Category: Raleigh

Carolina Comments: History & Politics in Several Guises

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ABROAD AT HOME:  A NUGGET OF RALEIGH HISTORY

Pope House Museum

This week we toured the Pope House Museum in downtown Raleigh not far from the capitol.  Built in 1901, this small two-story building was the home of Dr. Manassa Pope and his family.  Pope was the first licensed African American doctor in North Carolina.  Born in 1858 to free parents, he graduated from nearby Shaw University and then got his training at Leonard Medical Center.  He fought in the Spanish American War and later helped start a bank in Durham.  

Manassa T. Pope, 1910 (Pope Museum)

Dr. Pope and his first wife Lydia bought the land and then built this house.  She died of tuberculosis in 1906, and he and his second wife Delia, an educator, had two girls.   The house was in a middle-class Black neighborhood and a mark of his success.  It faced Wilmington Street which was the dividing line between the African American neighborhood and a White neighborhood. 

In 1919, during the Jim Crow era, Dr. Pope was a candidate for city mayor.  He didn’t expect to win but wanted to show that African Americans had the right to vote.  His daughters, Evelyn and Ruth, became teachers and lived in the house until their deaths.  Neither married nor had any children.  Fortunately, the city of Raleigh acquired the property and preserved it as this museum.

The house is small but worth a visit to see the artifacts and photos documenting this man’s prominent role during a difficult era in history.  February, Black History month, is still being observed in towns like Cary. It is a fitting moment to see the Pope House Museum, to reflect on the past, to appreciate how far our society has come, and alas, to be fearful how far backwards we may go.

LOVE AND POLITICS: A NOVEL

How to Sleep at Night by Elizabeth Harris

Author Harris (nyt.com)

Elizabeth Harris is a New York Times reporter who covers the publishing industry and authors.  She has frequently written about trends in book banning including how it can be done under the radar.  How to Sleep at Night is her first novel, and it’s a treat.

Ethan and Gabe are a married gay couple with a 5-year-old daughter.  When Ethan announces, he is going to run as conservative Republican candidate for Congress, Gabe, who is a Democrat, is stunned and flummoxed, but agrees to go along.  Ethan’s sister Nicole is a suburban mother of two kids married to Austin.  Her marriage has become stale, and she feels somewhat adrift.  Nicole re-engages with old college flame Kate, who is a newspaper reporter, and both their lives become more complicated. 

Politics plays a big part in this novel, but it’s equally a novel about love, the vagaries within marriage, and the appeal of new love.  The characters are well drawn–even the children are convincingly real– and there is wit and warmth midst the chaos.  Recommended! (~JWFarrington)

BRAIN FOOD: GREAT DECISIONS PROGRAM

America’s Role Going Forward

The Chief Penguin and I are participating in one of the Great Decisions discussion groups offered here.  Great Decisions is an annual program developed by the Foreign Policy Association.  They provide a text which contains background reading for the weekly sessions, each chapter written by a different expert. The 2025 theme is “America at a Global Crossroads.”  An accompanying DVD has sections related to each chapter.  

Thus far, I’ve been impressed with the quality of the background reading and have found the DVD lectures building on and expanding the chapter information.  It’s clear that the materials were prepared after the 2024 election making them very relevant.  Tariffs and the history of American trade policy since WWI were part of our most recent session.  Food for the brain!  

BLACK HISTORY BOOK DISPLAY

Note: Unattributed photos ©JWFarrington (some rights reserved.)

Carolina Moments: Raleigh & More

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ABROAD AT HOME: MORE RALEIGH

Oakwood Historic District

Last week, we decided to try one of noted local chef Scott Crawford’s restaurants for dinner.  We went downtown in the late afternoon to Person Street and then spent about an hour wandering up and down a few streets in the Oakwood District.  This section of town is home to many 19th and early 20th century houses in a wide variety of architectural styles from Queen Anne to Colonial Revival to Craftsman.  

Tucker House

Given that this was mid-November, remnants of Halloween decorations remained as well as pumpkins galore adorning entry ways and steps.

444 Dennis St. Adrian (Zillow.com)

 We saw many charming homes and lots of front porches, reflecting an era when folks sat outside, often in rockers, and watched the world and their neighbors parade by. I well recall my grandparents’ Victorian home in Adrian, Michigan with a row of rocking chairs on its front porch.

At family reunions, my father, uncles, and grandfather seemed to inhabit these seats. Were the women in the kitchen preparing the next meal?  Likely.

Dining at Jolie   

Jolie is Scott Crawford’s unpretentious French bistro on the corner of Person Street next to his larger sister restaurant, Crawford and Son.  The space is narrow with a bar on the right and tables located on the left side against the wall.  The menu is short and tempting.  The bread and French butter to start set the tone for this delicious meal.  The Chief Penguin began with a lovely squash bisque with lump crab meat and fried sage and followed it with the duck confit with pommes sarladaise (echoes of our time in the Dordogne region.). I had the swordfish grenobloise entrée.  It was exquisite.  Swordfish with a caper cream sauce accompanied by florets of roasted cauliflower and broccoli and mini brioche croutons.  

Squash bisque with sage leaves

The pumpkin cheesecake and the Videri chocolate cake sounded tempting, but we saved dessert for a future visit.  Highly recommended!

Independent Bookstore

As we wandered, we were pleasantly surprised, I in particular, to find a little bookstore tucked in on Person Street. So & So Books is small with a well curated inventory. New books, fiction and nonfiction, North Carolina titles, and a cozy children’s corner with picture books, chapter books, and graphic novels. Needless to say, I discovered and bought a few titles as gifts plus some artist notecards for myself. Being in a bookstore is always a treat!

SATISFYING CRIME SERIES

A Killing of Innocents by Deborah Crombie

(wikipedia.com)

A Texan who splits her year between the U.S. and the U.K., Deborah Crombie is the author of A Killing of Innocents. It is her 19th novel featuring Scotland Yard detectives Duncan Kincaid and his wife Gemma  James.  I have read nearly all of them and enjoyed them immensely.  Her plots are complex with intriguing twists, but her well-developed characters who grow and change over the years are what keep me coming back for more.

In this her latest, a promising young doctor, Sasha Johnson, is stabbed as she crosses Russell Square in Bloomsbury London.  Sasha is primarily focused on her work with few outside friends except for the potter with whom she shares a flat.  When a colleague of hers turns up dead several days later, the web of suspicion widens as the detectives investigate other connections and the activities of both Sasha’s brother and her flat mate Tully’s brother.  

In addition to Duncan and Kincaid, their three children, Kit, Toby, and Charlotte, also have a place in the action along with detectives Melody and Doug, whose less than perfect personal lives factor into solving the mystery of these deaths. (~JWFarrington)

Note: Header photo is a Queen Anne style house in Raleigh’s Oakwood District. All unattributed photos ©JWFarrington (some rights reserved.)

Carolina Moments: Reading, Wandering & Eating

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It seemed appropriate with the upcoming election to be reading this week about Supreme Court Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson.

On our latest Raleigh Ramble, we stopped by the Raleigh Capitol and admired some historic architecture. Add in a good meal and the result is a most satisfying combination of food for mind and body.

RECENT READING

Ketanji Brown Jackson (wikipedia.com)

MEMORABLE BIOGRAPHY: Lovely One by Ketanji Brown Jackson

In Lovely One, the newest Supreme Court Justice and the first Black woman justice provides an intimate account of her upbringing and her career.  It is both poignant and heartwarming.  Ketanji Brown Jackson’s parents bore the scars of pre-civil rights days. But they were smart and determined individuals who became schoolteachers.  They instilled strong values in their daughter, gave her an important appreciation of her African heritage, and spurred her to do her best and excel.  

Jackson shares her experiences of frequently being the only Black person in her classroom or workplace.  While popular in high school, and both a class leader and a star on the debate team, she was always conscious of her difference.  Although she had studied in largely white environments, her first year at Harvard without any family nearby was hard and isolating.  Nonetheless, she excelled, later returning to Harvard for her law degree and serving as an editor on the Harvard Law Review.

Meeting Patrick Jackson, husband to be, was transformative for her.  Together they faced the challenges of an interracial marriage between two individuals from very different social classes and navigated the complexities of demanding, high-powered careers.  Jackson is candid about the stresses of motherhood while working in a big law firm with a husband putting in his own long hours in surgery. 

I found this memoir more personal than others I’ve read about public figures.  I particularly enjoyed learning about Jackson’s various mentors from her high school debate coach to the judges she worked for, to her stint as a clerk to Justice Stephen Breyer.  She is generous in her accounts even while occasionally noting someone’s shortsightedness.  

Overall, this is a very good read and gives one a fuller appreciation of what is required to be an effective judge.  Recommended!  (~JWFarrington)

RALEIGH RAMBLE #3

AROUND THE CAPITOL

This week our short ramble, Abroad at Home, included historic architecture, a fun shop, and food.  We started outside the North Carolina Capitol building and noted its soaring World War II memorial.  

Across from the Capitol is the history museum (on the list for a future visit) flanked by various banners including this relevant one about voting.  

Walking on, I was impressed by two churches in different architectural styles.  First Baptist Church, organized in 1812, opened in 1859 in a Gothic Revival style building designed by English architect, William Percival. This cream stuccoed building is scored to give it the appearance of stone.  Its lovely spire is 160 feet tall. 

First Baptist Church
First Presbyterian Church

Just down the block, also on Salisbury St,. is the red brick First Presbyterian Church. Established in 1816, this church building, although renovated several times, dates to 1900.  It has a very present bell tower and is in the Romanesque Revival style.

Interior of Lucettegrace

In our stroll, we also encountered Deco, a slightly funky colorful shop with everything from greeting cards to occasional dishes and the like, and Lucettegrace, a welcoming patisserie with punches of yellow.  I bought several cards in Deco, and the Chief Penguin succumbed to some treats for breakfast at the bakery.   

TAPAS FOR LUNCH

On our way to our lunch destination, we took a slight detour and purchased toffee at Videri Chocolate Factory.  

Lunch at an outside table at Barcelona Wine Bar in the Dillon was all we had hoped it would be.  A warm welcome and efficient waitstaff— even to the point of arranging umbrellas to ward off the noontime sun!  Plus, a fun menu of choices.  We are not particularly fond of brunch, so were pleased to find tapas that didn’t include eggs.  

The patatas bravas, a must order for the Chief Penguin, was a generous plateful.  We loved the piquillo peppers stuffed with goat cheese, the spiced beef empanadas, and the ham and manchego croquetas.  We also sampled the salt cod bunuelos (round fritters on a chive aioli).   Add in a glass of red or white Spanish wine and you have a very tasty meal!

We miss our favorite tapas restaurant in Manhattan (closed after Covid) and are delighted to have this gem close by!

TRICK OR TREAT!

Ready for Halloween in the park!

Note: All unattributed photos ©JWFarrington (some rights reserved.)

Carolina Moments: Raleigh & More

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RALEIGH RAMBLE #2

MOORE SQUARE

We are continuing our Abroad at Home project.  You might say we are exploring our new region in nibbles. I mean that in terms of food, of course, but also in terms of how much ground we cover on each outing.  Lunch is the highlight, but beforehand we wander the several blocks adjacent to that day’s restaurant and see what we can see and maybe even go in a business or two.

Enjoying the sun in Moore Square
Cart with activities schedule

This week, the Chief Penguin and I focused on Moore Square.  This is a large square and a center for programs for kids, performances by buskers, craft activities, and the like.  A wide concrete walkway cuts through and in a few areas, beds of colorful zinnias beckon.  A low wall along one side provides a place to sit.  A photography exhibit, Click!, graced temporary wire fencing. This square also boasts a visitor’s center and clean public restrooms.

Photos are by Jeremy Janus

Moore Square was originally called Baptist Grove.  This was in honor of a small wooden church (built 1872) at the corner of Blount and Hargett Streets.  It was one of the first fully integrated churches in Raleigh and served several congregations there until 1896.

We strolled around the area, noting the brick sidewalks (a la Cambridge, MA) and the brick buildings. We stopped in the small art gallery across from City Market where we had an engaging conversation with two women artists about art in the city and election politics.  

Later, looking at a sign about historic City Market and its current tenants, a pleasant-looking man asked if we needed help.  He proceeded to tell us he had worked nearby for many years and highly recommended Sosta Cafe in the Red Hat Amphitheater for its menu’s French slant, while also acknowledging Big Ed’s southern restaurant next door.

DIM SUM LUNCH

Restaurant with transit center behind

We had a reservation at Brewery Bhavana, a welcoming light-filled big space.  As its name suggests, it has more than 20 of its beers on tap plus wine and cocktails, all to accompany a menu of dim sum and other dishes.  Part of their attraction is a book-lined wall in the back and selected new books and beautiful bouquets of flowers for sale up front. 

Ladies at lunch in Brewery Bhavana

I am not much of a beer drinker, but I did sample Brisk, a very low alcohol Pilsener, while the Chief Penguin went for a very hoppy IPA.  

We shared and loved the pork and scallion dumplings, curry chicken filled buns, and an order of the cucumber salad with Szechuan vinaigrette.  There are lots more temptations on the menu, and we must return!

VIEWING: THOUGHTFUL BRITISH CRIME SERIES

RIDLEY, Season 2 (PBS or Prime Video)

Adrian Dunbar as Ridley (whro.org)

Detective Inspector Alex Ridley is retired, but acts as a consultant to Carol, one of his former colleagues, in this new season of Ridley.  Alex Ridley is a brooding guy and a musician, still haunted by the deaths of his wife Kate and daughter Ella.  Part owner of a local club, he regularly plays and sings there.  At work, he’s apt to go off on his own, then returning to offer his cogent thoughts.  

The episodes in this season are all in 2 parts.  There’s a depth and complexity to them which make for rewarding viewing.  A case involving a former colleague and an earlier murder is especially poignant.  Compared to Moonflower Murders, which we are also watching, this series probes character, while the other is slick and sometimes amusing.  Ridley is serious stuff.  Recommended! (~JWFarrington)

A BIT OF FUN

RAZZMATAZZ SENIOR DANCE TROUPE

(Facebook.com)

I had the fun of seeing Razzmatazz perform this past week. They are a group of senior women who love to dance and who perform to Broadway hits old and new. With lots of kicking and a different sparkly, sequined costume for each number, their enthusiasm was infectious. The audience smiled, tapped their feet, and even bobbed along. At the end, each dancer introduced herself and gave her age. They ranged from 65 up to 81 years, the oldest of these limber dancers. Fun!

Note: Header photo was taken in Moore Square. All unattributed photos ©JWFarrington (some rights reserved.)