Guus Bosman

Sunday morning we visted the Orton plantation, a little south of Wilmington.

The plantation used to produce rice. Nowadays the rice fields are a nature reserve. The gardens are open to the public to visit but the residence is still used by the owners of the plantation as their home.

The gardens are beautiful and very diverse in style. We were happy that we arrived early, as it got really hot when we left.

Yesterday I arrived in New Jersey for an engineering conference of my company that starts this morning.

After work I went for a run on a small dike that separates a canal from the river, on a recommendation of a colleague. When I was halfway my run and ready to go back I took a short break. All of a sudden, a pretty big snake dropped from its tree on the ground next to the trail: I must have startled it. Needless to say, the sudden sight of a big snake moving startled me even more and I continued my run immediately with an inspired sprint.

The trail was very nice; it's well maintained and beautiful. It is part of the D & R Canal Park. It's pretty cool, so much nature in the middle of a city. I looked at the few waterlilies with some suspicion but of course there are no alligators in New Jersey.

Friday afternoon we wanted to go somewhere for the weekend. First we picked Atlanta but that turned out to be 6.5 hours away, so we choose a city somewhat closer. Wilmington, in the south of North Carolina, turned out to be a great choice.

We got home about an hour ago and I don't have all the pictures ready but I wanted to share a highlight of our weekend: an unexpected encounter with 3 alligators.

After visiting a mansion this morning we stopped next to the road to enjoy the view of a large lake with many waterlilies. Just when I moved the car closer towards the lake I saw 2 reptile eyes staring right at me!

An alligator was enjoying the sun in the water, and we watched it and two others for about 30 minutes (safely from the car, of course). An amazing experience!

I spent the afternoon at the pool, chatting, swimming and enjoying the great weather. It's around a 100 degrees again.

Tonight I felt like eating stamppot boerenkool, a Dutch classic. Maybe it's because of the memories the red currants brought? In Holland boerenkool is served in winter, when it's chilly and a warm plate of potatoes with kale and a sausage drives away the cold, but it tastes great on a hot summer day too.

I went to Whole Foods to pick up some potatoes and fresh kale. When I passed by the beer section a young guy asked: "excuse me, do you know if gas stations around here sell beer, typically?".

It was a first year Duke student, who was apparently unpleasantly surprised by the beer selection in Whole Foods ("well, you know, something that isn't eight bucks for a six pack") and I pointed him to a store nearby that sells lower priced beers. The new university year starts next week and many students are moving in this weekend.