8 Best Sights in Central North Carolina, North Carolina

Part of the University of North Carolina, this tribute to native plants includes wildflowers, shrubs, trees, ferns, and grasses of the Southeast. Other highlights include nature trails that wind through a 300-acre Piedmont forest, a green education center, and an impressive collection of herbs and carnivorous plants.

A wisteria-draped gazebo, the Carnivorous Plant Collection, and a Japanese garden with a lily pond teeming with fat goldfish are a few of the highlights of these 55 acres in Duke University's West Campus. More than 5 miles of pathways meander through formal plantings and woodlands. The Terrace Café serves lunch weekdays and brunch Saturday and Sunday seasonally.

These two public gardens offer a relaxing retreat along a stream that runs between two busy roads. The Bicentennial Garden houses sculptures (including large-scale interactive wind chimes), a Sensory Garden, a pétanque court, and a reconstructed mill and waterwheel. The Bog Garden includes wooden walkways that meander over water and wetlands.

Since 1891, this 37,500-square-foot brick Queen Anne–style structure, made entirely from materials from the Tar Heel State, with elaborate gingerbread trim and manicured lawns, has been the home of the state's governors. Encompassing an entire city block, the brick-walled gardens explode with color during the spring. Reservations for tours must be made at least two weeks in advance.

The university's working, research, and teaching 10-acre garden holds the most diverse collection of hardy temperate-zone plants in the southeastern United States. There's also a garden featuring plants with white flowers and foliage and a 300-foot-long perennial border.

Dating to 1769, the oldest dwelling in Raleigh was the home of Joel Lane, known as the "Father of Raleigh" because he sold 1,000 acres of his property to the state of North Carolina on which the beginnings of the capital city were built. Costumed docents lead tours of the restored house and beautiful period gardens. The last tour starts an hour before closing: 1 pm Wednesday through Friday, and 3 on Saturday.

This 3-acre downtown historic site dating to 1785 includes President Andrew Johnson's birthplace and the Mordecai family's Greek revival plantation home. Moses Mordecai, a well-respected lawyer, married two granddaughters of Joel Lane, the "Father of Raleigh." Mordecai's descendants lived in the house until 1964. Exhibits acknowledge the struggle of the enslaved people who once toiled here. There are guided tours hourly from 10 to 3.

The historical figure's name is pronounced MOR-de-key. Using a long "i" will mark you as a newcomer immediately.

The front yard of this home, built by Camel cigarette founder R. J. Reynolds and his wife, Katharine Smith Reynolds, seems to extend to the horizon. It's the first of many moments of grandeur at the 1917 dwelling that's now an art museum filled with paintings, prints, and sculptures by Thomas Eakins, Frederic Church, and Georgia O'Keeffe. There's also a costume collection, as well as clothing and toys used by the Reynolds children. The home is adjacent to the 134-acre Reynolda Gardens that include flower fields, wooded trails, and a nursery. Next door is Reynolda Village, a collection of shops and restaurants that fill the estate's original outer buildings.