The World is Beautiful..

Hey y'all!!! I'm approaching my last week here in Charlotte, North Carolina and I'm trying to get in as much as I can! So I looked up some things around town that were free and I found something close by to where I live: The University of North Carolina Charlotte Botanical Gardens. I had no idea that I lived so close to such beautiful gardens and from the feel of it, I don't think a lot of people do! It was super empty but the gardens are really beautiful and great for a nice hike!

I live right on the outskirts of UNCC and so it was literally right around the corner for me! It feels like a secret garden since it is so empty and its kind of hard to find. Its also outside of the city parts of Charlotte so its a great destination if you live around University City (the area around UNCC).

The botanical gardens consist of two area: Susie Harwood Gardens and the Van Landingham Glen. It also has a really cute little greenhouse right across from the entrance to the gardens.

The Van Landingham Glen is a great walk through a small version of the Carolina Woodlands. There is beautiful, giant trees and gorgeous ferns and plants all along the path! The area has quaint bridges and streams that made me feel totally relaxed! It was such a beautiful area..here are some of plants and trees that I got pictures of on my walk!

I loved this creeping vine and the different colors it was turning!! 

Trees here are SO tall!!

Such a cute babbling brooks!!

Here is a little cardinal that I caught!! 

The Harwood Garden was also really cool! It was filled with pretty flowers and trees as well, but it also had interesting sculptures and beautiful mosaics! Check them out!

I like to think this is for fairies!!

 I loved this flower!!

This statue translates to "welcome to the garden" according to a sign nearby.

Another strange but interesting sculpture!

I loved walking around outside and just being at one with nature! Living in an apartment is rough because I don't have a backyard I can go outside and hang out in like back home! The only downside to North Carolina is the humidity!! Its so hot and sticky to walk around outside and after awhile, one needs air conditioner!! As much as I love it here, I could live without humidity!

The next portion of my outing at the gardens was the greenhouse! It was equally as humid in those but just as cool! I love greenhouses because you can plant beautiful things off season!! Here are some of my favorite things I found!!

 This room was filled with prehistoric plants (hence the dinosaur)!

This was called a "pigtail anthurium"...I thought it was cute!!

"Living Stone" plants

"Tarantula Cactus"

This tree's leaves were huge!!

"Fox Face Plant" 

"Boob Tube"...honestly I just thought this plant looked funny and had a funny name!

There was a whole room FULL of orchids!! I loved them all!!

 The plants above and below are "pitcher plants" which I think are totally cool!!

These were HUGE..that is a piece of paper next to it that shows how large the pitcher plants are!

I had so much fun wandering among the beauty of nature!! If you are ever in the northeast side of Charlotte by the UNCC campus, check out the gardens! You can check out their website here. It is worth a visit!!

Kenzy

DISCOVER Discovery Place!!

Hello world!! I have been busy living life here in Charlotte, NC! I am loving all the adventures I am experiencing and all the new people I have been meeting!! This past weekend I had family come into Charlotte and visit me! My second cousin (my father's cousin) and her husband came in from an hour outside of Charlotte to take me out to lunch and to a local science museum! I hadn't seen them since I visited Washington D.C. about eight years ago, so it was wonderful to catch up with them!

We went out to eat at a restaurant and then headed into uptown Charlotte to explore the Discovery Park! I had heard about this science museum before but hadn't visited it yet so I was super excited! While it is technically geared towards children and family fun, I am a nerdy kid at heart so I loved it!!! On the first floor there were tons of building activities where one could build anything they wasted out of wooden blocks! I made a small castle that I named Casa de Mackenzy and it was fabulous! There were tons of cool hands-on and interactive activities teaching kids about force, physics, and movement! It was amazing and so much fun!!! As you walk along the first floor you are just overwhelmed by all the fun going on in one room!

My family, Nancy and Bob checking out cool physics exhibits!

The next area of the museum was dedicated to frogs. Yes...frogs. While I am not the biggest frog person, some of them were kinda cute (others disgustingly large and slimy). Check out some of the cuter ones!

A cuter frog! Except you know..poisonous (Poison Dart Frog)! 

This one is called a Tomato Frog! Maybe because it looks like a tomato!

The next exhibit was all about Alien Worlds and Androids...and it was totally interesting! It had some really cool information on space and robots and cool nerdy stuff that I find awesome. Especially when they have a FULL SIZE REPLICA of IRON MAN!!!!!!

I LOVE HIM.

After the aliens and android fun, there was a whole room full of reptiles and hand-on interactive fun!!

I'm holding a starfish!!!!!

Bob with cool dragon like iguana thing...it was so cute!!

The museum also had a really cool little rainforest! If anybody has been to the zoo in Omaha, they will know that the Lied Jungle (America's largest indoor rainforest) is really amazing!! Well Discovery Place had a mini one that was still really neat! They also had a small aquarium that housed some really interesting and beautiful fish!

I found Nemo and Marlin!!!

After exploring the museum, Nancy and Bob took me out for ice cream! I had such a great time with them and really enjoyed getting to hang out with family!!!