Eugenio's Blog!

Yesterday, I headed over to the southeastern coast of North Carolina with my friend, B. B has one of the thickest Southern accents I have encountered here in Raleigh – thicker than mine . . . so thick you can cut it like cake.

Anyway, this Confederacy-hype has cycled out of me, and I have redeveloped an interest in my true passion: carnivorous plants. They are native to a select area of land in Southeastern North Carolina, around the city of Wilmington. I could not leave North Carolina without seeing the Fly Traps in the wild.

As some of you may know, I once owned my very own Venus Fly Trap. I bought it on eBay, and I was determined to raise the first Vegan Venus Fly Trap. I heard that you could feed it peanuts and tofu instead of flies, but I was going a new direction – a strict water diet. And instead of providing a warm humid environment like Southeastern North Carolina, I provided it with a freezing windowsill in Iowa. Needless to say, Venie didn’t last too long. I think about him often, though. I’ve only had two plants that have died on me – Venie, and the one that I fed orange juice.

So I did a bit of research, and it turns out that there is this Carnivorous plant museum and nature trail at Carolina Beach. Dude, I know it sounds crazy, but it’s true. So B and I embarked on this one-in-a-lifetime adventure to explore the wonders of evolution in carnivorous plants.

The Museum was actually pretty cool. There was this educational Bill-Nye-type video, cool exhibits, a couple carnivorous plant puppets, and some hands-on displays. It was pretty neat. After the Museum, B and I hit the trail.

I was reminded, at least 20 times with each mosquito bite, that I was not made for the outdoors. I got bit by these giant mosquitoes – like the size of my thumb fingernail. I normally don’t act like a princess (well . . . maybe sometimes), but these mosquitoes were crazy! I don’t mind getting bit on my legs and arms, but when you touch my face, I’m pretty sensitive. I got back to the car, and there were bumps all over my face. I now know why they’re called Venus Fly Traps and not Venus Mosquito Traps.

After the trail, B and I walked over to the Atlantic, the largest body of water I have ever seen. It’s way bigger than Lake Coralville, Iowa. I have visited the Gulf of Mexico and the Mediterranean Sea before, but this was the first ocean, and it was pretty amazing.

Countdown to the Midwest: 10 days.