US Trip: Raleigh

I just wiki'ed Raleigh a moment ago and it's mentioned that it is known as "City of Oaks".  So it was not surprising to see many oak trees.  Even the (old) Cary neighborhood that PS and his family just moved into has lots of them and other greenery.

Took airTran airlines from Dayton to Raleigh, with a transit in Atlanta

They have such a cute house and very good neighborhood

The previous owner left them a peach tree

This is an excerpt from Wikipedia for Cary.  I was made aware of the "backronyms" by Shade when I told that Raleigh was in my itinerary :D

"Cary's reputation as a bedroom community for affluent transplants from outside the South has led to humorous backronyms for its name such as "Concentrated Area of Relocated Yankees." Data from the 2000 Census shows 29.2% of Cary residents are native to North Carolina. 55.2% were born in other states. Additionally, 15.6% of the town's population were born outside the United States."

That was in 2000.  In the 2010 Census, the total population jumped to 135,234 and I'm sure the distribution has somewhat changed.

Anyhow...

I arrived in Raleigh slightly after dark, so there was nothing much to do besides dinner and catching up with the Lims.  While it was more 'play pretends' in Sila & Vin's household, with the 2 boys (7 and 3), it's more cars & destruction derby, transformers, shoot'em... the usual boys' stuff ;)

PS had even short-listed a few items before my arrival, which included a visit to Kitty Hawk (where the Wright Brother Memorial is located) and the beach.  But that trip alone would have costed us 200 miles (~3.5hours) each way, so it was left out for the next visit.

Cary - Raleigh - High Point - Durham - Chapel Hill - and back to Cary

On the first day, we went to the Museum of Natural Science in downtown Raleigh and stopped by in the campus of NC State (PS's alma mater) for a brief visit.  What I like about the museum is they also have live animals being displayed, such as snapping turtle, snakes and fish.  And they can be found in North Carolina itself.  Oh man!

The exhibit on the ground floor

Glass lizards, which are legless lizards that may be mistaken for snakes

Okay, obviously these are not live.  Else, the alligator wouldn't be on the wall, would it? :)

The Acrocanthosaurus ("high-spined lizard") or Acro -- is believed to be native of North Carolina.

Acto's.  Bigger than T-Rex's.

Why not right?

Snakes, snakes and more snakes

I think this is hilarious

U'oh.  The system crashed :)

Outside of the new wing

Electric car plug-in station in front of the museum.  They have a few all over the city

NC State's Memorial Bell Tower

I remembered that looking for college's signs were the trend when I was in school.  But those who visited Brown would be disappointed, because we don't have THE university sign :)

Notice that I didn't dare to be even closer because I didn't want to get a tetanus shot

More NC State campus

The Lims waited in the car while I went to snap pictures, so that we wouldn't get into trouble with the fines

Right after a pizza lunch, we made a detour to High Point, to look at some furniture for their new place.  Apparently, it is the place for furniture outlets.  However, we just went to a particular store, one of their friend's, meaning the transaction was completed rather quickly :)

One of the furniture outlet malls on the way

The furniture showroom is inspired by the Forbidden City

On the return trip, we stopped by in Durham and Chapel Hill.  Raleigh, Durham, and Chapel Hill make up the three primary cities of the Research Triangle.  But I'm willing to bet that they're more known for their basketball :)  NC State is in Raleigh, Durham has Duke and the North Carolina Tarheels reside in Chapel Hill.  Michael Jordan studied there for his undergraduate.

I really like the Duke buildings and the Sarah P. Duke Gardens, a 55-acre garden "renowned both for landscape design and the quality of horticulture".  You could see lots of people running around.  My mom would have loved it for the flowers.

Duke Chapel.  Couldn't photograph it in its entirety when you're so close

With the boys

The James B. Duke statue

With PS

Duke campus

Attention! :)

At Sarah P. Duke's Gardens

Flowers galore

More flowers.  Like I said, my mom could spend hours here

Looking out from the gazebo; one of the great locations for a wedding

Fish pond

 Since we were pressed for time, we didn't see much in UNC.  PS brought me to the Old Well, one of the main landmarks on campus.

UNC's Old Well

On the second day, we pretty much went out to get meals and the outlet mall.  I still have a few items left in the shopping list.  Like I've said over and over again, it's so hard to shop for the ladies.  Nasib baik jarang berjalan (Good thing I don't travel often).  The guys... I just got them t-shirts. Senang cerita.  :D

I find this video funny, because the younger of the 2 kids was scared to try out the cotton candy. So cute! :D

PS, thanks to you and your family.  You guys really took great care of me - everything, from makan-makan to jalan-jalan.  I had a very memorable trip, and I hope there will be a next time.  We still haven't gone to the beach and Kitty Hawk :)