What our Hillsborough home has meant to us We're moving back to California to be closer to family. It's hard saying goodbye to our Hillsborough home. We love eating with friends on the back deck where forest, lawn and Eno River make it feel we're in the country. We love to lounge on inner tubes, watching fish make lazy circles, punctuated by the thrill of birds skimming under the canopy of riverbank trees. In addition to a symphony of songbirds, we've seen great blue herons, kingfishers, owls, geese, and a pair of nesting hawks. The Archibald-Dickinsons like to plant. One of the first things we did after moving in was to dig an asparagus trench. Now, for about 6 weeks each year, we harvest more asparagus than we can eat. With the exception of one producing pecan tree that straddles the eastern property line, Denise, Maria, Danny and I have planted all thirty five fruit and nut trees. Young Danny planted his first tree - a Royal Gala Apple - in Spring, 2000. We enjoy an abundance of apples, and - if not nipped by late frost - a glut of peaches and plums. This year we hope to be at home when the paw paws ripen so squirrels don't get 'em before we do. In early Spring, we leveled the honeysuckle-choked raspberry patch, leaving twenty healthy canes to insure a good crop next year. Currently, our blueberry bushes are loaded with their first big crop. We love this small town - walking everywhere, bumping into friends along the way. Our children Maria and Daniel spent much of their baby-hood in backpacks, hiking about town. Hillsborough is a friendly place. Bank tellers and librarians know your name. . Since moving to Hillsborough twelve years ago, "downtown" has undergone considerable change although the old buildings remain the same. The Saratoga Grill - just two blocks from our home - is owned by a master chef who serves the best lunch in central Carolina. Food at the Saratoga is delectable. The ambiance amiable. And the price is right. Within the last few years Tupelo's - and Tupelo's Tavern - have joined Kelsey's Café, renowned for sweet potato pie (baked in tin cans) and scrumptious peach cobbler. Bandido's and Casa Ibarra (where George Washington actually slept!) are enjoyable Mexican restaurants. Recently Pop's Pizza - opened by Bronx native Rollo - features New York City-style pizza as good as it comes in the Big Apple. For ice cream, lunch, live music and spur-of-the-moment munchies, we head to LU-E-G's, a great local hang-out where Dani Black and Carl Sinderman - two fine musicians - are poised to assume management. Recently, we were relieved to learn that The Colonial Inn (est. 1759) -- a grand wood frame building that served as temporary residence for Dolly Madison and Aaron Burr -- will be restored, remodelled and reopened. "Hog Day" and "Hog Day Eve" are annual events celebrated on park land between the Eno River and the new Courthouse. This same ground is home to Saponi Chief John Blackfeather's "Occoneechee Indian Village" and hosts frequent enactments and pow-wows. Hillsborough is home to many artists, writers and musicians. Many of these folks - spearheaded by the Hillsborough Artists Cooperative - have created a wonderful open-air celebration entitled "Last Fridays." On the final Friday of each month from Spring through Fall, Hillsborough's vitality takes to the streets with a buoyant amalgam of outdoor music, outdoor dance, outdoor food, kids' games, special events and a monthly soiree sponsored by the Cooperative. "Last Friday" is the perfect opportunity to saunter about. Hillsborough abounds with local character and local characters. We even have our own farmer's market, which - like everything else - is a short walk away. The latest news is that Weaver Street Market will soon occupy the old Southern States Nursery, just 300 yards east of our West Margaret Lane home. When Weaver Street Market arrives, Hillsboroughans lose their last reason to visit Chapel Hill. It's all "in your backyard." . |
