Happy Tuesday Tale: Executive Mansion

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Creative and Motivational Thinker aka CaMT ala Dad of Angel Madi

January surprised us with exceptionally agreeable weather!!
(but that changed January 17)

CaMT took me downtown on another excursion.  Happy Days we found a 
parking spot that was free and not 100 miles away from out intended photo shoot.

It occupies 9 acres in downtown Raleigh with numerous gardens and
exquisite landscaping.  Construction began in 1883- 1891.
All the labor was done by prisoners.  Craftsmanship is amazing.

Front View

This is the brick wall on the right side of the front gate.
You might notice it currently my blog header

side view
Slate roof is a work of art

property is full of Rhododendron, Azaleas which put on quite a show
in the spring.  I need to go back when things are a bloom.

 There are always seasonal flower beds
and when all the hardwoods are full of leaves it looks like a magical forest

Interesting modern sculpture

The side walk around it is in a herringbone pattern.
We noticed many of the bricks had what appeared to be names.
Probably of the prisoners who made the bricks.

The first floor is open to the public several times a year.  Many years ago we went a Christmas...spectacular.  We took the public tour at Christmas many years ago.
For as long as I can remember the Mansion has also been the residence of many
furry members of the Governor's family.

A side note here:
When I was in the 6th grade, I attended Murphy Elementary, which was ~ 2 blocks from the Mansion..our Governor at the time was Terry Sanford, his daughter was in my 6th class.  
The entire class was invited to the mansion and we were allowed to go up 
into the private quarters where we were served a delicious afternoon snack.


If you would like to read more about the Executive Mansion,
click here.