Spending the Fourth of July on an island

I’ll be in South Carolina for Independence Day. It will be my first trip back since moving to Raleigh last year, so I’m jazzed to see old friends, spend some much needed time on the beach and hopefully get some golf in.

Here’s a picture of an enthusiastic family who attended last year’s Independence Day on Hilton Head Island (photo credit goes to my friend and former colleague Jay Karr).

On Hilton Head, most folks head to the famous 18th hole at Harbor Town to watch the fireworks. That’s probably where I’ll be tomorrow night.

In the mean time, I hope you all have some fun plans for the weekend. If you’re sticking around the Triangle, check out this list of local events or just plan to go to the Festival for the Eno in Durham. Durham blogger Steve has some pics of the festival set up and some other scenic spots from West Point on the Eno, where the festival is held.

If you know of any other events you think folks in the Triangle should check out, please post them below.

Be safe and have fun!!

Watch pig races and goat milkings at the Got to be NC Festival

I’m a sucker for a fair. Having grown up in southern Illinois, I’ve been to many 4-H fairs, carnivals, state fairs and the like. So when I found out the “Got to be NC Festival” was free and in full swing at the North Carolina State Fairgrounds, I had to go check it out. The festival kicked off last night and runs through Sunday, June 8.

I was surprised and disappointed to see the fairgrounds sparsely populated last night. By 8 p.m. (when I arrived) there was a decent breeze stirring up the steamy day, so it walking around wasn’t too bad. I wonder whether it was the weather or a lack of promotion that kept families at bay. The festival is put on by the N.C. Department of Agriculture & Consumer Services.

If you’re looking for something to do this weekend, I’d definitely endorse going. Fireworks will dance in the sky at 9:45 p.m. tonight and Saturday, and assuming the display is anything like last night’s show, then it’s worth going for the fireworks alone. The show lasted about 15 minutes. If you want to watch them shoot up to the sky from the island where they’re shot off of, try parking along Trinity Road near the pond on the state fairgrounds. Here is a 360 degree spin of what you might see:

If your children haven’t had much exposure to farm life, this is an awesome opportunity to let them sample it. I’d suggest taking them to the pig races, where there are multiple shows each day, according to the brochure I was handed when I entered the gates. Watch last night’s pot belly pig race here:

You can also check out rows of antique farm equipment, the BBQ competition, dairy goats milking demonstrations and, of course, a petting zoo and plenty of carnival rides.

What’s the most unusual thing you’ve seen at a state fair? Certainly someone out there has seen a cow give birth or a crazy butter sculpture or something else that’s a little bizarre.

Sandy Sculpture doesn’t get knocked down by drunks

I was surprised to see this creepy sand sculpture still standing Sunday, when I was walking through Moore Square in downtown Raleigh.

The sandy sculpture went up for Artsplosure on May 17 and 18.

I can’t believe no one had knocked it down as of Sunday May 25. A full week in the middle of the city with no vandalism.

Maybe I shouldn’t be surprised, but when you take into consideration that Moore Square is bounded on two sides by bars, a cynic might think some drunken dorks would run into it.

I’ve never been cynical though. So maybe good ol’ fashioned warning signs really work.

(Please don’t take this as encouragement to dive into the sculpture). Are you surprised this sandy creation was still standing a week later? Has anyone been down there since to see if it’s still there?

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.

So many beers, so little time

I arrived at World Beer Festival promptly at noon on Saturday. Organizers had caged off nearly every sliver of downtown Raleigh’s Moore Square with a chain link fence, and all I wanted to do was be inside it. But as my friend Graham and I rounded the corner, we saw the line of the other thirsty festival-goers snaking around a parking lot. We stood patiently in line waiting for our chance to turn over our tickets for one of the small, plastic beer glasses that would be holding our brews all day. The line moved quickly, and soon we were ushered into a tent lined on both sides with brewers ready to pour us as many different varieties of beer as we were willing to drink.

Soon we were sipping on stouts, pale ales and porters from the likes of the Starr Hill Brewery in Charlottesville, Va. to Left Hand Brewing Co. in Longmont, Colorado. And by sipping, I truly mean chugging. We walked downtown to avoid the inevitable parking hassle a festival-filled Saturday would bring and because of the inevitable beer buzz created by four hours of drinking. So after making the trek in the heat, we were thirsty. The day was punctuated by the sound of volunteers emptying recycling bins causing the glass bottles to clank together a medley that made the crowd erupt with cheers (take a listen below).

After throwing back a few tasty brews, it was time to leave the tent and see what the food vendors had to offer. Graham was satisified with some vegetarian samosas, while I opted for a chicken gyro. It was at that point that beer fest got three times better. Only after stepping outside our original beer-filled tent did I discover that there were TWO MORE huge tents filled with brewers and beer.We wandered in and out of the beer havens for the next four hours. Taking needed brakes in the shade, munching on food and, of course, braving the long bathroom lines. I wish I had kept better track of the beers I drank, because there were so many delicious brews I’d like to seek out again. But there was one that I was so smitten with, that I’ll never forget: the Vanilla Porter by Breckenridge Brewery in Denver, Colorado. It was chocolately with an smooth vanilla finish and was the only beer I got refills of.

As 4 o’clock rolled around, we were tired, bloated by beer and ready to go. I called Raleigh Rickshaw for a ride, and we rolled to the furthest edge of downtown, then stumbled the rest of the way home. Here’s a clip from the ride home:

And finally, here’s a cool video made with pictures I snapped throughout the day using animoto. I was introduced to this site a while back by blogger and beautiful picture taker Abby, and finally tried it out. See the rest of my Beer Fest pictures on Flickr.

Were you at beer fest? What did you think?

Whining about Wine Fest

I stuffed myself with some BBQ Saturday afternoon, hoping to prevent a hangover from all the wine I assumed I’d be drinking at the “Great Grapes! Wine, Arts & Food Festival” at the Koka Booth Ampitheatre at Regency Park in Cary, NC. Turns out that wouldn’t be a problem because most of the wines were much too sweet for my taste. The featured wines were all produced by North Carolina wine makers, many of whom fancy the muscadine — a gross-tasting grape of sorts that is fancied by many in North Carolina (clearly not by me, though).

I still had fun at the festival, thanks in part to the grape stomping contest, which featured NBC17’s morning anchor Donald Jones. I’m lucky because my shift briefly overlaps with Donald’s, so for a couple hours each morning I’m entertained by his antics. Donald has an incredible sense of humor and makes mornings much more fun.

Donald is an avid cyclist, and he disclosed after the contest that he biked 42 miles earlier in the day. So all the stomping you see him doing in this video is after an already busy day for him. BTW, Donald also blogs about his cycling ways.