You can’t escape the heat and humidity, but you can work with it. Paddling on the Lumber River, for instance. Or playing and partying at the Triangle’s biggest outdoor festival. Or taking a high country hike with a National Park Service ranger.
Coast
Saturday is National Trails Day, a day set aside for us to appreciate the more than 200,000 miles of trail in the U.S. Officially, National Trails Day dates back to 1991, when the American Hiking Society deemed that one day a year be set aside to honor our trails; the first NTD, however, didn’t occur until June 5, 1993.
Because of the mid-week holiday we’re relaxing the definition of “weekend.” It starts … today!
Coast
You go to the beach regularly, maybe even live there for a week every summer. Yet how much do you know about your fellow residents, especially the year-round residents? The sea turtles, for instance, or the sea gulls? Tag along on Audubon North Carolina’s Free Friday Field Trip at Mason Inlet, a “fascinating sanctuary where you can get close-up looks at nesting birds and chicks,” according to ANC. “Coastal birds are scrappy survivors that combat extreme temperatures, unpredictable weather, and predators to successfully raise their young.” Who wouldn’t want to spend time with scrappy survivors?
For the past week, we’ve been looking at the current explosive growth of the Raleigh greenway system: $35 million to add about 45 miles of greenway. By 2014, Raleigh should have about 116 miles of greenway, with new, vital links along the Neuse River, Crabtree Creek, Walnut Creek, House Creek and Honeycutt Creek.
A dream when I was younger was to have a house with a basketball court in the basement. A full-size court, with a knee-friendly synthetic surface. With backboards that dropped to dunk-friendly heights for an Earth-bound 5’9” guard. Throw in my vintage red, white and blue ABA ball, my knee-high tube socks and my Converse All-Stars … . Heaven, I’m in heaven …