As I mentioned in last week’s blog, the purpose of this trip to North Carolina was to visit our friend Josh who was doing a placement at Duke University. With that in mind it was time for a tour around campus and it’s safe to say the resources at the disposal of American universities is quite a lot more than that of the ones in the UK. I had briefly been on campus at the Gulf Coast University in Florida back in 2015, but this was the first time I’d done a full tour. Amusingly on-campus was the only time I saw roundabouts on this trip.

We started off by walking through the Sarah P. Duke Gardens, named after the wife one of Duke’s main benefactors – Benjamin N.Duke. Answers on the back of a postcard as to how the university got its current name. In fact, 2024 marks one hundred years since the name changed from the previous Trinity College. This botanical garden is vast and remarkably open every day of the year free of charge to the public. It’s split into four different sections that cover different types of plants from around the world and there are also education and function centres. You’d certainly have a nice time being married here.

Thankfully the good weather was continuing, and we could enjoy a pleasant morning outdoors. I’m very much a layperson when it comes to plants so it’s hard to give any real in-depth analysis as to what I saw but perhaps unsurprisingly the pond proved to be the main draw for me. First of all there were terrapins (animals of course draw my interest) which were much more tame than the ones we would see out in the wild the next day, and a bright red Japanese bridge. Restored a few years ago it really stood out amongst the surrounding green foliage. It was here amongst the bamboo that I had a good opportunity to test the bokeh capabilities of my Elmar 5cm F3.5 and getting the film back from the lab I was very impressed by the results. I am roughly at the minimum focus distance of 1m but an aperture of F3.5 it is not especially fast, yet there is still good separation, and I would say the quality of the bokeh is also high.

It was then lunchtime, and we needed to find somewhere to eat. The buildings of the central campus are splendid examples of Gothic Revival, which gave me a sense of what some of the true gothic examples back home may have looked with less weathering a few hundred years in the past. Certainly, a grand and inspirational place to be studying. At first the canteen building seemed very modern but once we went inside and saw the wooden-beamed roof I quickly realised we had just seen an extension on the outside. My view of American architecture has always been that of the twentieth Century, so I was pleasantly surprised to see something with a bit more character.

After a brief look inside the staff lounge, we stepped into Duke University Chapel which is easily the standout building given its sheer size. The interior was dark and unfavourable to the slow Kodak Image Pro 100 I was shooting, but you could really appreciate the splendour of the stained glass. Going down into the crypts was also a nice bonus. Finally, we spent the rest of the day wandering around the other areas which included the vast sports facilities. An athletics track, baseball field, two American football pitch and more, all in once place. Simply staggering considering how impoverished UK universities seem in comparison. At this point I ran out of film for the day, but I think you get the general idea of what Duke is all about. As a private university it is more expensive to study here than the nearby NC State University so that may go some way to explaining the level of facilities. This wealth was epitomised by a conversation we overheard where one student was enthusiastically telling his friend which three countries he was visiting during his summer holidays.

For our final full day I organised a hike in the countryside so we could get a view of North Carolina away from the cities. We took an Uber to Falls Lake where we could walk a small part of the state’s mountain to sea trail. We were dropped off at Hickory Hill Boat Ramp and our driver was surprised to learn of somewhere new despite being local to the area. It felt much further away from the highway than it actually was, just a few miles out of the city and yet here we were out in nature walking through forest and along the edge of a big lake. That’s what I love so much about America, there’s just so much more wide-open space, places for nature and far fewer people. It wasn’t long into the walk that I saw my very first beaver. At a distance I could see something large swimming the water and a slap of its tail before diving confirmed what it was. Sadly, it was much too far away to capture with my camera.

Perhaps our biggest challenge of the day was navigating around a collapsed road, leaving us with a potential two mile detour. However after walking around a little bit I found a way through the undergrowth and over the dried-up creeks to get us back on track. It added a bit more adventure to our day and thankfully Josh and Kev were game for it.  From there we linked up with Cheek Road which carried you over the lake and eventually we settled down to eat our lunch in the shade near what little remains of the old bridge. It seems roads have a habit of collapsing around here, there must have been some very serious flood events over the years.

Fuelled back up it was time for the return journey, and I am glad I brought along plenty of water as the heat was really getting to us at times. Thankfully the trees lining the road did offer a little bit of shade. Every time we peered through to the riverbank below a small army of terrapins quickly scattered into the water. However, I was lucky enough to encounter not one, but two wild snakes, both spotted by Kev. The first with an adult black racer was the best wild snake encounter I’ve ever had. It initially fled the area it was basking, and I ran up the bank after it. It had come to a stop in the leaf litter, and we could calmly look at each other for several minutes while I took a few photos. For someone who loves snakes it was a bit of real magic. Later on, we found a baby snake (different species) winding its way across the hot road surface. I gave it a helping hand back into the undergrowth to avoid becoming yet another roadside casualty.

Eventually we made it back to our starting point and thankfully we were not stranded like we had been at Stagville the other day. A short while after an Uber promptly came to pick us up. The final evening was enjoyed back on our balcony with food and a few beers, a good relaxing way to finish up what had been a wonderful few days. Though what was less wonderful was the tick I’d picked up as a souvenir on the hike, most likely when trekking through the undergrowth on our detour. At least it wasn’t attached for long. The final day was little more than an airport run and eventually after a lot of waiting and a red-eye flight I was back in the UK. My Leica iii had been the perfect companion, being so small and compact for travelling, barely taking up any space in my bag, yet producing stellar results all those years later. I definitely made the right call buying it and it will certainly accompany me on many more trips. Hopefully another one to America won’t take another nine years to materialise.

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