Back in Cincinnati

Well, the Raleigh and Asheville trip is well over and I'm dreaming about the next trip. The useless casino (my view only, obviously) being built across the street from Kent has completely ruined his view from one side, but luckily not the west side.

May 27, 2012 -- Raleigh, North Carolina, bonus

I'm still loving loving loving these chairs at the North Carolina Museum of Art (made with my iPod Touch, which for some reason Blip has decided to turn the clip sideways, but it still shows those fabulous chairs).

May 27, 2012 -- Raleigh, North Carolina

Well, we made it back to the Capital Rose garden, and luckily there were no hula hoops or loud music. In fact, it was so peaceful there were a few men doing tai chi. The early spring had caused a number of the roses to wilt already, but some were still holding up.

Next we stopped at Cup A Joe for some much needed caffeine and to check out the funky architecture nearby. After a brief (well, maybe not so brief) stop at a Nice Price Books, we went to the North Carolina Museum of Art. I love love love the lobby area in their new building because I love love love those chairs. The sculpture garden with the lotus pond and Rodin sculptures were quite lovely too. Next time, when hopefully it's not so humid, we'll take in more of the grounds surrounding the museum.

5.26.12 -- Raleigh, North Carolina

After recovering from the long drive (mostly with lots of strong coffee and very good freshly-made mini-donuts at Sola) we headed out to explore. First we tried to find David Sedaris' childhood home, but it appeared to be slightly off the street, so we couldn't get a good look at it and didn't want to have our trip affected by possibly being arrested for trespassing, so we headed downtown. Kent was disappointed that there weren't pony rides when he was a boy (and that they wouldn't let adults take part now). We then went inside the North Carolina Museum of Natural Sciences for what we really came to see -- the newly discovered emeralds. They were gorgeous. I lust!

It was interesting seeing that Raleigh has electric car charging stations downtown, but sad that I didn't see any electric cars charging next to them. The new massive globe attached to the Natural Sciences museum was almost as amazing as the emeralds and quite the interactive exhibit.

Then we wandered around downtown, going inside the capital building. I remember one of my early art history courses as an undergraduate seeing the slides of the Canova sculpture of George Washington in a toga. It was very amusing to us all then, but I must say it is a beautiful statue, and George has very shapely legs.

A recharging experience of our own was needed at Turkish Delights, with banana ice cream for me and Turkish coffee for Kent. Condos reminiscent of South Beach seemed to be popping up everywhere. We tried to visit the Capital rose garden, even venturing onto the Little Theatre Company's stage to get there, but a wedding reception with lots of loud music and hula hoops caused us to wait and try again tomorrow.

May 25, 2012 -- On our way

We decided to take a long holiday weekend and go to Raleigh, where Kent grew up, and then stop in Asheville. It was a long and somewhat boring drive. Thankfully the traffic was mostly light except for a brief traffic congestion in West Virginia. The area around Charleston, West Virginia reminded me slightly of the Cincinnati area with its many bridges. The gold dome on its capital was eye-catching compared to many others we saw.

Kent had been content to just stop at the visitors center near Tamarack, outside of Charleston, to use the facility and get some refreshment. I on the other hand was curious to check out the center and, smart man that he is, he did not stand in my way of a potential shopping experience. Tamarack reminded me of a larger version of the Berea Artisan Center. There were even working artists making their wares in the facility.

We arrived in Raleigh late that night and very tired.