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Family Travel Files Ezine Family Vacations Resource
North Carolina: Durham, Duke Gardens - A Secret Family Spot for Fun. Duke Gardens North Carolina“Mmm! What’s that smell?” I wonder. It’s Sunday morning, and since church is done, Daddy has taken us all to Duke Gardens, our favorite vacation place.
 
The flowers are blooming and it smells delicious. As we set out through the gardens, we approach the lake. Spotting a fleet of ducks, I ask Daddy if we can go over there. We see people feeding the ducks, but we don’t have any duck food, so we go to the bamboo forest instead. We take a few pictures. We see a turtle gliding smoothly under water and later my brother spies two more.

Then, after watching four ducks bobbing serenely on the water, all of us hurry to the spot where we saw the other ducks before. What a sight meets our eyes! There, right where the birds were is an enormous assembly of catfish, enthusiastically eating slices of bread from people who were feeding ducks a minute ago.  After looking at this strange spectacle for a moment, we go on.

Seeing Daddy signaling for us to stop, we immediately do. There, in front of us, is a great blue heron in the process of eating a fish. As he swallows it, the fish gets stuck, and he puffs up his throat. When the fish slips down, he goes looking for another one. We laugh a little before resuming our way to the depths of the garden. Before we drive home, a lady gives us duck food to use for next time.     

Editor’s note. A special thanks goes to Anna Fox for sharing her delightful family experience at Duke Gardens.  Throughout the year we invite kids ages 10 to 18 to “Tell Mom” in their own words about a recent family vacation experience. We share the best with our readers. Anna Fox is one of the winners in theFamilyTravelFiles.com Youth Writing contest with the prompt “I know a secret place …”.

About Sarah P. Duke Gardens.  Recognized as one of the premier public gardens in the United States, Duke Gardens occupies 55 acres in the heart of Duke University’s west campus. It is a place where families can share quiet time with nature and each other. Bonus points: To augment a tour of the Gardens visitors may access the Duke Gardens Guide by Cell audio tours. Call (919) 595-1109 to begin.Duke Gardens NC Family Fun Day

Seasonal family fun. The Gardens offer a variety of programs for families throughout the year. Each is designed to facilitate exploration, interaction, and discoveries within the garden environment.  Public programs guided and self-guided include tours, scavenger hunts, sensory walks, games, in-depth explorations, classroom programs, amphitheater programs, story time, camp, pre-school workshops, performances, and more. All programs are age appropriate, hands on, and are created to offer learning opportunities for all children who visit. Bonus points: The second Saturday of every month (March-May and September-November) gather at Doris Duke Center for music, puppeteers, nature stories, and a take-home creative project.

Location on the planet. Sarah P. Duke Gardens 420 Anderson Street Duke University Durham, NC 27708-0341. (919) 684-3698 or www.hr.duke.edu/dukegardens

Observations provided by Anna Fox a FamilyTravelFiles.con youth writing contest winner. Images from Sarah P. Duke Gardens family programs. Planning details by FTF staff. Copyright 2011.


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