Raleigh, Really

It looks like I'm going to have to start getting creative so every blog post isn't titled, "Raleigh."

I was on spring break from school last week which timed perfectly with a short trip Mike was planning to take to Raleigh. My mom was kind enough to take care of the kids for us, so last Thursday we made the now-familiar trip down to the RDU area. If you're not familiar, RDU is the airport code for the Raleigh Durham Airport and represents the Triangle Area which includes Raleigh, Durham and Chapel Hill, around the Research Triangle.

Now that we're done learning something today, I thought I'd share a little bit about our trip. We had hoped to take the camper down but it is winterized right now (no fluids in the lines so they don't freeze) and it was too cold last week to get it out. The kids were off of school Monday for a teacher work day and then Tuesday for a snow storm. They went back Wednesday, but honestly, the weather was worse and they probably should have stayed home that day, too. But mama was glad because I needed at least 1 day where I could get some things done. We got into Garner (just south of Raleigh) around 9:00 Thursday evening and grabbed a quick - and delicious! - burger at Moon Runners Saloon.

When we arrived at the hotel and turned on the evening news, we saw coverage of a giant fire in downtown Raleigh. Thankfully, no one was killed, but this has been called the biggest fire in Raleigh in 100 years. Many people are now displaced. This is right in the heart of Raleigh, not far from the capitol building, many museums, office buildings and apartments. Just in our traveling we passed the area several times last weekend. I was so blessed, though, to see such an outpouring of support from locals for their fire department. For being the capitol of the state, Raleigh sure has a small town feel.

This was a working trip for Mike and I had some midterm projects to work on, so we spent Friday morning with our laptops getting work done at the hotel. We had a noon meeting with a realtor. This thing is getting real! We adored her and are excited to be working with her.

We had not visited Wake Forest yet, and since we were already on the north side of Raleigh, we headed that way to find lunch. We found a delicious pub (it was St. Patrick's Day, after all) called Over the Falls and our meal was wonderful and the restaurant was clean. And the sun was shining. The sun has been hiding most of the time in Ohio, so this was so refreshing.

I got a new camera I wanted to play with, so after working some more at a Starbucks we found one of the area's many greenways and went for a walk. After sitting most of the day, it was so nice to be outside for a while. And this would be where we took the majority of the few pictures we actually got that weekend. I need to get better at documenting this crazy move!

That night we had dinner at Kobe Hibachi & Sushi in Holly Springs. It was rated really high on Yelp but when we pulled in and saw it was in the same strip as a grocery store, we almost left. I'm so glad we didn't! Of course the food was delicious, but the real highlight was the owner who went around with a flashlight pointing out trash to his employees so they could crawl under the tables and clean it up. Seriously. He was obsessive. But if there is one thing I appreciate, it's an obsessive restaurant owner!

Saturday was a little more of a vacation day. We first visited the North Carolina Museum of Art. Oh my, what a great place! It's not too huge but it definitely won't disappoint! There was also a traveling exhibit of Ansel Adams which was amazing! I am so glad I had the chance to see that! It was raining Saturday morning, but next time we are there I can't wait to take the kids and explore the grounds. The museum sits on 164 acres and you can explore pretty much every inch of that, which is filled with trails, outdoor sculptures and amazing landscaping.

We had a quick lunch at Guasaca which if you have the chance to try, I would recommend. It's like Chipotle, but with some different flavors and options. Yum!

In the afternoon we visited the North Carolina Museum of Natural Sciences (which has free admission! Great place to take kids!). This place is huge, so give yourself a few hours to see everything. We were instantly reminded that we are no longer in the "younger" set when the kind help desk attendee suggested we might like Thursday night's throwback 90's Night to which Mike responded he never left the 90's. I guess we'd fit right in!

We did quite a bit of driving around the entire area south and west of Raleigh just to get an even better sense of where we want to end up and what neighborhoods and houses are like in those areas. 

Saturday late afternoon found us on our favorite street in Apex: Salem St. 

Salem Street, Apex, NC

We once again visited Apex Outfitters, Common Grounds Coffee House, and Buttercream's Bakeshop where we got some treats to take home for my parents and the kids. And we may have indulged in a shared cannoli (my secret love language).

Dinner was back in Holly Springs at the Mason Jar Tavern. You may remember that we ate at the Mason Jar Tavern in Fuquay Varina on our last trip, so it's clear we like their food. But mostly we just like their dessert flight, which is 4 small mason jars of 4 of their desserts. Trust me. So good.

We got up and packed Sunday morning, but before heading home we stopped at a church to see what we thought. We had been listening to podcast sermons for a few months and really appreciated everything we were hearing, so we wanted to see how we felt actually attending one of the campuses. And I'm so glad we did. At this point I'd say we're 99% sure we found our next church and we can't wait to take the kids back and get their feedback. This has been a huge part of our planning and a huge answer to prayer. We had hoped to find a church this summer so we have somewhere to attend when we're in Raleigh, but we also know that if the kids can have a familiar place and start making friends before we even move, our transition will be that much easier. We are trusting God for each step and each step seems to make things more clear and give us more peace in our hearts. He is good!