Duke Farms.

Last weekend, before Frank and I had Jamaican Night, we took a trip to Duke Farms. Duke Farms is a huge estate in Hillsborough, built by James Buchanan Duke, founder of the American Tobacco Company (and benefactor of Duke University). When he died in 1925, Doris (his 12-year-old daughter) took over. Doris Duke was quite a lady, and I highly suggest you read more about her over on her Wikipedia page. She designed all the gardens in the Duke Estate and it was supposedly quite beautiful. Duke Farms shut down many of the gardens and other parts of the estate in 2008, but a few areas are still left to explore. Some highlights: the statue garden in the photos is in an old barn that partially burned down; the Athena statue; old greenhouses; when my camera lens got hazy in the tropical greenhouse and the photos came out looking dreamy; and Venus fly traps! The Farms also had a lovely welcome center with areas for lectures, a sweet cafe, and trams to bring us back to the parking lot when we got too cold/tired. I cannot wait to go back in the spring!