Strange Trail of Art Objects in Raleigh, NC

Strange trail of art objects in Raleigh, NC
Museum Park Trails surprise greenway hikers

You start on one of Raleigh Greenway System's famous trails. Being greenway trails, you expect to see trails that are either paved or unpaved.

You expect to see trees. In fact, trees and grass are what define greenways in most places.

You expect to follow meandering streams, unless they have been turned into boring straightened waterways with no character, as sometimes happens in cities.

Being city greenways, you hope to hear bird calls unmixed with the sound of engines and noisy restaurants.

Hoping that your expectations will be met, you start at Meredith College and take the greenway that goes around its border. On the greenway, you experience trees, green lawns, students diligently reading, birds chirping and some muffled noise from autos on Hillsborough Street. Not perfect, but a good start on a long stroll along the greenway.

As you complete the first third mile or so, you find yourself along a stretch that is removed from traffic. Here, the birds chirp louder, and you even see a rabbit munching quietly. Ah! Life on the greenway couldn't get better.

On the right, you pass some strange poles with painting on them. Each sits quietly in the woods with a ceramic thing on the top. Surely these are the signs of some past tribe of Meredith students leaving its mark in the woods.

It is quiet as you pass the pine grove and continue on the truly green greenway.

The paved trail leads out of the woods, where you see an athletic field intrude ever so slightly on the quiet trail. The path leads down and away from civilization.

As you walk across the pedestrian bridge, the noise of I440 surrounds you as you walk over the highway with its rubbish-filled median. The signs of civilization tear through the quiet as you hurry across the bridge hoping for some relief from the noise and grime.

As quickly as you are thrust into the center of civilization, you are returned to the bliss of nature. You are now on the section of Reedy Creek now as the Museum Park Trails.