Raleigh Homes Realty

Residential real estate in Raleigh, N.C.

St. Paddy’s Run Green 8K

In spite of what the thermometer reads, hundreds of people running through the streets of Downtown Raleigh wearing  kilts, costumes,  and decked out in every shade of green means spring must be right around the corner.  The St. Paddy’s Run Green 8K is one of my favorite races each year.  I love the clever costumes, I love how happy everyone appears to be as they run down the street, I love the sound made by the pounding of so many feet, and I love the extra-special treat of being able to watch and cheer on the runners from my own front porch.

The costumes this year seemed a bit more bland than in years past, maybe because the day was chilly and windy.  Besides an almost-but-not-quite-world-record number of kilts, there were plenty of tutus, wigs, and face paint.  My favorites included an outfit with a pair of kneesocks that had “BEER” in large letters going down the calf, a very big man not wearing a shirt but carrying a giant sword, and a guy running in work boots.  Ouch!

Here’s a short sampling:

 

Inside the N.C. Governor’s Mansion at Christmas

While the North Carolina Governor’s Mansion is a beautiful place every day of the year, it is spectacular when it’s dressed up for the holidays and full of visitors with live music performed by school groups from across the region. There’s always a Christmas tree decorated with artwork made by children of active-duty servicemen and servicewomen and another tree adorned with decorations important to our state such as cotton, cardinals, seashells, pine cones, dogwood flowers, and tobacco leaves. The mansion docents add so much extra detail, and the doormen give the experience an extra-special touch.

N.C. Governor’s Mansion
December 2012

 

 

 

Downtown Raleigh is Decorated for Christmas

This a beautiful season in Raleigh with festive holiday decorations everywhere.  The homes in Downtown Raleigh are especially decked out year after year with a wide array of adornment from old-fashioned to trendy, natural to artificial, simple to sophisticated.

I set out with my camera to capture some porch scenes on this gorgeous December weekend with temperatures in the seventies and Downtown Raleigh overflowing with folks full of holiday cheer enjoying holiday open houses at the state capitol, the governor’s mansion, Historic Oakwood, and the Historic Mordecai House.

 

 


The N.C. Governor’s Mansion Gardens in Autumn

On this glorious October day while walking through Downtown Raleigh between the Glenwood South Global Fare street fair and the Cooke Street Carnival, I stopped to admire the grounds of the North Carolina Governor’s Mansion.  With our run of mild weather, the annuals and other summer plantings are quite large and still blooming and showing off their colors and the leaves on the trees haven’t yet started to turn.

 

But signs of the seasonal transitions are easy to spot.  Many of the vines and trees have hanging seed pods.  And while there are still bell peppers and other summer produce growing in the kitchen garden, the cool weather collards are off to a great start, too.  The groundskeepers have begun planting pansies, that sweet flower that seems to be made for N.C. winters.  And there are so many flats of fall plants and flowers lined up on the sidewalk inside the gates of the Mansion waiting to be put into the ground.

 

  

 It sure would be nice if the governor’s gardening crew would come a few blocks east and give me a hand in my gardens!

That’s Life in Raleigh.

 

2012 North Carolina Main Street Fire Parade

While the skies may have been gray, the faces in the crowd watching the North Carolina Main Street Fire Parade Saturday in Downtown Raleigh were happy and excited.  Bagpipes, flashing lights, and sirens on all types of fire trucks, new and old, made their way down Fayetteville Street in a very short parade as part of the 2012 South Atlantic Fire Rescue Expo.

That’s Life in Raleigh.

[youtube JnOaM8jWAYE]