from France. She had a gazebo constructed near the rose garden and began trading seeds with friends and neighbors to expand its offerings. An 1811 document shows she received white rose bushes in exchange for tuberose roots. That same year her sister, Rebecca Williams Moore, wrote to her: “I understand you have a very handsome garden.”
In a few short years, her garden accommodated 10 different colors of double-flowered hyacinths, a yellow rose bush, tulips, lilies and grapevine cuttings from France.
Top: John Haywood II. Bottom: “Plan of the City of Raleigh with all the improvements all the Numbers” showing the property on block 191, c. 1797.
Up until 1840, Ned helped Betsey John and Rebecca Jane maintain the garden, planting various cuttings, seeds, a yaupon tree and roots of geraniums, myrtle, French roses and cape jessamine.
AFTER ELIZA
When John died on Nov. 18, 1827, he bequeathed the house and New Bern Street lots to Eliza. Due to the family’s financial situation, Eliza had to sell much of their other properties and convert the ornamental flower garden into a vegetable garden. “There is a notable change in the seeds that Eliza ordered beginning in the late 1820s because she had enslaved people raising food on that lot,” says Friend.
Eliza died on July 19, 1832, leaving the house in the trust of her three oldest daughters, Betsey John, Rebecca Jane and Frances Ann, until it could be sold for the benefit of all 12 children.
Ned — the enslaved gardener who, according to family members, Eliza and Betsey John were very close to — remained in the house to help them after Eliza promised him his freedom upon her death (known as “emancipation through will”). Up until 1842, Ned helped Betsey John and Rebecca Jane maintain the garden, planting various cuttings, seeds, a yaupon tree and roots of geraniums, myrtle, French roses, and cape jessamine. (After recovering from an injury, Ned moved out of North Carolina to join his family in 1943.) In the mid-1800s, Betsey John and Frances Ann also ran a school on the property.
John and Eliza’s son Edmund “Burke” Haywood took over the property after Betsey John died in 1877. Two of his sons, Edmund Jr. and Hubert, maintained the vegetable garden for a few years. Another of Burke’s sons, Ernest, attended UNC-Chapel Hill in the late 1870s and would often send plant specimens, such as bloodroot and trailing arbutus, to his mother, Lucy, for
the garden.
Between 1877 and 1948, the Haywood estate went from Burke to his wife Lucy, then on to two of their sons, Ernest and Edgar. When Edgar died, Ernest inherited Edgar’s parcel, and when Ernest died, he left the house and property to their brother, John, as a “life estate.” Before John died, he sold the estate to his nephew Burke Haywood Bridgers, son of Eliza Eagles “Betty” Haywood Bridgers.
Burke Haywood Bridgers was not interested in owning the estate, but felt it should stay in the family. So in 1947, he sold it to Mary Haywood Fowle Stearns, daughter of Fabius Haywood’s daughter, Mary Eagles Haywood, and North Carolina Gov. Daniel Gould Fowle. Mary Stearns would be the estate’s final Haywood owner.
A NEW ERA
Mary and her husband, Walter — a retired special contracts manager for General Electric from Waltham, Massachusetts — moved in in 1948. They formally named the building Haywood Hall and began restoring the home and garden to its original 1800s style, with a few caveats.
“A lot of renovating was done to the house by Mary and Walter. Modern conveniences, including an elevator, were added by them,” says Betsy Haywood, who lives a stone’s throw away in Haywood House, a 1854 Greek Revival home built by her great-grandfather, Dr. Richard Haywood (son of John Haywood’s brother Sherwood). Outside, the Stearns built a rectangular garden shed and replanted the rose garden. They also planted grass and flowering shrubs to attract birds.
The grounds of current-day Haywood Hall, where hydrangea, gardenia and camellia bloom.
Up the front walk and along the back and side of the house, pathways lead to garden areas developed over the years.
Today, only one original specimen from the garden remains: a towering Brazilian magnolia believed to be over 200 years old. Its likely origin traces back to a seedling Jane Williams sent her daughter.
Betsy recalls visiting her older cousin Mary as a child. “Whenever my parents walked across the street to visit, we children were told to play in the yard,” she says. “We enjoyed climbing that giant magnolia tree.”
Nancy Haywood, a direct descendant of John and Eliza through their son Fabius, recalls that in 1958, Mary Stearns gave her parents a small magnolia sapling from the tree at Haywood Hall. “Unfortunately it was taken out by Hurricane Fran,” she says. “But my father took a sapling from that tree to my sister Alice Robbins in Pinehurst. It is still thriving.”
Before Mary died on March 4, 1977, she bequeathed the estate as a “museum house and gardens property” to the North Carolina Society of the Colonial Dames of America, stipulating that it “be maintained as a place of historic interest for the public.”
The Dames kept their promise. In 1983, they brought in the Home and Neighborhood Development Society (HANDS), who hired the late Raleigh landscape architect and bronze star Vietnam veteran Mac Newsom to design the master plan for recreating Eliza’s garden. HANDS planted fruit and flower gardens, constructed a scuppernong arbor, added brickwork and installed new fencing (which needed to be replaced again three years ago).
Mary Stearns’ preservation of Haywood Hall as a place of public historic interest has made it possible for weddings, special events and family reunions to be held there. One family, in particular, relishes the opportunity.
“The last Haywood family reunion at Haywood Hall was in 1983, when my son Haywood was a baby,” Betsy says. “Descen-
dants from all over the state and beyond were invited and attended. We had delicious food — fried chicken and North Carolina barbecue — and set up in the beautiful gardens.”
AN URBAN OASIS
In recent years, a descendant of Fabius’ mulberry tree became diseased and had to be cut down. Before its removal, a bird planted a seedling from it just outside the fence, where it has grown to be 12 feet, and it stands next to a descendant pecan tree of nearly the same height (also likely planted by a bird).
In fact, today, only one original specimen from the garden remains: a towering Brazilian magnolia believed to be over 200 years old. Its likely origin traces back to a seedling Jane Williams sent her daughter in November 1814 with instructions to plant it near the well in moist ground, “if not too cold.” Eliza would have directed her gardeners to follow these instructions, and it appears to have worked. Two years later, Jane wrote that her son-in-law, Alfred Moore, credited Eliza with being the only person he knew who could raise a magnolia from a seed.
Thanks to the Brazilian magnolia, mulberry and pecan trees, and descendants of Eliza’s climbing roses and (possibly) pomegranate bushes, there’s hope the garden can return to its former glory.
But new additions like impatiens, Chinese privet, crepe myrtles and scuppernong vines transport visitors back in time, when new growth offered the promise of botanical bliss in the heart of a growing city.
In her paintings, Jen Matthews celebrates beauty in chaos
KILTER
by COLONY LITTLE photographyby GEOFF WOOD
IIn the third-floor studio of Jen Matthews’ home, pop-art paintings evoke colorful chaos. On one canvas, flowers fly from a geographic vase painted in vivid colors, as if an invisible hand has just tipped it off its pedestal. In another painting, a bouquet of limp, languid flowers belie the cheerfulness of their surrounding color palette. The work playfully chides society’s relentless pursuit of perfection. “I tend to paint haphazard floral scenes that always seem like one lil’ knock away from total disaster,” Matthews says, noting that she relates to the feeling. “For so long, I tried to make it seem like I had it all together at all times — but in reality, I was a hot mess on the inside. Now I embrace the side of me that is a little messy and not perfect.”
By day, Matthews is the director of design at Raleigh creative agency Baldwin&. In her off-hours, painting is a respite from life as a busy working mom of two teens, but her hobby has turned into a successful endeavor. She’s represented by multiple galleries, including Anne Irwin Fine Art in Atlanta, and has had her work featured by Anthropologie and on HBO Max.
Matthews was a creative child. She recalls using Paint Shop software on her parents’ Commodore 64 to make greeting cards and fliers. “That’s where my brain kind of clicked,” she says. “You can do things on the computer and do art!” As Matthews got older, design elements from popular advertising campaigns captivated her, and she started clipping magazine advertisements — from brands like ESPRIT, Swatch and Benetton — that she saved in binders the way other kids would collect stamps or stickers. She remembers being particularly captivated by a popular Absolut Vodka campaign, which enlisted artists including Andy Warhol and Keith Haring to re-envision the bottle. “They were based on such a simple idea, but it was infinitely executable,” she says. “That was the turning point for me. I’d paint and make posters to sell to all my brothers’ older friends and my friends.”
Matthews studied graphic design
at North Carolina State University and landed her dream job in advertising as a designer and art director at McKinney in the early 2000s. She continued to work in advertising and marketing for over 20 years, painting in her spare time while building her career and growing her family. But in 2011, she had to place her painting practice on the back burner for a few years. “I got pretty sick with a slew of different autoimmune issues, and everything from then until about 2017 was about work, raising a young family and trying to feel better,” she says. “Finally, when I got to a place where my health was fairly manageable, I started thinking about art again — but mostly just doing it with my kids and for myself.”
As she got back into painting, her initial works were expressionistic, loose and intuitive. (Abstract expressionist artists like Joan Mitchell and the graphical, collagist style of William LaChance are some of her influences.) She drew and painted abstracted florals using oil pastels and acrylic paint. In other works, gestural lines appear to emerge from the canvas, as if she was peeling back layers of paint to reveal the bold shapes, patterns and
colors underneath. In these works she built up layers of acrylic paint on the canvas, and if you look closely, you will spot fragments of unexpected materials like vintage fabrics, handmade paper or pieces of string. She began posting her work on Instagram around 2018, selling pieces to followers who would reach out to her via direct message. During the pandemic, she transitioned to a four-day work week and found herself with time and space to paint more regularly and consistently. “As terrible as 2020 was for a lot of people, I feel like it was sort of a cathartic time for me,” she says. “Work slowed down just enough for me to be able to really put some time into figuring out who I was as an artist.”
Her work gained a following on social media, and she started to take on commissioned work from clients, who incorporated her paintings in their home decor. “When I was doing commissions, I made them feel very involved in the whole process, because I do treat it like a design project,” she says. “I’m showing them progress through Photoshop on their walls, which gives them a sense of exactly what it’s going to look
This page: Jen Matthews holds paint in her arms. Opposite page: A selection of work from Matthews’ studio, with Everyone Look This Way at center.
like.” She also began connecting with galleries like Art House in Charlotte and the Miller Gallery in Charleston, which now sell her works in limited releases online. She typically works on seasonal bodies of work that include 10 to 12 paintings at a time. (Her latest release sold out within a week.) Matthews was also recently included in a Charlotte pop-up group show called Start with the Art at Slate Interiors, which was curated by Natalie Papier, founder of interior design firm Home Ec., who’s also a star on the Discovery+ series Artfully Designed. “There is something special about Jen’s work that has drawn me in from the moment I laid eyes on it,” says Papier. “That mix of whimsy, pattern mixing and unexpected color choices speaks to my soul. It doesn’t take itself so seriously, yet it’s always elevated with its unexpected concept and composition. It just makes my eyeballs happy!”
Over time, Matthews’ work has evolved beyond the layering of shape, color and texture; she still focuses on abstract florals, but now the artist often incorporates small narrative vignettes in diptychs with cleverly constructed names. “A lot of my titles come from either things I have going on in my life or memories from awkward situations I got myself into at some point or another,” she says. One example is a piece titled I Got You, which features two teal-and-blue checkered vessels with interlocking handles. “I did this one show and I overdid it — I was burnt out,” she says. “But my husband was there for me through and through, he was helping me frame things and he built a display for my work. That title is a nod to his arm around me, while I’m falling apart.”
This year, Matthews has decided to scale back on commissions to focus on her seasonal batches of paintings. Through it all, painting helps her maintain her work-life balance. “I see it as my chance to really play,” she says. “I like to make people smile and laugh and even scratch their heads a little. It’s a time when I can challenge and express myself technically and conceptually — to lighten my mood with the hopes of brightening someone else’s.”
Opposite page: Matthews holds I Was Just Getting the Hang of Things. This page, clockwise from top left: Paintings I Got You, Exactly How I Planned This, Flora and Big Inhale.
THE WHIRL
WALTER’s roundup of gatherings, celebrations, fundraisers and more around Raleigh.
MUSIC OF REMEMBRANCE
On May 5, WALTER and the North Carolina Museum of Art hosted a musical evening in honor of Holocaust Remembrance Day. Jacqueline Saed Wolborsky, principal violinist at the North Carolina Symphony, and chamber pianist Mimi Solomon played musical selections on a violin and piano from Nazi-era Germany. Tony Morcos shared the story behind the instruments and Dr. Sean Burrus, the NCMA curator of Judaic Art, gave opening remarks.
Mindy Hamlin, Tony Morcos, Mimi Solomon, Jacqueline Saed Wolborsky
Gabriel Morcos, Elias Morcos
Jacqueline Saed Wolborsky Mimi Solomon
Sean Burrus
Guests in the auditorium
THE WHIRL
STONE HOUSES RIBBON CUTTING
On May 31, the Stone Houses at Dorothea Dix Park were unveiled following a 16-month renovation. At the ribbon cutting, SECU Foundation Board Chair Chris Ayers and Dix Park Conservancy Board Chair Bill Ross detailed the story of the structures and the role they’ll play in the park’s future. Guests included mayor Mary-Ann Baldwin, secretary of the NC Department of Health and Human Services Kody Kinsley and City of Raleigh Museum director Ernest Dollar.
Dix
Mona Moon, Leigh Brady, Mary-Ann Baldwin, Chris Ayers, Bill Ross
Bill Ross
Mona Moon
Yvonne Sanders, Bill Ross
Jamie Applequist, Scott Southern, McKinley Wooten Jr., Mona, Leigh, Ben McLawhorn, Michael Clements
Clarence Williams
Guests gathered around the Gatekeeper’s Cottage
Janet Cowell
Patrick Dewberry, Corey Branch
Michelle Panek, David Maurer
EYES ON MAIN STREET
On June 1, the town of Wilson unveiled Eyes on Main Street, an outdoor photography exhibit that features 100 photographs on storefront windows, walls and buildings in its historic downtown. There is also a permanent indoor exhibition at The American Center for Photographers. Photographers and fans from all over the world gathered to walk the exhibit on the first day, and some of the featured photographers spoke about their work.
ANIMAZEMENT 2024
The weekend of May 23, fans of Japanese animation and culture descended on the Raleigh Convention Center for concerts, educational panels and more. Many guests dressed in costume as their favorite characters from movies, television shows, books and video games. Photographer Bryan Regan visited with his camera to capture some of the more interesting ensembles.
Melissa Gerrits
Halit Omer Camci
NORTH CAROLINA MUSEUM OF ART
Join Catering Works at the North Carolina Museum of Art on 26 for a very special culinary evening in celebration of special exhibition To Take Shape and Meaning: Form and Design in Contemporary American Indian Art.
The Chef’s Table event begins with a cocktail hour and gallery tour with exhibition guest curator Nancy Strickland Fields (Lumbee), director/curator of the Museum of the Southeast American Indian at the University of North Carolina at Pembroke, followed by a seated dinner with expertly paired wines in the Museum’s East Café. Catering Works executive chef Rich Carter presents cuisine inspired by the exhibition, paired with dramatically styled plating, for an incredible evening of sensory experiences. Tickets are $175. Visit ncartmuseum.org or call 919-715-5923 for more information.
JULY 26
Chef’s Table: To Take Shape and Meaning
North Carolina Museum of Art, East Building 2110 Blue Ridge Road, Raleigh, NC 27607
THE WHIRL
2024 INVESTOR SYMPOSIUM
Trust Company of the South hosted its 2024 Investor Symposium at the Carolina Country Club on April 24 and 25. Speakers included Jake DeKinder of Dimensional Fund Advisors, Mark Roberts of Ironsides Asset Advisors, Whit Edwards of Five Points Capital, and Jennings Glenn of Kane Realty.
Paul Lilley, Dain Clare, J.R. Parks, Will Monk, Lucas Bayles
Anne Eberdt, Joe Brewer, Virginia Brewer Leah Jane Barnwell, Katie Henry
Nick Puleo, Dan Tolomay, Jay Eich, Burke Koonce
Lucy Wheeless, Marie Noble Bill Noble, Bill Pruden, Kinnie Pruden
HAYES BARTON PLACE JAZZ IN THE GARDEN
On June 4, over 70 Hayes Barton Place charter club members, priority partners and their guests gathered at The Woman’s Club for a perfect June evening. Boxed dinners were catered by HL Catering Company and the After Hours Jazz Quintet provided live music. The party was an opportunity to continue building the vibrant community of future residents who will call Hayes Barton Place home when it opens in early 2025.
DESIGNED FOR JOY NORTH HILLS RIBBON CUTTING
Designed For Joy celebrated its new location in the North Hills Innovation District on April 23. Here, they will host a career readiness program in partnership with Wake Technical Community College. Representatives from Visit Raleigh, Wake Tech Community College, A.J. Fletcher Foundation, Kane Realty Corp and Designed For Joy Giving Circle were among the guests.
Jason McDaniel, Craig McDaniel, Carolyn Edwards, Fran Smith, Jeff Smith
Terree Montgomery, Donna McCaskill, Sam Murray, Ann Janvier
Carol Briggs, Sandra Rankin, JoAnne Newton, Gig Harris, Martha Hoover
THE WHIRL
DRNC 2024 DISABILITY CONFERENCE
On May 1, Disability Rights North Carolina hosted its annual conference to advance disability justice in the state. Held at the McKimmon Center, this year they celebrated the 25th anniversary of the Olmstead decision with the theme “It’s ON! Olmstead Now in NC.” The conference included an exhibitor hall with 35 local partner organizations, 16 sessions on disability and legal advocacy and a keynote speech featuring Dr. Bishop William Barber II.
First Horizon Bank is proud to support the work of the Raleigh Police Department Foundation including sponsoring a summer girls basketball camp in 2023. The camp was so successful, we are funding all of the 2024 Raleigh Police Department summer camps including soccer, baseball, basketball and tennis. Building bridges between our officers and our communities’ youth is a bond that will be felt for generations to come. Much like the RPDF, First Horizon believes that when our communities succeed, we all succeed.
Todd Warrick, Executive Vice President
Corey McKittrick, Kasey Mayfield, Emily Kibler, Brittny Zenere, Chris Rivera, Ashley Large Selma Barker, Katie Haynes, Tammy Cancilla
William Barber II Mary Angelini, Gabi Angelini
Virginia Knowlton Marcus
BEACH BLAST BLOCK PARTY
Saturday, July 6 — 4:00 pm
Celebrate our Nation’s birth with an old fashioned backyard BBQ. Family fun with waterslide and other games. DJ King Curtiss of Star 102.5 spinning the oldies.
PEACH GRASS FESTIVAL
Saturday, July 27 — 6:00 pm
Bring your blanket or chairs and settle in on the lawn for a good old fashioned hootenanny with three groups with local connections. Headlined by the Low Tide String Band.
DRIVE-IN MOVIE ON THE GROUNDS
Saturday, August 24
Bring your chairs and blankets for a classic drive-in on the lawn. Experience Spielberg’s BFG on the big screen with popcorn, cold beverages, and candy.
Also! Register now for our Explorer of the World Camps. August 5-9 and 12-16.
For rising 4th - 8th graders.
THE WHIRL
RED CARPET SERIES: MARTHA RADDATZ
On April 18, The Cardinal at North Hills hosted its Red Carpet Speaker Series featuring Martha Raddatz, ABC News’ chief global correspondent. Raddatz shared insights from her career in journalism, which has included diverse reporting, experiences moderating political debates and a commitment to truthfulness.
WILL & WELL OPENING
Will & Well celebrated its grand opening at Boxyard RTP on May 18 with a ribbon-cutting ceremony and over 50 guests. Founded by NC A&T University alumni Ponce Tidwell and Rosalind Mitchell, Will & Well is redefining the fast-casual landscape with nutrient-rich salads and health-conscious beverages.
For more details and to check out our other events, scan the QR code!
555 East Connecticut Avenue, Southern Pines, NC
The Cardinal (RADDATZ); Jensen
Kissner (WILL AND WELL)
Martha Raddatz
Welcome at The Cardinal
Ponce Tidwell, Rosalind Mitchell and team members
The North Carolina Museum of History Associates hosted its 26th Spring Frolic gala and auction at the Carolina Country Club on April 27. The event drew a crowd of philanthropic souls to rally behind the cause of preserving North Carolina history. Mary Charles Boyette, Robert Boyette and Lyn Maness were honored for their contributions.
PHOTOGRAPHY FOR NON-CELEBRITY PROFILE
We are thrilled to announce a 2024 Merit Award from the Society of Publication Designers (SPD). The SPD promotes excellence in editorial design, with a focus on visual elements. Special thanks to local photographer, Joshua Steadman, and our story subject, Marriott Little, for helping us achieve this award.
Mary Charles Boyette, Mary Brent Wright, Neal Goodwin, Sally Cozart, Lee Webster
Ken Howard, Walker Wilson, Chris Cecil
SPRING FROLIC
Carol Wilson, Brad Wilson
Roger Black, Ivy Black John Young, Mary Powell White, Dunlop White, Peggy Young
Frank Daniels IV, Kimberly Daniels Taws
RAISE THE ROOF CEREMONY
On June 7, the Home Builders Association of Raleigh-Wake County and US Veterans Corps held a Raise the Roof Ceremony as part of Operation: Coming Home, which builds homes for families of troops that were injured or killed in combat operations. Centex Homes is building this home for the wife and son of late US Navy Officer Russell Blake in Wendell’s Mackenzie Meadows.
Megan Howard, Communications Manager at the Town of Wendell
Town of Wendell Mayor Virginia Gray addressing the audience
Paige Radon, Mikkel Thompson
Paige Radon, Paul Kane, Virginia Gray
Taste Wild OF THE
Join us for cocktails, hors d’oeuvres and a chef-curated meal celebrating North Carolina
SAM JONES Owner, Sam Jones BBQ
JAMIE DAVIS Executive Chef, The Hackney
WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 9
6:00 PM | The Merrimon-Wynne House | $95
SCAN HERE FOR TICKETS
PRESENTING SPONSOR SUPPORTING SPONSORS
TITLE SPONSOR
Turning the Stone
A trio of cottages in Dorothea Dix Park start their next chapter
by AYN-MONIQUE KLAHRE
Diana Barefoot knows the Gatekeeper’s Cottage inside and out. She lived here, in what’s now Dorothea Dix Park, with her family from 1977 to 78 when her then-husband, Glenn Withrow, was a medical officer at Dorothea Dix Hospital. Their daughter Rebecca Withrow remembers playing with her two siblings in the attic. “It’s all so different now — everything was woods,” says Barefoot. “But they kept the latticework in the windows; I remember those details.”
Her cottage, along with the Superintendent’s House and Physicians’ House, are collectively known as the Stone Cottages. They were built in 1923 in the growth spurt after World War I and reflected the specialization of the staff for the expanding hospital, which was, at the time, a progressive mental health facility.
In the 1990s, the Gatekeeper’s Cottage, which was originally near the current intersection of Western Boulevard and S. Boylan Avenue, was moved to join the other two residences. And for the past few years, architect David Maurer and his team at Maurer Architecture have been working with the Dix Park Conservancy, with financial support from the State Employees’ Credit Union (SECU) and the SECU Foundation, to renovate these buildings to reflect the evolution of Dix Park.
On June 1, the three cottages were reopened for public use. The Stone Cottages now include a visitors center, offices for the Dix Park Conservancy and the City of Raleigh, a stu-
dio space for an artist-in-residence, and — perhaps most saliently to fans of the park and the adjoining Greenway — public restrooms. “The Stone Cottages will provide a much more welcoming entrance into the park, to make it a place where people can really linger and enjoy themselves,” says Janet Cowell, the CEO of Dix Park Conservancy.
Each of the spaces has been meticulously preserved, from the woodwork to the moldings to the stone exteriors. The furnishings include conference tables by Raleigh Reclaimed, made from pecan trees that used to stand in the park. Inside the visitors center, an interactive exhibit traces the park’s complicated history: from
land used by Native Americans, to its days as a plantation, to its time as a psychiatric institution and to the present day.
Maurer, a longtime resident of nearby Boylan Heights, remembers jogging by the cottages 30 years ago. “I was always curious about the houses and hoped they would get fixed up. It was a privilege and truly a team effort to turn these into cool spaces for things to happen,” he says. General contractor Eric Brinker of The Northgate Group worked on the homes. “It’s been a transformative project for Raleigh, and it looks just like we envisioned,” Brinker says. “I’m proud to be part of the team creating this legacy for the park.”
courtesy
Dix Park
Conservancy
Pickin’
Pickin’
and grinnin’ and livin’ with AFib.
Pickin’ and grinnin’ and livin’ with AFib.
and grinnin’ and livin’ with AFib.
Pickin’ and grinnin’ and livin’ with AFib.
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