A Weekend in Raleigh

Ah, a weekend in Raleigh. It sounds like it could be a movie title. My life feels a bit like a movie right now. Crazy.

I'm not sure if I've actually said it here on this blog yet or not, but hands down Raleigh stole our hearts. We knew it within 24 hours of arriving. This last weekend Mike and I left the kids and dogs at my parent's house and pulled the camper back down to Raleigh. We stayed in a little RV park that is basically the front end of someone's farm. Not kid friendly, but a perfect place for Mike and I to park the camper. We weren't there much more than to sleep anyhow. Mike picked me up from school Thursday afternoon and we got in late Thursday night. We spent all day Friday and Saturday exploring south of Raleigh and headed back home Sunday.

We knew this was the area we are looking to move, but we wanted to specifically check a few towns out, explore some neighborhoods, get our eyes on some churches we might visit and, of course, find some bike trails.

Well, we found some bike trails! We were aiming to ride one on Saturday near Clayton but ended up stumbling onto the trail head for the American Tobacco Trail on Friday. The morning had been foggy and rainy but it had cleared up that afternoon. We didn't have the right clothes, but we had our helmets and bikes, so after a short walk we turned around and grabbed our bikes and jumped on them to explore a little further. Let me just say that Toms are the correct footwear for riding a bike. But we were taking it easy and keeping it short. We decided to turn around about 4 miles out. Just as we did, my phone kindly announced, "There has been a Thunderstorm Watch issued for your area!" Ahh! So, we picked up our pace and practically flew back down the trail. We got soaked and didn't make it back before the storm passed, but we made it safely. What an adventure!

Here is a picture soon after we started our ride. Beautiful! And just look at those blue skies!

Let's take a selfie! Hmmm. Those clouds might be starting to look ominous... Ha! 

As I edited my pictures I realized I did not take very many. Really, we did so much driving and looking at houses and neighborhoods, you  would be bored stiff. But we ate so good! I wish I had more to tell you about that! Let me just share our food highlights. First, if you're ever in Cary, you must visit Elixir Coffee, Etc. I think it might be the best coffee we've had in a long time. And the pastries... Yum. Mike had a delicious, flakey scone and I had a Dixie Cannonball. It is basically biscuit gravy inside a Red Lobster (but better!) style biscuit. And it is delicious.

We ate at the Mason Jar Tavern in Fuquay Verina on Friday evening. It was a great atmosphere and great food. Perfect for date night, but we also can't wait to take the kids back!

Saturday morning we visited the Holly Springs Farmer's Market. You might want to also check out their Facebook page. We grabbed coffee and scones there and sat on a bench to eat and people watch. And we absolutely fell in love with this adorable small town.

On Saturday night we had another incredible meal at The Provincial in Apex. Now this is the perfect date-night restaurant. I snapped this quick picture without Mike knowing. It's not the best, but you  can see how delicious our appetizers were!