Raleigh

The next stop on our trip? Raleigh, North Carolina...but more specifically the city of Apex. Apex is a significant stop in our journey. We partially started this trip to see what the country has to offer but to also consider where we might want to live one day. Long story short, a year and a half ago we found the city of Apex and have since romanticized the idea of living there - partially because North Carolina is a beautiful state and partially because the grass is greener on the other side kind of thing. So of course when we mapped out our drive, Apex was on the list and to commemorate the monumental moment of getting here, it also marks the halfway point in our road trip (that was a happy accident - yes I just used Bob Ross's words. no shame).

We took some time going through different neighborhoods to get a feel for the city. Apex seemed a lot smaller than expected. Population-wise it's bigger than the city we live in now, but because of all the trees, it's hard to see where the city really is. Everything is hidden which I'm not used to.

As we drove we noticed brand new neighborhoods with model homes so we stopped and walked through them. Ahhh...model homes are so tricky. They show you the possibilities...every upgrade. Every new feature a home can offer, but it always costs you. We fell in love with the home and they always make you walk through it first before they tell you the price - like I said, tricky. Ya... totally out of our price range, but hey, it was still fun to walk through it and get ideas for our own home.

Commentary by Z: Probably a good thing they balance the fun things with non fun things at open houses. Fun thing: walking through an expensive house with all the upgrades and marveling at all the space and cool things. Not fun thing: Salesmen trying to sell you that house.
Dinner was at the Mellow Mushroom. We typically try to stay away from chains, but we kept seeing this one everywhere in the south and saw good reviews so we decided to check it out. It's a pizza place - sit down - and not too expensive. Overall we really liked the pizza! If you're only passing through the south it's probably not worth spending one of your meals on, but if you're here for awhile then you should go for it.

Day 2 in Raleigh and we decided to go downtown once Zack was finished with work. We left during rush hour and it didn't even feel like rush hour! There was definitely traffic but nothing that made me want to flip out - score! We ate at Gravy, a little Italian restaurant right by the State Capitol. Zack got the Lasagna - classic - and I got Campanelle. Both were super yummy! 10/10 would recommend to a friend.

Commentary by Z: Anytime we can avoid traffic is +1 for me. Growing up near San Diego I've come to really appreciate places where the freeway system doesn't practically shut down during rush hour.




Since we are in the capitol city of North Carolina, we naturally had to visit the State Capitol building. Turns out it was about a block away from where we had dinner so that was convenient, even though we walked right past it and didn't even notice it! The building wasn't very big but the grounds were really pretty with different statues and monuments to remember war (WWWI,WWWI, Korean War, etc) and important figures (good ole George Washington). It's been really fun to see all the different state capitol buildings, for some reason we both assumed that all capitol buildings looked the same. Utah and Denver's buildings look very much like the classic dome-and-wings style, but some are very unique!

Thoughts about Raleigh so Far?
The city has a lot going on downtown with museums, shoppings, and restaurants. We unfortunately didn't have time to check out all these places, but I would have loved to stop in a museum. The North Carolina Museum of History was right by the state capitol and looked really interesting - I would have wanted to go there. The city is clean, not to much traffic and it seems like everyone owns a dog down here. So. Many. Dogs. That's my kind of city!

Commentary by Z: My favorite thing is how many well-kept public parks they have. We've driven past and also walked through several, and they're all so nice! There's also hiking trails everywhere, which we love. Could use a little more of that in Utah!