Raleigh, North Carolina

I am in a funk on trying to find things to post about, so I went searching for ideas. I think I have come across something I'd like to write about, traveling and places I'd like to go. Along with hole in the wall places that make that area unique.




Raleigh, North Carolina. One of my closest, dearest friends lives there, Stephanie. Now I've been to visit her a few times but Raleigh is the current city she's in. I was there for a long weekend, and was not abel to spend a lot of money. So I got up the next morning and did a search online for free or next to nothing on the cost. It was funny when she talked to her dad later that night she told him something along the lines of: "I've been here 5 years and Sandy found things to do that I didn't know about and didn't cost a lot of money." It took me two hours of searching the local Chamber of Commerce website, following rabbit trails, and lucking out that there is lots to do there.

One place I loved was the JC Raulston Arboretum(http://www.ncsu.edu/jcraulstonarboretum/index.php), the grounds are taken care of by NC State University. When we were driving up it didn't look very big but once we parked and started walking around it was bigger than what we thought. There were several "gardens" each with their own theme. We end up spending one afternoon there just walking around seeing all of the neat gardens.


We also visited the North Carolina Museum of Art (http://ncartmuseum.org/); what a wonderful place. It was free to get in and they have a fabulous collection! One piece I really liked was The Garden Parasol. The only thing I can say is wow! See for yourself:

http://collection.ncartmuseum.org/collection11/media/view/Objects/295/1620?t:state:flow=8e62c390-ea7c-484f-a692-fe585e8476e3 (cut and paste into browser)

The Garden Parasol
Date: circa 1910
Related People:
Artist: Frederick Carl Frieseke
American, 1874-1939, active in France 1898-1939
Dimensions: 57 1/8 x 77 in. (145.1 x 195.6 cm)
Medium: Oil on canvas

I only had a long weekend there so we were not able to do much, but here is the link to the Raleigh Visitors Center. (http://www.visitraleigh.com/) You can find just about anything there you would like to do with you and your family.

NPR Article

My Aunt hooked me to NPR. Now I have to say, my feet are just wet on NPR i'm not fully in. I listen to different Podcasts that NPR puts out but I have not ventred to listening to NPR fully yet, I'm not a NPR junkie. I came across this article that was posted, I don't remember exactly where I found it at, but I did. This article touched me. It made me think back to those students I passed at IUS and they looked a little rough around the edges, a little tired, and lugging 2 or 3 bags around with them. Those same students I'd see in quiet corners of the campus taking a nap, eating a sandwich, and their nose in a book/laptop. I often wondered about their lives. Were they homeless to an extenet? Were they couch hoppers? I may never know, but with the economy in the slump that it's in will there be more students in this situation. The only thing I can say is that I'm thankful every day that when I was laid off from work, I had my family to fall back on, and a bed at my parents.

http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=128778321

College Students Hide Hunger, Homelessness by Gloria Hillard