Road Trip to Raleigh/Durham

Not the best picture, but what do you expect on a camera phone in a dark theatre. 

Instead of giving each other Christmas gifts this year, my husband and I opted to spend the money we would have spent on a road trip to Raleigh to spend a weekend together, and best of all to see Wicked. It was amazing!

I've spent a lot of time in the Raleigh area over the last few years. Throughout high school and college I was very involved with showing Morgan horses. Since there aren't many Morgans in Virginia, and quite a few Morgan enthusiasts in the Raleigh, Durham and Chapel Hill area, we spent a lot of time down there. While I'd never want to live there, there's a sort of nostalgic homeyness to the place. This trip we did enjoyed some old favorites, and tried a lot of new things as well.

Whenever we go to Raleigh, we stay at the Country Inns and Suites near the airport. It's not overly expensive, its close to everything and it's clean. The one downside is that you do have planes going overhead continuously. Since I grew up a mile from an airport, I barely notice. There's also free continental breakfast that is actually pretty good.

We ordered Chinese food in from a place called Ping Pong Cafe. A little cheesy, but their sweet and sour shrimp is very good. Delivery is a little slow, but it was Friday night. Definitely very affordable and you get a decent bang for your buck.

It was a little more exciting than usual, as another hotel guest (a preteen boy that was there as part of a basketball trip and probably lacking proper supervision) managed to burn something in their microwave and set off the fire alarm. No harm done, just a bit of loud excitement.

It was exciting enough for the fire department to get called.

Before seeing Wicked on Saturday, we ate at The Mellow Mushroom. I know it's a chain, but since I've never been to one it was all new to me. I tried their Bayou pizza, which had shrimp, sausage and blue cheese. It was really good, but needed just a little more spice to put it into the "great" category. My notoriously picky husband (although he's getting better) tried a calzone for the first time and like it well enough that we're going to try to make our own for "New Food Friday." 

We then went and saw Wicked, which needs it's own post (and there will be a post) just to tell how awesome it was. It was at the Durham Performing Arts Center, which is a truly awesome place. I highly recommend it for other shows. The seats are comfortable, and if you sit in the front row of the balcony, the seats are reasonable priced and still manage to accommodate my husband's 6'3" frame. 

For dinner we ended up going to a place called Firebirds for dinner. The food was really good (we just had burgers, which is what we order most frequently; we're something of connoisseurs), and the service was fabulous. I had had an unfortunate run in with the hotel shampoo, which contained avocados and was breaking out in hives. Not only did the manager track down some Benedryl for me, but she also came to our table personally to ensure I didn't need any additional accommodations to enjoy my meal. Our server was polite, courteous and attentive throughout and we had a lovely time. 

We did miss a few of our favorites on this trip, however. Pizza Inn, although it is a chain, is still has some of the best pizza out there. If you're feeling adventurous, go and order a beef and green olive pizza. You will not be sorry. I also recommend taking a trip to the Raleigh State Fairgrounds if any of the equine events catch your fancy. It's a great place to watch a variety of different horse events.