Raleigh Homes Realty

Residential real estate in Raleigh, N.C.

It’s Beginning to Look a Lot Like Christmas

Raleigh is decked out in holiday finery and ready for company.

The weekend of December 12-13 was a big one in the Downtown Raleigh area featuring beautiful holiday decorations and live music by local performers.  There was the annual Historic Oakwood Candlelight Tour, the holiday open house at the Governor’s Mansion, and the holiday open house at the N.C. Capitol Building.

The elaborate decorations at the Governor’s Mansion take six months of planning, and it takes 15 people four days to put them up!  One of the Christmas trees is a tree decorated with items special to North Carolina and its people.  It’s covered in dogwood flowers, pine cones, cardinals, seashells, acorns, and sanddollars.  Another special tree is decorated with more than 650 ornaments made by the sons and daughters of N.C. military service personnel.

Walking around and taking in the sights this time of year is always a satisfying family activity.  And a chill in the air just seems to add the finishing touch.

That’s Life in Raleigh.

N.C. Governor's Mansion December 2009
N.C. Governor's Mansion December 2009
N.C. Capitol December 2009
N.C. Capitol December 2009

Picture This: The North Carolina Capitol at Christmas

 

 

N.C. Capitol December 2009
N.C. Capitol December 2009
The rotunda at the North Carolina Capitol decorated for Christmas in 2009
The rotunda at the North Carolina Capitol decorated for Christmas in 2009
John M. Morehead in the Capitol, Raleigh, N.C.
John M. Morehead bust in the Capitol, Raleigh, N.C.
John M. Morehead - in the Capitol, Raleigh, N.C.
John M. Morehead bust in the Capitol, Raleigh, N.C.
N.C. Capitol December 2009
N.C. Capitol December 2009
N.C. Capitol December 2009
N.C. Capitol December 2009

 

 

 

 

 

International Festival 2009

Were you at the International Festival in Raleigh’s new convention center this past weekend?  Thought so.  Judging by the size of the crowd, I don’t think anyone in town missed it.  And it was definitely an event not to be missed!

There were three stages of entertainment, with attentive audiences at each stage.  Hundreds of appreciative spectators filled the seats at the dance demonstration stage.  There were booths offering information and booths selling items from countries around the world,  even henna tattoos and belly dancing lessons!

And the smells!  The whole place smelled so delicious that it was difficult to decide which country’s menu to order from.  Fortunately for us, most of the menus at the food stands offered a selection of  inexpensive items, so that we didn’t have to choose after all, but instead enjoyed food from Bagladesh, China, Turkey, and Nepal.  What a treat to be able to sample authentic foods from so many different countries all in one place!

While I expected to see a diverse group taking part in the International Festival,  I was amazed by the incredible diversity of the festival-goers.  Raleigh has truly become a melting pot.

That’s Life in Raleigh.

Our Sir Walter Raleigh decked out for the 2009 International Festival.
Our Sir Walter Raleigh decked out for the 2009 International Festival.

SPARKcon……..wow!

SPARKcon 2009 transformed Raleigh into an amazingly cool place to be on a weekend in September.

SPARKcon is a grassroots event celebrating the creativity in our area –  the “creative hub of the south.”  And if you think Raleigh can’t possibly live up to such a weighty description, you obviously missed SPARKcon this year.  For four days, Downtown Raleigh was spilling over with proof of this creativity.  Music, art, dance, ideas, film, poetry…….

….fashion.  Did I mention fashion?  The fashion show on the stage in the middle of Fayetteville Street had to be a turning point for our fair city.  The loud, thumping beat, the large, appreciative crowd, the models whose hair and makeup were  closer to “Night of the Living Dead” than “Night in Raleigh, N.C.,” plus the designs being showcased had me murmuring that famous line about Toto and not being in Kansas anymore! Raleigh has graduated to the big time.

That’s Life in Raleigh…a big, happening city.

SPARKcon 2009
SPARKcon 2009

N.C. Governor Plants a Row for the Hungry

In addition to the regular kitchen garden on the grounds of the governor’s mansion here in Raleigh, Governor Bev Perdue has planted extra collard greens and cabbage as part of the Plant a Row for the Hungry national campaign.

Have you heard about this program? Plant a Row started in 1995 and  encourages gardeners to plant an extra row of vegetables in their gardens and then donate the produce to local food agencies and soup kitchens.  American gardeners have donated more than 14 million pounds of food as part of this grassroots effort.  And it was all started by one guy.  What a story!

That’s Life in Raleigh.

N.C. Governor Plants a Row for the Hungry