jschornak
07-17-2007, 07:03 PM
The CNPA Charlotte Region’s July Outing to Perry’s Water Garden was a wonderful success. Toby Hilton did a masterful job of coordinating the Outing logistics (it was probably simplified somewhat by the fact that only two members and one non-participating spouse attended). So Marcia and I would like to sincerely thank Toby for this wonderful experience … Marcia could not believe the “acres and acres of Lotus and Water Lily beds”. Toby expressed some concerns about the “tidiness” of the gardens, since Perry Slocum died several years ago. But the silver-lining to this cloud was probably that the heavier weeds around the ponds lead to more Dragonflies (and dare I say it … even regular flies).
Those that decided not to come really did miss out … the Outing was restructured as a multi-day event (July 13-15). We shot Friday late afternoon and early evening for about three-hours in the warm golden sun (and the temperatures were in the low to mid 70’s). Participants from last year’s CNPA Charlotte Outing to Perry’s Water Garden (Debra) will note that we had some ticks too. Then we had a “wallet busting” fine dining experience at The Frog & Owl restaurant in Franklin (Marcia was absolutely delighted that a CNPA Charlotte outing, other than the now famous Eaton/Dandro winery outings, included fine dining and wine. I didn’t get as excited about dinner, since I don’t have a sophisticated palette. We spent the night at Franklin’s equivalent of the “Pixel Inn” … the Sapphire Inn.
Saturday morning … and we were back to the garden early to beat the mad rush of CNPA Asheville Region member (who had their own outing scheduled for the same day). We did meet some very wonderful Asheville members (like Cindy Probst, who is a wonderful Blue Ridge Parkway blossom resource); they had about eight or ten members there. There was a wonderfully diffused light all morning in the Gardens (due to the overcast skies) and the temperatures were again very mild for this time of year. About 11:30am Toby officially ended the Outing and headed off to two more western North Carolina aquatic gardens to scout for future outing (the man is always working hard for our group … I guess that why he got the nickname “Hilton Tours”).
We headed off for a day of scouting area campgrounds for a return trip and then a rendezvous with Tom and Kathy Dills for dinner at J Arthur’s in Maggie Valley and sunset opportunities on the Blue Ridge Parkway at Waterrock Knob Overlook. the sunset itself was not spectacular (fog rolled in), but it was nice cool temperatures ... I enjoyed shooting with Tom ... and Marcia & Kathy drank wine (I think they are going to help Donna and Debra plan their winery outings).
We spent the night in Cherokee on Saturday night. We got a very late start on Sunday probably due to three-bus loads of youth baseball players from Louisiana and the fact that Toby had “run us so hard” the day before. We did some more scouting and then meet the Dills for lunch in Waynesville. We also visited the Twigs & Leaves Gallery in Waynesville to see prints on display by Don McGowan. After lunch Tom and Kathy headed home and we were left to single-handedly squeeze every last drop out of this outing. We did some more exploring and then headed to Rabb Knob Overlook on the Blue Ridge Parkway for another sunset opportunity. We had a wonderful time and had the overlook all to ourselves.
We headed back to Charlotte after the sunset was thoroughly exhausted and arrived home right at mid-night. Again I think everyone missed a great outing, so you might reconsider next year. I don’t think I can post images in the forum, but I’ll try (and if I can’t, then I setup my CNPA Member’s Gallery and post a couple there). Hopefully Toby will post his impressions of the outing and some of his wonderful images.
Thanks!
John
Those that decided not to come really did miss out … the Outing was restructured as a multi-day event (July 13-15). We shot Friday late afternoon and early evening for about three-hours in the warm golden sun (and the temperatures were in the low to mid 70’s). Participants from last year’s CNPA Charlotte Outing to Perry’s Water Garden (Debra) will note that we had some ticks too. Then we had a “wallet busting” fine dining experience at The Frog & Owl restaurant in Franklin (Marcia was absolutely delighted that a CNPA Charlotte outing, other than the now famous Eaton/Dandro winery outings, included fine dining and wine. I didn’t get as excited about dinner, since I don’t have a sophisticated palette. We spent the night at Franklin’s equivalent of the “Pixel Inn” … the Sapphire Inn.
Saturday morning … and we were back to the garden early to beat the mad rush of CNPA Asheville Region member (who had their own outing scheduled for the same day). We did meet some very wonderful Asheville members (like Cindy Probst, who is a wonderful Blue Ridge Parkway blossom resource); they had about eight or ten members there. There was a wonderfully diffused light all morning in the Gardens (due to the overcast skies) and the temperatures were again very mild for this time of year. About 11:30am Toby officially ended the Outing and headed off to two more western North Carolina aquatic gardens to scout for future outing (the man is always working hard for our group … I guess that why he got the nickname “Hilton Tours”).
We headed off for a day of scouting area campgrounds for a return trip and then a rendezvous with Tom and Kathy Dills for dinner at J Arthur’s in Maggie Valley and sunset opportunities on the Blue Ridge Parkway at Waterrock Knob Overlook. the sunset itself was not spectacular (fog rolled in), but it was nice cool temperatures ... I enjoyed shooting with Tom ... and Marcia & Kathy drank wine (I think they are going to help Donna and Debra plan their winery outings).
We spent the night in Cherokee on Saturday night. We got a very late start on Sunday probably due to three-bus loads of youth baseball players from Louisiana and the fact that Toby had “run us so hard” the day before. We did some more scouting and then meet the Dills for lunch in Waynesville. We also visited the Twigs & Leaves Gallery in Waynesville to see prints on display by Don McGowan. After lunch Tom and Kathy headed home and we were left to single-handedly squeeze every last drop out of this outing. We did some more exploring and then headed to Rabb Knob Overlook on the Blue Ridge Parkway for another sunset opportunity. We had a wonderful time and had the overlook all to ourselves.
We headed back to Charlotte after the sunset was thoroughly exhausted and arrived home right at mid-night. Again I think everyone missed a great outing, so you might reconsider next year. I don’t think I can post images in the forum, but I’ll try (and if I can’t, then I setup my CNPA Member’s Gallery and post a couple there). Hopefully Toby will post his impressions of the outing and some of his wonderful images.
Thanks!
John