Duke Gardens in the time of Covid 19

Two days ago, Duke announced that Duke Gardens would be closing to the public until further notice, starting at dusk that evening, so E, S, and I skedaddled over there to see what we could see. I'm pretty sure that counted as attending a gathering of over 100 people, because many other people had the same idea.

En route; this gorgeous blooming tree was near W. Trinity & Washington.

En route: the Duke expression wall. Peace be with us all!

E's garden goal was to catch a falling cherry petal mid-air.

 

Mission accomplished.

Ocracoke

Since E is an adult now, he gets to do things like go to the beach with friends instead of with us. So the first weekend of Nearly Ivy's and Backyard State's spring break--the first time parent and kid school breaks have ever aligned since E started Kindergarten--S and I headed on our own to Ocracoke. We arrived six months to the day after Hurricane Dorian dragged a 7.5-foot swell (or more, depending on whom you talk to) across the island. In and out over just a few hours, the water flooded septic systems, homes, and businesses, and redistributed asphalt, dunes, and beaches. A few stores and restaurants are now back in business; more than a few are not. Despite the damage, Ocracoke is as glorious as ever.

Friday:

The new normal

Ocracoke Strong

Late afternoon, we walked South Point Road to the beach. When we started, the sun was shining, and it didn't occur to us that the weather might change.

The breeze picked up, clouds blew in, and it started to sprinkle--and then the storm conveniently passed behind instead of over us.

This part of the beach had copious new driftwood since the last time we visited (Thanksgiving 2018; the island was still closed to visitors over TDay 2019).

S tested out a new tail for his kite.

Saturday:

Hard to believe, but we slept in (instead of getting up pre-dawn to walk South Point Road to watch the sunrise). We headed up the road to explore Hammock Hills Nature Trail on the sound side, then crossed the highway to the campground beach access.

Hammock Hills recovery is a work in progress; many trail repairs have already been completed, but much remains left to do.

The campground parking lot is hosting a giant pile of plant debris, while a beach parking lot closer to town is hosting a giant pile of trash (much reduced since the weeks post-Dorian).

S flew his kite again while I went unsuccessfully hunting for the elusive Scotch Bonnet. I did find a sizable sand dollar though.

On Friday, we had stopped by one of our favorite galleries--Village Craftsmen--which was busy prepping to re-open. We spent a few hours Saturday afternoon volunteering there, transferring inventory from boxes onto shelves. This turned out to be a ton of fun: not only did we enjoy conversations with some super nice people, but we also got to handle and admire lots of pottery.

Sunday:

We rose pre-dawn and walked to the beach to watch the sun rise.

Stefan removed plastic trash from several pieces of driftwood.

We walked all the way to the southern tip of the island, which was where most of the birds seemed to be hanging out. We didn't see as many birds this trip as we usually see in November, but these Oystercatchers were new to us:

Redwing blackbirds were new to us too--or maybe we just hadn't noticed them before.

In the afternoon, we drove to the north end of the island, but were unable to go for a walk there because the parking lot was reserved for construction work; Hyde County is stabilizing the sand near the Hatteras ferry pier with gigantic steel piles. We turned around and went to the Pony Pen beach access. S flew his kite again, and armed with some tips from A.H. at Village Craftsmen, I went hunting again for the elusive Scotch Bonnet...unsuccessfully.

We noticed that high tides were clearly coming up much closer to the dunes than in previous years; the island is noticeably narrower in some places.

Broken asphalt from the highway

Monday:

We took one more pre-dawn walk to watch the sun rise. Moonset was shortly after sunrise, so we were treated to two gorgeous orbs instead of just one.

Can you see the huge moon setting?

It's here. Click to enlarge the photo.

We saw lots of animal tracks on this trip. We couldn't identify these beyond "rodent," "non-beaver rodent with dragging tail," and "big bird." Nutria? Muskrat? Dear readers, any ideas?

Afterward, we walked around the harbor...

...to the lighthouse. Ocracoke has a new lighthouse cat. We noticed the Ocracoke Map & Directory was updated to reflect this.

We continued on to Springer's Point. Uprooted trees provided evidence of flooding.

I suspect this antique will not be restored:

With 90 minutes left until our ferry, we went back to the campground beach for one last beach walk. Lo! The elusive Scotch Bonnet! This was A Very Big Deal for us.

The elusive Scotch Bonnet!

Farewell Ocracoke.

After taking the ferry back to Swan Quarter, we took a detour to Lake Mattamuskeet, the largest natural fresh-water lake in North Carolina. The tundra swans had already left for Canada, but we'll try coming back in the fall or winter in hopes of seeing more birds.