Poetry Reading

John Thomas York has announced he and fellow poet, Elizabeth "Beth" Lindsey Rogers, will recite some of their poetry at 8 p.m. July 8 at Tate Street Coffee House, 334 Tate Street, Greensboro, N.C.

From the press release:

York grew up in Yadkin County, N.C., and has degrees from Wake Forest and Duke Universities. He's also received a master's in fine arts in creative writing from University of North Carolina at Greensboro.

York's work has appeared in "Appalachian Journal," "International Poetry Review," "Greensboro Review" and other regional journals.

His poetry chapbook, "Johnny's Cosmology," was published by the Hummingbird Press of Winston-Salem, N.C.

Beth Rogers grew up in Greensboro where she attended Southeast Guilford High School and Early College at Guilford. Rogers graduated from Oberlin College in 2007, majoring in writing and dance.

From 2007-09, Rogers served as an Oberlin Shansi Fellow, teaching and living in rural China.

Rogers' poetry has appeared in "The Chautauqua Literary Journal," "The Country Dog Review" and on "Poetry Daily."

This fall, Rogers begins the master's in fine arts program in creative writing at Cornell University.

Marathon in High Point?

This may sounds silly, but I'm excited to hear that High Point (N.C.) may host the N.C. Marathon this year.

I thought about participating in the first marathon, held in Greensboro last year, but didn't because it was the weekend after my wedding. So I had other things on my mind. [wink, wink]

Also, my plans to participate in that race, or 5K races last year, were derailed by health problems. So training was missed a few weeks at a time.

I would like to think I'd be able to run a race this year, but don't want to get my hopes up.

So far, I can jog 30 minutes straight, but that's inside on a treadmill at a gym with controlled conditions.

Outside would be a different matter. To compete in a race, I will eventually need to take the training outside where I'd have to learn to pace myself and deal with allergens and other conditions that will affect my lungs. My allergies and asthma have gotten worse the past year and half and I'd have to work hard to learn how to manage those for a race.

As a side note, nonprofit GO FAR held a 5K in High Point last year.

Asheville, N.C., and the Biltmore Estate

Asheville, N.C., and the Biltmore Estate need little introduction to many people.

Asheville sits in the mountains of North Carolina off of Interstate 40 and is the home University of North Carolina at Asheville.

Like many cities that serve a college-aged population, there's a variety of interesting art galleries, pubs, shopping and restaurants.

There's also a big tourist attraction to the city because of its numerous recreational opportunities, such as hiking, camping and white water rafting. My sister and I had the pleasure of rafting down the French Broad River a few years ago and really loved it. We stayed at a local hostel and visited the area's state and national parks.

On our way to Gatlinburg, Tenn., earlier this year, Chris and I made a stop over in this busy mountain city and took in the downtown nightlife on a Saturday night. We ate good food and listened to live music at

Jack of the Wood, a downtown pub, and later moved on to The Thirsty Monk.

Another cool place to check out while your downtown is the Double Decker Coffee Company— a coffee shop inside an old, red double decker bus.

On Sunday, we visited the historic Biltmore Estate and the North Carolina Arboretum, which had an exhibit on bonsai.

The Biltmore Estate was built by George Vanderbilt in 1895 and features 34 bedrooms, 43 bathrooms and 65 fireplaces. The basement houses a swimming pool, bowling alley, gym, kitchens and servants' quarters. It's an amazing sight to see, but you'll need more than a day to explore the house (which takes more than 3 hours to properly view all the rooms), the gardens, the farm and the winery.

There's also a few restaurants (besides the winery) on the property and outdoor activities, such as bike riding and hiking on trails.

The flowers in the gardens were beautiful. I'm just disappointed we couldn't stay longer. I was so tired and couldn't walk anymore.

   

The North Carolina Arboretum features 434 acres of public gardens and is located within the Bent Creek Experimental Forest of the Pisgah National Forest.

The bonsai exhibit featured 100 specimen in a variety of plants. It was very pretty and enjoyable.

I also really liked the quilt display in which a garden plot was planted with different colored flowers in the pattern of a quilt.