I'll admit I wasn't thrilled with the North Carolina Botanical Garden the first few times we visited. The paths are overgrown (by design, not neglect), and it's confusing to get around if you aren't familiar with it. I preferred to take the kids to Duke Gardens (Durham) or the JC Raulston Arboretum (Raleigh) any day over the Botanical Garden, and here's why. The low visibility made me afraid the girls would step on snakes, and we also returned home with tons of mosquito bites each time we visited. And if they ran ahead at all, they were immediately out of sight due to the foliage.

But we recently discovered that a few newer (to us) and improved features near the Education Center make visiting the Botanical Garden with kids fun and low stress.

We've hit a major milestone: Piper is big enough to fit in our baby carrier, which means hiking is back on. Rejoice! After a "swing-and-a-miss" moment on a local trail (I'll report on that soon, so you don't make the same mistake), I was glad to find a short trail system my preschool-aged girls really enjoyed that didn't leave us lost and covered with mystery insect bites.

​Our hikes often involve serious whining with a side of bribery (skittles, jelly beans, lollipops). The girls get crabby. I get disappointed when my nature propaganda isn't effective. But in a convenient twist, they love the Piedmont Nature Trails, which are adjacent to Chapel Hill's North Carolina Botanical Garden and consist of two pretty, shady, intertwined paths. Several bridges, steps and views of Meeting-of-the-Waters Creek along the two miles of trails add interest for kids. (Aside: best creek name ever.)

The .5-mile Streamside Trail is an easy loop. The connected .75-mile Oak-Hickory Trail is hillier. You can check out the trail map here. Maps and interpretive brochures are available at the kiosk near the entrance. The girls had fun finding the trail markings coinciding with the map descriptions. The trails seem well used but not crowded, and I would personally feel comfortable using them alone.

Cricket begged to go back for a second time in one week, so she could bring her drawing supplies to take advantage of the well-placed benches for sketching. Of course I agreed.

Parking logistics & hours: You can park in the North Carolina Botanical Garden parking lot near the Education Center, but be mindful that the gates may lock when the garden closes. Check out garden hours here. There is some parking on the grounds but outside the gates if you plan to use the trails before or after hours. Walk through the Children's Wonder Garden and use the gate to enter the trails during garden hours, or follow the Pedestrian-Bike Path from the far side of the parking lot. (See map).

Strollers: The trails are not suitable for any type of stroller (too many roots, rocks and steps), but manageable for preschoolers to walk.

Bathrooms: Yes. There is an outdoor entrance to the restrooms at the Education Center next to the Children's Wonder Garden.

Location: 
100 Old Mason Farm Rd.
Chapel Hill, NC 27517

When a place describes itself as a "tranquil escape," I think twice about bringing my rambunctious family. So the first time I visited Chapel Hill's Honeysuckle Tea House, I just went with my sister. Fortunately what we found was a family-friendly place, complete with a playset, bamboo-enclosed hammock area and organic gardens for milling around. (Beware of the pond with little ones.) The vibe is yoga meets dreadlocks meets Costa Rica, and I dig that.

The tea house itself is open-air, so best enjoyed during pleasant weather. The breeze flowing through feels amazing after wandering the sunny gardens. Last time we visited, blackberries were ripe for picking and a food truck was pulling up just as we were leaving. In addition to tea and a small assortment of organic snacks and smoothies, you can also find yoga and plenty of live music (but don't go looking for espresso drinks). Even the meandering drive through the countryside from Pittsboro was idyllic.

You can learn more about the tea house's interesting origins here.

I'd consider "tranquil escape" an accurate description, but don't let that scare you off from bringing your family along. You can sip your tea and have a quiet moment staring off into the garden while your kids tear it up on the swings.

Parking logistics: Parking is abundant and obvious in a gravel lot in front of the tea house.

Strollers: The gravel parking lot and grassy garden paths are suitable for a jogging or all-terrain stroller, but not an umbrella-type stroller.

Bathrooms: Yes.

Location:
8871 Pickards Meadow Rd.
Chapel Hill, NC 27516

Seasonal hours: March-November 
Sun - Thurs 9am - 9pm |  Fri & Sat 9am - 10pm

Not sure if it's open? Check their Facebook page or call 919.903.9131.

Looking for more family-friendly outdoor activities in and around Pittsboro and Chapel Hill, NC? Check out this post on Fearrington Village. Click here to learn more about the Pittsboro-Chapel Hill Outdoors series. Click here for more series posts. ​

Remember the time (last year) I started the Pittsboro-Chapel Hill Outdoors series, and I actually posted a few entries? And then remember when Baby #3 decided to wake up and become mobile, and I never wrote another series post? Well I'm not making any promises on whether I can actually find the time to revive the series, but here's an attempt.

I wrote this post after we went blueberry picking last year, and then somehow I never actually posted it. But you're in luck, because this year I remembered to post it just as the short blueberry-picking season is starting.

I'm sure there are pick-your-own blueberry farms closer to where we live now, but we've been going to Herndon Hills Farm (Durham, NC), a family-run, certified-organic farm, every summer for several years now, and we'll keep going as long as they'll have us.

Parking logistics & hours: The parking lot is a large grassy field, which can get very muddy. The farm is small, so the blueberries are not far from the parking. The fields are wet in the mornings; wear boots or sneakers. It can get crowded, so get there very early. We've never braved it on a weekend, but even on weekdays it draws a lot of blueberry and blackberry lovers. Days and hours change depending on how many berries are available, so be sure to check for updates on their Facebook page before you go.

Strollers: Hmm...the rows are probably wide enough for a stroller, but it would have to be all-terrain. 

Bathrooms: I'm pretty sure there was a portopotty set up last year, but don't quote me on it.

Location:
7110 Massey Chapel Road/Barbee Rd
Durham, NC

Here is a previous post I wrote about blueberry picking at Herndon Hills.

Looking for more family-friendly outdoor activities in and around Pittsboro and Chapel Hill, NC? Click here for more Pittsboro-Chapel Hill Outdoors series posts. Click here to learn more about the series.

Sometimes I get funny looks when I tell people we spent the morning or evening wandering around Fearrington Village in Pittsboro, NC.

Then they ask: "Isn't that a retirement community? Or a wedding venue?"

Well, yes and no. It's home to a lot of retirees and does host weddings, but it's also a pleasant and family-friendly place to relax. Fearrington Village was built on an old farm. It has a variety of restaurants and shops, which you can learn more about here. But I'm just going to focus on a few things we like to do there in the summer. It's the kind of place you could spend 10 minutes or a few hours milling around.

Coffee: I'd be lying if I said I didn't always stop at The Goat for an iced mocha before setting out on a morning walk around Fearrington. It's still considered exercise if you're drinking a coffee the size of your head, right? The Goat has signs up indicating there may be nuts in their goodies, so we haven't tried any of their pastries or gelato (peanut allergy here!). But you should.
​
Books: Just next to the animals near the entrance, McIntyre's Books is a small, quaint, independent shop that hosts a lot of book readings and also offers a children's story hour. They have a cute children's nook filled with picture books and toys, but it's not large enough to hold the kids' attention for long.

Friends, let's try something new. It turns out when you move to a small town, finding information on family-friendly outdoor activities can be difficult. We know there are tons of trails, playgrounds and nature adventures surrounding us in and around Pittsboro and southern Chapel Hill, NC, but the online resources we're finding are lacking in detail or completely out of date for this quickly growing area. It's frustrating. And it's easy to lose motivation to explore when you can't figure out what is around you or whether activities are logistically feasible for your family.

So today I'm launching a new series: Pittsboro-Chapel Hill Outdoors. The goal is to identify, evaluate and document local, family-friendly outdoor activities. It will be a slow process, since we just had another baby. But eventually I hope this series will become a valuable resource for local families and visitors, so you can all benefit from our adventures and not waste time trying to figure which activities are within reach.

I'll try to break the posts down into bite-size, manageable activities. For example, I won't write a blanket post on Jordan Lake. Instead I'll focus on one specific trail or beach per post and will be honest about how much we enjoyed it. Or didn't. Here are some aspects I'll try to cover in each installment:

Locations and activities
Post locations will be within about 20-25 minutes of Pittsboro and will include a specific address for your GPS, if possible. The idea is to capture things you could easily do in a few hours before everyone gets crabby.

Parking logistics
Parking can be nightmarish when you're loading and unloading kids. It can also suck away everyone's good moods or the small window of time you have before the baby is hungry again. I'll indicate whether parking is abundant and accessible or if extra time and patience is required to find a spot.

Trails
Are trails stroller friendly? Shady? Crowded or isolated? Too intense for kids? Are bikes or dogs allowed?

Playgrounds
Parks are not the same as playgrounds around here. There's nothing worse than the look of disappointment on your kids' faces when you pull up to somewhere listed as a playground, and it turns out to be a bare field. It's happened to us several times in Pittsboro. I'll let you know what's actually there.

Bathrooms
A porta potty is not the same as a bathroom in my book! I'll let you know what facilities exist.

I have a list of local adventures we hope to explore this summer and fall and will be posting them as I can. Please feel free to send suggestions for outdoor activities we can try out and review. Is there somewhere you've heard about but can't quite motivate to check it out and see if it's worth a trip with your family? Let me know.

Stay tuned for the first installments of Pittsboro-Chapel Hill Outdoors coming soon! These posts will include Fearrington Village and Honeysuckle Tea House.