Family Day

When we left KY 10 years ago, we weren't sure how long it would be before we returned.  We were headed to NC with the intentions of going to school and then we weren't sure where we'd go from there.  A decade later, we find ourselves back at the same church we first visited when we came to NC.  For the most part, we love it here.  We love being midway between the beach and the mountains.  We love the climate and we love our church and our little town.   

The one thing I am not absolutely in love with is Raleigh itself.  When people come to visit, they often ask, what's the thing in Raleigh you "must" do.  To which I always respond with a blank stare and a half-chuckle.  There's nothing, nada.  For a city that has such a great variety of things to offer career-wise, there's not a lot that's distinctive culture-wise.  At least, we haven't found it.  

Christmas is the worst.  I grew up in Cincinnati where there were more Christmas events than you could possibly fit into any one holiday season.  There was the Cincinnati Ballet, the Festival of Lights at the zoo, the downtown train display, and Winterfest- just to name a few.  We have found none of that here.  It frustrates me every year.  I guess one good thing is that we've been challenged to create our own fun.

There is one thing in Raleigh that we've discovered in the last year which we really enjoy.  That is a pair of museums that are downtown, just across from the capitol.  One is the NC Science museum, the other is the NC history museum.  They are both very neat, and they are also FREE, which we love!

We ended up down there on Saturday.  We had decided early in the week that we were going to make it a family day.  We wanted something that would be fun, cheap, and that we would all enjoy.  So, when we found out about Pirate Day at the history museum, we decided it was the right fit for us.  We had a fun time, along with a gazillion of our closest friends.  My, it was crowded.  But, it was a good day and we took a few pictures of the fun.  So, here they are...