After we visited the Orton plantation we made a stop next to a lake where we saw our first wild alligators ever. After that amazing experience we returned to downtown Wilmington where we had lunch at the river side in a nice French restaurant.

On our way back from Wilmington we stopped at the Moores Creek National Battlefield. This is a small park with a visitor's center to commemorate the battle in the Revolutionary War between Loyalists and Patriots.

The battle was short but it was significant because it was the first battlefield victory for the Patriots and it inspired the state of North Carolina some years later to vote for independence of Britain.

Part of the field where it all happened is now left to nature.

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.

The private residence of the plantation owners.

A very diverse set of gardens.

Here used to be the rice fields.

Magnificent trees.

Saturday morning we left for a 2,5 hour trip to Wilmington after a quick stop at Starbucks. It's very easy to find from Raleigh: take I-40 and follow it until it ends.

The weather was great and we had lunch in an outside bar overlooking the Cape Fear River. Later we went for a walk through the city. We also did a tour in a trolley that was pulled by two horses that were too slow to work for the Amish in Pennsylvania and got a tourist job instead. The tour gave us a good view of the beautiful historic downtown where many old historic homes still exists in the old Southern style.

In the evening we went for dinner in Caprice, a restaurant by the owner of Cafe Bruxelles in New York. The food was excellent, and although it was not primarily a Belgium restaurant it had many great Belgium dishes and of course superb French fries. The restaurant alone is worth a trip to Wilmington.

Cape Fear River.

Trolley through Wilmington.

A street side restaurant that featured in Dawson's Creek, which was filmed in Wilmington.

Apartments overlooking the river.

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.

Ettie and Gerben bought a home! This weekend their bid on a house was accepted -- a happy occasion.

Congratulations from both of us. We wish you all the best with your new home!

It's a big house with 3 bedrooms and a nice garden, in a good neighborhood in Leeuwarden. They'll get the keys early December.

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!

Two of the alligators.

We're leaving to Wilmington, NC in a few minutes.

Wilmington is in the south of North Carolina and close to the ocean.