Here’s why you shouldn’t plan your weekends

I had no plan when I headed to downtown Raleigh Saturday afternoon. I didn’t even glance at the Indy to see if anything was going on. I figured I’d find something on such a lovely day. Here’s how my random Raleighness unfolded:

First I saw signs for the Handmade Market on West Street, so I had to pull over and check it out. I’m glad I did b/c I snagged some rad, crafty jewelry, an awesome piece of art and this cool seahorse shirt from Sew Bliss Sew.

Then right up the street I noticed this huge beautiful American flag dangling over Dawson Street, so I had to see why it was there. Turns out there was a fallen firefighters memorial going on in the little square outside city hall. I was struck with how beautiful this flag looked as it flapped over the cars that passed by. It was entrancing. I started to head toward the Marbles Kids Museum because I wanted to check out that “Kids City Planning Day” meant to teach kids about the revision of Raleigh’s comprehensive plan. But before I got there, I spotted a rally on the Old Capitol grounds. Turned out it was a pro pot rally.

I finally made it over to the museum, and was impressed with the buildings the kids were creating out of boxes. Raleigh Planning Director Mitchell Silver looked like he was having as much fun as the kids building the box city. He’s the adult helping the kid attach the top of the building below: Then it was time to check out Vintage Nation, the new shop on Wilmington street that sells beautiful vintage dresses, skirts, shirts and pants at incredibly reasonable prices, along with houseplants and hip accessories. I was impressed. I’m told by the Raleigh Connoisseur that this marks the beginning of activity-packed weekends in downtown Raleigh. Sounds like it’s going to be a fun summer. See more pictures from my random Saturday on my Flickr.