After what felt like endless months of summer, I am happy to report that Fall weather has finally arrived here in NC! 😍We took the opportunity to celebrate this long awaiting cool air with a hike at an old favorite spot – Eno River State Park.
หลังจากที่ร้อนตับแตกมานานหลายเดือนแบบที่ไม่มีวี่แววว่าจะยอมลดละ ในที่สุดเมื่อสุดสัปดาห์นี้ฤดูใบไม้ร่วงก็ได้มาเยือนที่รัฐนี้อย่างเป็นทางการ 😍 เราเลยถือโอกาสออกไปประเดิมอากาศเย็นสบายกันด้วยการเดินป่าที่ Eno River State Park หลังจากที่ไม่ได้มากันซะนาน
We took our usual route, starting with Buckquarter Creek trail at Fews Ford Access and continuing over to Holden Mill loop.
เริ่มต้นออกเดินกันที่เส้น Buckquarter Creek ซึ่งตั้งอยู่ที่ทางเข้าด้าน Fews Ford จากนั้นจึงต่อไปยังเส้นวงแหวน Holden Mill
Buckquarter Creek was marked with bright red blazes.
Eno River was nice and full, after a few decent rainstorms.
น้ำในแม่น้ำ Eno River เต็มปริ่มจากพายุฝนที่มาถล่มบริเวณนี้ติดๆกันหลายลูก
Huge mushrooms! 😳
ตามทางยังมีเห็ดยักษ์เหลือให้เห็นอยู่ประปราย
I have a feeling that the trees here were still trying to register that the weather has cooled down. 🙄 There was barely any evidence of autumn colors on the leaves. Hopefully, we will begin to see some beautiful hues emerging soon!
We clocked in at 3.91 miles, which took us an hour and 45 minutes. It was a nice and pleasant hike, with the temperature staying nice and cool in the mid 60s the entire way – perfect hiking weather!
In true pandemic fashion, we celebrated this year’s long Labor Day weekend by staying at home. 😐 To make it a little more enjoyable, we decided to splurge on two special meals out at where we think are two of the very best restaurants in the area. 😊
Joel and I had a long discussion about the risk of indoor dining when concerns of the delta variant started to emerge in the news a few months ago. Initially, we went back to just getting takeouts again for a while (since outdoor dining wasn’t really an option amidst this intense NC summer heat 🥵). Lately, we have ventured back to eating out again since most sources seem to confirm that COVID risk for fully vaccinated people has proven to remain relatively low.
We started off the weekend with a nigiri omakase meal at M Sushi in downtown Durham. We have been big fans of Chef Michael Lee ever since he was still running the sushi line at Sono in downtown Raleigh. After our first visit there, shortly after we moved back to the area in 2013, Sono became the holy grail of the lackluster sushi scene here… Until Chef Mike Lee went and opened up M Sushi in Durham, that is! 😆 Since then, his restaurant empire has grown to include 3 more locations, one of which I’ll cover later in this post.
เราไปเริ่มตะลุยกินกันที่ร้าน M Sushi ที่ดาวน์ทาวน์เมือง Durham เป็นอันดับแรกเมื่อคืนวันศุกร์ เราสองคนเป็นแฟนพันธุ์แท้ของเชฟ Michael Lee มาตั้งแต่ตอนที่แกยังทำอยู่ที่ร้าน Sono ที่ดาวน์ทาวน์เมือง Raleigh หลังจากที่ไปลองกินซูชิที่นั่นกันเป็นครั้งแรกตอนที่ย้ายกลับมาที่นี่ใหม่ๆช่วงปลายปี 2013 นับแต่นั้นมาถ้าอยากกินซูชิก็จะต้องไปที่ Sono เพราะลองที่อื่นมาหมดแล้วไม่มีใครสู้ได้ซักเจ้า จนกระทั่งเชฟแกไปเปิดร้าน M Sushi นี่แหละ 😆 จากบัดนั้นมาจนบัดนี้มีร้านในเครือตระกูล M เพิ่มมาอีกถึงสามร้านด้วยกัน โพสต์นี้จะพาไปชิมอาหารญี่ปุ่นสองสไตล์ของเชฟเกาหลีท่านนี้กัน
Both of us had our very first nigiri omakase experience together at Sushi Zo in LA, almost 10 years ago. Since then, we have been forever spoiled and unable to go back to enjoying regular sushi rolls ever since. 😓 Things got hard when we first moved back here to NC. Fortunately, we found Sono! And later on, M Sushi has become our goto spot whenever we crave for sushi.
เราสองคนได้มีโอกาสลิ้มลองซูชิสไตล์โอมากาเสะกันเป็นครั้งแรกที่ร้าน Sushi Zoใน LA เมื่อเกือบสิบปีก่อน หลังจากนั้นก็ไม่สามารถกลับไปกินซูชิแบบโรลธรรมดาๆประสาชาวบ้านได้อีกเลย 😓 ตอนย้ายกลับมาอยู่ที่นี่ใหม่ๆประเด็นนี้เป็นปัญหาหนักมาก เพราะไม่สามารถไปกินซูชิที่ไหนได้ จนกระทั่งโชคดีมาเจอร้าน Sono นี่แหละ และหลังๆมามี M Sushi มาให้พึ่งพาได้อีกราย
As always, we both just went for the nigiri omakase meal, which includes 12-15 different pieces of nigiri sushi, served chef’s choice style. The idea is that the chef will decide what’s best to serve you, based on whatever freshest catches they have for the day. Typically, these include bluefin tuna, mackerel, sea trout, salmon, yellowtail, scallop or squid, and eel, just to name a few.
Each piece is served, one by one, as soon as the chef is finished making them, with the announcement of what they are when they arrive in front of you. The pickled ginger is there to ‘cleanse your palate’ in between each bite. Normally, everything has been seasoned perfectly the way the chef intends to serve it including a touch of soy sauce, so theoretically you would not need to add anything to it, but they do give you a side of wasabi, just in case you prefer more. 🙄
We ordered an extra bite of uni from Hokkaido, just because I had been craving it. 😋 And, as part of the omakase, they always serve a handroll, and piece of tamago at the very end. We left with a full and happy belly, as we always do! 😌
The following night, we drove back out to Durham again, to try another creative offering from Chef Mike Lee. M Tempura is based on the same omakase idea, but instead of nigiris, we have tempura served on the plate! 🤯
คืนต่อมาเราขับรถกลับไปที่ Durham กันอีกรอบ แต่คราวนี้มีจุดหมายอยู่ที่อีกร้านในเครือเดียวกันที่ M Tempura ซึ่งใช้คอนเซ็ปต์เดียวกันกับเมนูซูชิ แต่เปลี่ยนมาเสิร์ฟเทมปุระกันแทน 🤯
This was our very first time dining here. We had been wanting to come for a while now, but couldn’t resist just going to M Sushi every time we came to Durham. This time, we were determined to try it, so we made reservations back to back so we didn’t have any excuses. 😛 They have three different omakase options on the menu to pick from, as well as some a la carte dishes. We opted to go with the traditional style, because the other two sounded like they were going to be way too much food. 😓
Then, moving on to the main course, they brought us a tray that includes a bowl of white rice, a bowl of dipping sauce with a ball of grated daikon radish, sea salt, two different dishes of pickled vegetables, and an empty plate for the tempura, yet to come. I wasn’t sure what the silver fishy thing was at first, but upon closer inspection, I realized it was a very fancy lemon juicer with a lemon wedge in it! 😆
The tempura pieces then started to arrive, one or two at a time, over the course of the next half hour or so. Starting off with two different types of shrimp, followed by okra, shitake mushroom, maitake mushroom, seabass, salmon, eggplant, scallop, and summer squash. Everything was cooked to perfect doneness, but Joel though it was still a little oily, compared to the tempura we had in Japan. 🙄
Then, we moved on to the end of the meal, which included a choice of either udon or soba noodle soup, followed by ginger ice cream. Joel opted for the soba while I went with the udon, so we got to try both. We each maintained our choice was superior, so we just tried one bite of the other’s then went back to finish our own. 😆 It did not look like a lot of food, but we were completely stuffed by the time the dessert came. 🥴
The ginger ice cream, however, turned out to the quite the star of the entire meal! 😍 It was so perfectly scrumptious Joel couldn’t resist asking if they would sell that to us separately. Turned out we weren’t the only one asking! 😆 Our awesome waitress, Claire, made sure to include a little togo side of the ginger sugar sprinkle, so we could recreate the perfect serving at home when we got back! 🥰
On a cloudy weekend in June, we headed over to Wendell, a small outskirt triangle town that is about a 30 minute drive east of where we live. We started off with a quick hike at Turnipseed Nature Preserve. The forecast originally said rain, but then it changed to no rain… 🤔 By the time we left, it really looked like the sky was getting ready to dump down on us. We proceeded anyway with our fingers crossed, but brought along our rain jackets, just in case! 🙄
The parking lot was empty when we got there. There was one other guy that was leaving right when we pulled in. He kindly reminded us to apply our bug spray before heading off! 😬 The kiosk at the trailhead was fully stocked with different brochures as well as maps for the park, which was very handy since we didn’t have time to do any research before arrival. 😝
This was by far one of the best well-maintained parks we have ever seen! The sandy gravel trails were nice and wide. The park consists of a few very short trails interconnecting with each other. We started off with the Lupine Loop Trail since it was closest to the parking lot.
Then, we took Boulder Trail to Gin Branch Creek Trail, before going on over to Meadow Loop Trail and then back to the parking lot via Gin Branch Creek Trail again. There were clear signs indicating the turnoff for each separate trail. The entire hike was just such a breath of fresh air, very straightforward from start to finish. There was no need for trail markers of any sort, since it was just one very distinct path the whole way. There were multiple signs you can scan along the way to get information about specific species of trees you spot on the route.
หลังจากเดินครบรอบ เราเลี้ยวไปที่เส้น Gin Branch Creek จากนั้นจึงต่อไปที่เส้น Meadow Loop เดินวนจนสุดวงแหวนแล้วจึงวกกลับตามเส้น Gin Branch Creek กลับมาที่รถ ป้ายบอกทางของเค้าปักไว้ชัดเจนทุกแยก มาเดินที่นี่ได้บรรยากาศที่แตกต่างจากที่ไปเดินป่ากันตามปรกติ เหมือนมาเดินเล่นสูดอากาศบริสุทธิ์ซะมากกว่า ค่อยๆเดินไปไม่ต้องกลัวหลง แถมยังมีป้ายตามทางที่สามารถสแกนเพื่อเรียนรู้รายละเอียดเกี่ยวกับต้นไม้นานาพันธุ์ที่ขึ้นอยู่ในบริเวณนี้อีกด้วย
Wildlife spotting! 😆
เจอสัตว์ป่ากลางทาง 😆
We clocked in at 2.12 miles which took us less than 45 minutes. Overall, a perfectly easy and pleasant hike that felt more like a stroll in the park! 😆 Best of all, it never actually rained on us!
On the way out, we stopped by for a photo op at Kioti Tractor. I had spotted this cool transformer-like sculpture on the way to the beach during one of our trips and always wanted to come check it out. It was a lot cooler up close! 😍 The entire thing was made from tractor parts, and sits right out in front of their main building.
We took a detour to the little town with a big name – Lizard Lick. 😅 At a Cashpoint ATM machine right outside of Lizard Lick Swift Mart, the town namesake sits atop its roof to greet visitors with a hanging tongue! 🤣
Then over to Bearded Bee Brewing Company where we enjoyed some freshly brewed alcoholic beverages in a very trendy establishment. Their outdoor seating section offers a view of the Wendell Bee Mural. And a very cool vintage car!
ตบท้ายด้วยเบียร์เย็นๆจาก Bearded Bee Brewing Company ตึกเค้าดีไซน์ไว้ซะเก๋ไก๋ทั้งด้านในและด้านนอก ที่นั่งจิบเบียร์ด้านนอกของเค้ามีวิวสวยๆให้ชมเป็นภาพเพ้นท์ลายธรรมชาติ แถมนั่งๆอยู่ยังมีรถยนต์รุ่นคุณปู่ขับมาจอดไว้ให้ชมกันถึงตรงหน้าอีกด้วย
For lunch, we grabbed a few tasty offerings from the Barone Meatball Company food truck, which was parked right outside.
ส่วนมื้อกลางวันเราได้ชิมเมนูอร่อยๆจากร้านอาหารเคลื่อนที่ Barone Meatball Company ซึ่งมาเปิดให้บริการอยู่ที่ลานจอดรถหน้าร้านพอดี
We had such a great time in Wendell that day and hope to come back and visit again soon! 😍
We spent one cold dreary Saturday back in February visiting nearby Pittsboro and surrounding towns. This small but charming area has a few spots that are quite near and dear to our hearts. Besides being the place where Miss Mia, our second fur baby was adopted from, it was also where Joel and I officially met for the first time, ages ago! 😊
We started the trip down memory lane with the place where we first met as bridesmaid and groomsman at our good friends’ wedding back in 2008. Fearrington Village is a popular wedding venue in the area. Not only do they have pretty cows and goats grazing in an idyllic pasture out front, but you can also find boutique shops, an inn, a spa, and a couple of places to grab a bite while you are there. There is even a few of the infamous Vollis Simpson‘s whirligigs out on display too!
Next stop was Clyde Jones’ Critter Crossing, a quirky collection of wooden carved ‘critters’ and whimsical paintings which can be found decorating the artist’s home and front yard. This former mill worker had no formal arts training, but loved to create beautiful pieces of arts, which he then gave away to people. His lovely designs can be found all over town in neighbors and friends’ yards in Bynum, NC.
From there, we headed over for a short hike at Lower Haw River Trail. Before the hike, we parked by Bynum Bridge, a pedestrian bridge crossing Haw River that features very cool graffiti art all over it.
ตามธีมศิลปะมากันที่สะพานข้ามแม่น้ำ Haw River ซึ่งอยู่ถัดไปไม่ไกล ที่นี่ศิลปินสมัครเล่นนับไม่ถ้วนแห่กันมาใช้พื้นสะพานคนข้ามแห่งนี้เป็นผืนผ้าสเปรย์ลวดลายสร้างสรรค์กันตามใจอยาก
A short walk led us over to the parking lot at the trailhead. There was more street art for us to see along the way.
จากสะพานเดินมาไม่ไกลเป็นที่จอดรถของเส้นทางเดินป่า Lower Haw River Trail ซึ่งเราตั้งใจมาเดินกัน ระหว่างทางมีผลงานศิลปะสวยๆไว้ให้ชมกันอีกไม่ขาดสาย
We spent quite a bit of time looking for the actual trail once we got there. 😓 It wasn’t very clear where it was and we kept walking around and around trying to find it. After getting turned around from a few different dead ends, we finally located the trailhead right where this metal flower stood!
The trail itself was very wet! 😆 It hugged along Haw River pretty much the entire way we traveled. The river appeared to be at capacity and even overflowed into our paths in a few spots. We walked as far as we were comfortable, until we reached a spot where it would take quite an effort to wade over the muds and puddles. That’s when we decided to just turn around and head back.
ทางเส้นนี้วันนั้นที่ไปแฉะมาก 😆 พาเราเดินเลียบแม่น้ำ Haw River ไปตลอดสาย ตัวแม่น้ำเต็มปริ่มจนล้นลงมาท่วมทางเป็นบางส่วน เราเดินไปจนประมาณว่าลุยไม่ไหวแล้วถึงได้หันหลังเดินกลับ
We clocked in at 1.7 miles, which took us about 45 minutes or so. It was a short but pretty hike. The entire trail was supposed to be 7.3 miles, out and back. If we are ever back this way at some point when it’s not so wet, we would like to be able to try to hike the entire trail!
After the hike, we went to check out downtown Pittsboro. Most of the shops there were still closed due to the lockdown at the time. Two of the main highlights there were Circle City Books & Music, which has this cool mural on the side featuring books by local NC authors, and French Connections, a cute shop with many colorful home decor and gift selections.
เสร็จจากเดินป่าเราไปแวะเดินเล่นกันต่อที่ย่านดาวน์ทาวน์ของเมือง Pittsboro ช่วงนั้นร้านรวงยังคงปิดกันตรึมเพราะพิษโควิด ร้านนึงที่ตั้งใจมาชมก็คือ Circle City Books & Music ซึ่งเอาผนังด้านนอกมาเพ้นท์ซะเก๋ไก๋เป็นรูปหนังสือต่างๆที่เขียนโดยนักเขียนที่มีบ้านเกิดอยู่ในรัฐนอร์ทแคโรไลน่า อีกร้านที่เดินถ่ายรูปได้เพลินๆก็คือร้าน French Connections ซึ่งมีของตกแต่งบ้านน่ารักๆวางเรียงรายไปทั่ว
Last but not least, since it was right there, we stopped by for a quick drink at Fair Game Beverage Company, which was featured recently in this previous post, before heading home.
ก่อนกลับขอแวะไปจิบดริ๊งค์เย็นๆที่ Fair Game Beverage Company ซึ่งเคยนำมาเสนอกันไปทีนึงแล้ว เพราะไหนๆก็ต้องขับรถผ่านอยู่แล้ว 😛
We got another July Saturday with the temperature dropping below 85 degrees today, so naturally we jumped at the chance to get out on a hike! 😊 This time, we picked Hollow Rock Nature Park in Durham, which was the first result that came back when I searched for “shady hike in Durham”.
วันเสาร์นี้เราเกิดโชคดีเจออุณหภูมิตกลงมาไม่ถึง 30 องศาเซลเซียสเป็นครั้งแรกหลังจากที่ร้อนตับแตกมานาน เลยได้โอกาสไปเดินป่ากันอีกครั้งในรอบเดือน 😊 คราวนี้เราเลือกไปกันที่ Hollow Rock Nature Park ในเมือง Durham หลังจากที่ไปเสิร์ชกูเกิลหา ‘ที่เดินป่าร่มๆในเมือง Durham’ แล้วได้ชื่อพาร์คนี้ขึ้นมาเป็นอันดับแรก
There was just one other car in the parking lot when we got there. Not sure what the little white building there was supposed to be 🤔, but it didn’t look accessible to us… The information kiosk by the trailhead has the very simple map posted. They have only 2 short trails here which was perfect for us on a day like this, since it was still very hot and humid out despite the deceiving relatively low temperature on display. However, if you choose to, you can continue on to the trails at Duke Forest from here.
Once we finished the first loop, we’re right back where we started off. A small connector path takes us down to the second loop, which is called the Headwaters Loop Trail. It starts once you cross a small dirt road called Pickett Road.
We ended up clocking in at almost 2 miles in about an hour or so, which was a little more than anticipated… I guess we must have taken a wrong turn somewhere somehow, since the first loop was supposed to be 0.6 mile and the other 0.8 mile. 😛 Not that I’m complaining, since this was the perfect mileage for a hot day out!
We had been here once before, a couple of years ago. This time, they had pandemic-ized the place by closing off the entire indoor section. You go place your order at the little window, take a number, and then go wait for your food and drinks to arrive at one of the many tables in their outdoor garden area.
The fried chicken sandwich did not disappoint, according to my husband, the sandwich snob. 😆 I’m not a big fan of sandwiches in general 🙄, but this one was pretty good in my book… Oh, and they do have some really cool German beer selections 🍺 on draft here, which was really awesome!
With ongoing headlines about the heat waves 🥵 that have been wreaking havoc on the West coast, it’s quite mind-blowing 🤯 that we would be able to go on a hike over here in NC, in July. 😳 But that’s exactly what happened this weekend! After a whole night of rain, we woke up to a temperature in the low 80s on Saturday. Needless to say, we seized the day and took this rare opportunity to go out on a hike at nearby Umstead Park.
It’s been more than a year since we’ve been here. This is a popular spot here in the triangle area, so it’s pretty much always packed on the weekend. That’s why we’ve been avoiding it, in the effort to keep social distance during the pandemic. I’ve never realized until I sat down to write this post that I have actually never featured this park on the blog before, so it’s high time to have it here, better late than never! 😉
We picked the Company Mill Trail, since we are very familiar with it and it is located on the south entrance in Cary, which is a bit closer to us. The trail is nice and wide, clearly marked with bright square orange blazes along the way.
เที่ยวนี้เราเลือกเส้นทางเดินป่าที่ชื่อว่า Company Mill เพราะมาเดินกันหลายรอบจนช่ำชอง ประกอบกับว่าต้นทางตั้งอยู่ใกล้ประตูทางเข้าด้านใต้ในเขตเมือง Cary ซึ่งอยู่ใกล้บ้านเรา ทางเส้นนี้กว้างขวางเดินสบาย มีหมุดปักสีส้มแปร๋นคอยบอกทางอย่างชัดเจน
It’s about a mile almost entirely downhill, up until this bridge. This is the only downside of this particular trail – you’ll be thinking about this uphill portion on your way back the entire way! 😓
After the bridge is the start of the loop, on which we opted to go clockwise this time. A couple of miles in, you’ll run into this wide gravel multi-use trail, that cuts roughly across the middle of the park. The Company Mill trail actually jumps across this and loops back further on, but we decided to cheat 😛 and took the multi-use trail, which is nice and wide, and most importantly, flat! Well…for the most part anyway… 🙄
