more raleigh magic
hidden gems part ii!
every now and again i have a pang of “why are there so many malls here” and “why do i have to drive everywhere”, but then i’ll tick another fun thing off my little list and am reminded of why living here is so special.
🥁 hidden gems, part ii, let’s go!
1. Juniper Level Botanic Garden
🔗 website
“One of the largest and most diverse plant collections in the world”, JLBC is a 40min drive from my house and oh so worth it to explore their 10+ acres of plants. They have multiple shade and sun gardens, a waterfall, koi pond, and greenhouses. Easily one of my favorite gardens in the Triangle region (and that’s no small feat considering we have Duke Gardens, JC Raulston Arboretum, North Carolina Botanical Garden, plus azalea gardens and rose gardens)… what I loved about it was the layout; there were so many secret little trails winding through the shade gardens and each one led to something beautiful to discover. Each area seamlessly connected to the next and it all just felt wild and natural and exotic. You feel like you are part of the garden, not a tourist looking in.
2. Robertson Millpond Preserve
🔗 brochure
We live 5 minutes away from the ever-beautiful Falls Lake so I was skeptical if driving 25min to this preserve would be different enough. But wow did I find out! Robertson Millpond Preserve has a well-marked padding trail through a creek, where you paddle in-between the moss-covered bases of cypress trees. It was otherworldly! So serene. The loop takes an hour or even longer if you’re like me and need to take a thousand photos. We brought our trusty foldable kayaks, and it was super convenient to assemble, disassemble, and rinse them off right alongside the pond.
3. Feature Flora
Feature Flora is a special little shop in southern downtown Raleigh. They are a hybrid looseleaf tea room, shop for teawares and other goodies, community gathering space, and floral arrangement company. This shop was so my vibe. Cool vintage decor adorning the space, Japanese homewares for sale, a projector playing an ambient film of some sort, and I had a delicious iced oolong tea. For tea lovers like myself I felt right at home. I can’t wait to go back.
4. House of Art
🔗 website
House of Art is a quirky “social museum”-turned-bar in downtown Raleigh. Each room has a different theme, and they are all fully decorated in an Alice-in-Wonderland kind of way — trippy, colorful, over the top! This little spot still feels like it’s flying under the radar, but perhaps that’s a good thing because there’s limited seating — it’s in a historic house, so there are multiple hallways and rooms to navigate! I pregamed there with friends and am excited to go back for some of their own events.
5. Sylvan Heights Bird Park
🔗 website
Okay, full disclosure, Sylvan Heights Bird Park is not technically in Raleigh but it’s only 1h35m drive in a small town towards the east called Scotland Neck. This is such a special place — you’re able to enter these super green, super lush enclosures where birds of all types are flying around, pattering around, floating on the water, squawking, etc. You can even feed them little crunchy treats, which some love and some could not care less! Such a cool experience with so many birds full of flare and character!
6. Dix Park Sunflower Field
🔗 website
Okay, really stretching the meaning of a hidden gem but did you know there’s a sunflower field in the heart of Raleigh!? The field is 5 acres big and gets visited by 100,000 people during peak bloom (mid-July). There are also lots of wildflowers that I particularly loved. At first, I was surprised that the sunflowers were not very tall (maybe like 3–4 feet), but the deeper we got, the more I was able to marvel at the sheer amount of them! It was also a great way to see lots of sleepy bees, full up on pollen and needing a rest. It was a brutally hot day but still very magical!
That’s all for now!