This is my first visit to the spa at flowers. From start to finish, I was utterly impressed! Kathy…read morewas my massage therapist and did an amazing job! The club itself is beautiful, clean and the front desk employees were friendly, professional and efficient. I highly recommend and I will be back soon!

The food here is incredible and the staff is extremely freindly and welcoming. Its hard to decide…read morewhat my favorite dish is, but hands down the club at flowers plantation has the best chicken wings in all of North Carolina. Also, the head chef there is very friendly and went out of his way to introduce himself and check on how our experience was. I can say with complete certainty that this is my new favorite spot in NC!! Definitly coming back!!

Got to witness the Spring Recital by the students of Nrityajyoti yesterday at Cary Theater. The…read moreperformers played with such grace and elegance that it was a visual delight for the audience. The teachers explained that even modern dance taught by a traditional Guru brings out the best of the students. Dance is all about connecting with audience and so, here is where the traditional artists and their students shine. The facial expressions of the performers was a delight to observe and enjoy. Recommend this studio for those who are passionate about Dance.

I like to believe I'm in the know with happenings around here, but I gotta confess that if it…read moreweren't for my Dad and StepMom, I might never have found this small tucked-away theatre RIGHT BEHIND Meymandi. (as in, connected to the building...really...if you've never looked back there, like we had not, you might never have noticed it either.) I have now learned that this is where Theatre Raleigh performs their Hot Summer Nights series. This week the new season kicked off with "Vanities". Lauren Kennedy starred in it Off-Broadway and has brought it to us and is directing it. My understanding is she is the mastermind behind the whole series, and let's face it...this talented Broadway star knows her stuff! Today was our first time here (thanks Dad for the tix!) and we thoroughly enjoyed it. Small, intimate theatre that holds around 100. Seating is general admission, but there is literally not a bad seat in the place. We were able to hear every word and see everything from where we landed, which was third row from the back. Seats were comfortable with not-bad leg room. The show, by the way, is fun and the three gals in it are terrific! They were all wonderful singers and great actresses as well. I do believe the show runs for another week or so. I absolutely love the intimacy of this theatre. Love that every show in the series is one I've never seen before and know nothing about. Looking forward to them all. Highly recommend to any and all theatre lovers to check out Theatre Raleigh at the Kennedy Center!

This past Saturday, I attended Theatre Raleigh's production of the Wolf held here at Kennedy…read moreTheater. Free nearby parking is available ,so that was a plus. Picking up tickets at will call went smoothly as well playbills were available. What was not available were 3 seats together. There is no assigned seating and although were were there 10 min before curtain, come early if you want best chances in being accomodated seating wise. As part of their Family series, Theatre Raleigh's The Wolf is a performance was suited for theatre lovers of all ages. I loved the intimacy of the Kennedy Theater as it made us feel like we were apart of the show! If you didn't see this particular show, it is back by popular demand for an encore performance and I highly recommend you plan a family date to attend. It's only 45 minutes long which I found was great amount of time to enjoy theatre with children. This show integrated music, dance, acting and fun into a tale about the Big ,Bad Wolf and all of the childhood stories he shows up in. Theatre Raleigh took a very creative approach in mashing up these fables/tales and put on a quality production. Support the arts and the young talent in Raleigh by attending any of the shows held at Kennedy Theater!

The Henderson County Heritage Museum is located inside the Historic Henderson County Courthouse in…read moredowntown Hendersonville, NC. The building was constructed in 1904 and is a classic revival style. Admission to the museum is free, but they do collect donations. I only explored the first level of the building, but there may be more exhibits on the upper floors. More signage would be helpful. The museum covers local history and military history. They have artifacts and uniforms of all the wars. One room is dedicated to the area's railroad history. The model trains were not working when I was there, though. There is a memorial to "Big Jim", the world's largest pig. Back in 1941, the pig weighed 2415 pounds and was four feet 8 inches tall and ten feet 8 inches long. If you are in Downtown Hendersonville, this museum is worth a visit. There is a small gift shop as well.

Cute museum that was very clean and had a inviting staff plus nice restrooms! The information they…read morehad displayed was great and my whole family enjoyed it. It's free and a nice change from the shopping on main st.

Triangle Vegfest held a Vegan Mac & Cheese Cook Off at the Durham Armory on Feb. 22 from 6pm to…read more9pm. The organization of this was very Poor, as there were people who got to the facility really early, and then there were other people who came a lot later, yet there was no formal line set up in the facility, just everyone crushed and cramped in the lobby together. i met a couple in the line who stated they got there at 5pm, hoping to get in earlier, find some seats and get the samples first. I walked in around 6pm, and we both entered at the same time, as there wasn't any kind of formal lines. Once we entered the main staging area, everyone was given a plate and we walked along the outer part of the facility receiving samples. There were only 10 vendors that served some mac and cheese during this time, and the serving size was very tiny. (They did have a lot of people that they had to accommodate) Out of those 10 vendors, 1 didn't show up. tickets were $20 in advanced and $30 at the door, though no one was really checking tickets after the first 30 minutes of entry. They capped the event at 300 people, however it definitely felt like there was more people than that in the facility. The vendors that were there had some great samples,but as the samples were limited, it was difficult to judge and analyze the different types of mac and cheese they had available. At the end of the line were the deserts, however those cost money to buy. (cupcakes @ $5.00 each) and faux chicken strips at 2 for $5. In the end, the event was definitely a change of scenery and definitely learned a lot about the different cheeses that were available. The vendors that I could remember based on my photo documentation included: Pure Soul, Pure Juicery (who made a mac and cheese waffle), plant based pantry (made a pimiento mac and cheese), Taylor street sweets (who also sold the cupcakes at the end); Vegan Flava Cafe, which was my favorite during that line (their mac and cheese had an extra spicy kick in it), sweeties southern & Vegan catering, Banu Vegan, Chef Abbi Jai (made a baked herb vegan mac which was also gluten free), and Laura's Vegan Table. My favorite of the bunch was Vegan Flava Cafe. Parking had very limited street parking, as it was downtown Durham. However, there was a free indoor parking garage nearby. Overall, I am thankful for the opportunity to sample these great companies, however would have liked more samples or a larger portion.

This was our first time going and it was really cool! Took advantage of buy one get one free…read moreadmission. We made the mistake of going on a Sunday. Next year, I want to go on Friday since this is a the first day. A perk of going early is being able to buy floor models, which are discounted...they are picked through by Sunday. A lot of super cool booths and information, though. Careful though, that rabbit hole once you get to the garden and patio refinishing services area is real. You'll have your complete dream patio planned out after looking at all the inspiration. Wish they had had more food trucks available since we probably would have stayed longer.

This is a really nice event if you are looking to do any kind of repair or landscaping for your…read morehome. They had many different companies who do roofing, gutters, general handyman work, hot tubs, renovating bathrooms, kitchens. You name it and you would find it here. Exhibitors were nice and not pushy. Lots of sweepstakes to enter. And in a corner of one booth they had free wine, beer and restaurant tastings. Yummy barbecue and delicious dessert from local restaurants. Some of my favorite exhibitors were Uncle Yammy from Greenville area. He has a sweet Sriracha sauce that is to die for. Also the softest sheets made from peach skin. Then these cool brooms made from rubber. And a shout out to the sushi kit man. You were a trip. Definitely a worthwhile show if you are even thinking about any home improvements. I'll certainly go back next year and maybe break down and buy those pillows.

This was my first time at the Raleigh Dance Theatre. I went to this place because Girl Scout Was…read morehosting an event with them called Dance Around the World and we signed our Troop up! When I first arrived the parking wasn't that great due to it being an event but I can see on non event days it being a place to park I ended up parking closer to neomonde and I had to walk just a little bit and it wasn't that bad. I was greeted by the staff members of GS who were really nice and we walked in. The studio isn't big at all. So we were all crammed in there but it was great. They have 3 dance studio areas. All of them are a decent size. They building was very clean and the bathroom was clean too. The teachers from the school were all very nice and patient with the children. They took their time and taught them as much as they could in 30 mins. They also gave us brochures for their upcoming events and we got a chance to see their dance students perform a little of Cinderella! Overall this place is really nice! The girls really enjoy ed the African Dance Class.

I've been attending the [WRAL] Christmas parade for two years now, and this now 71 year annual…read moredowntown tradition does not disappoint. A couple quick things to note if you plan to attend the parade. Start time is 9:40a, but plan to arrive early if you're driving in as parking and traffic WILL be insane. If you arrive after the parade has started and plan to try to get downtown, use a non-parade walking street. Once parade watchers have found their spot, entire streets will be consumed and foot traffic (especially on Hillsborough) will be next to impossible. The parade begins on Hillsborough Street at St. Mary's crossroad, proceeds to the State Capitol and does a quick 90 degree turn {right onto Salisbury and left onto Morgan} with a final right onto Fayetteville Street and continues to Lenoir Street where it disbands. Central Plaza (the end of Fayetteville) usually has an accumulation of activities including the Ipreo Ice Rink, which kicks off it's grand opening following the parade each year, a BBQ festival and it's possible you'll even find some historic Christmas Carolers. The 1.4 mile parade route includes everything from floats [both grounded and in the sky] to marching bands, non-profit groups, beauty queens and of course Santa Clause comes to greet all at the end. You'll be entertained for 2.5 hours with both traditional and Raleigh original parade marchers. The big question most people have about this parade is, why does it take place pre-Thanksgiving? But the tradition dates back to the year os 1939 to an idea thought up by downtown Raleigh shop owners to drum by business for the holidays. We're not about the break this long standing tradition today and I personally love a parade to kick off Christmas season rather than Black Friday! And, if you're not able to make it downtown for the parade, you can watch it from 10a-12p on both WRAL-TV & UNC-TV the day of the parade (but little tip: you can also stream it from the WRAL website following the parade as well!) Overall, the Raleigh Christmas Parade makes for a great family or individual activity. It will get you in the holiday spirit and the only negative for some might be the enormous crowds that it draws in.

Arrive early if you want a good seat, the Raleigh Christmas Parade is extremely popular! The parade…read morestarts promptly at 9:40AM and lasts approximately 2.5 hours. I have not been in years so it was good to bring back childhood memories and attend the 73rd Annual Raleigh Christmas Parade.