Touring Raleigh

We've been in North Carolina for four months

and finally took the time
to spend a day exploring a bit of our capital city.

The Museum of Natural Sciences was pretty cool.
(This was one big grasshopper!)

We met the famous Acrocanthosaurus, the Terror of the South.
He looks a lot like the T-Rex but he had a a row of spines sticking out of his back
from his neck to the middle of his tail. He's called the Terror of the South
because most of the fossils they've found have been in Oklahoma and Texas.


We saw Willo, the first dinosaur to ever be found with a fossilized heart,
and marveled at the size of the enormous whale skeletons that hung
from the ceiling.



We also visited the North Carolina Museum of History.
We saw a replica of Dale Earnhardt's #3 Chevrolet in the lobby
before we went inside to tour an exhibit called
Knights of the Black Flag
about pirates past and present.


The infamous Blackbeard, or Edward Teach,
was one of the most feared pirates on the high seas in the early 1700's.
For many years he terrorized the North and South Carolina coasts
as well as the coast of Virginia until he settled on Ocracoke Island
on the Outer Banks not far from Cape Hatteras.
Lt. Maynard of the Royal Navy found Blackbeard and a fierce battle
broke out between them.
Blackbeard was killed, his head cut off and tied to the front of
Maynard's ship as a trophy. Legend has it that
the headless body of Blackbeard swam around his ship twice
before it finally drowned.
(Legends...they're fun to listen to, hard to believe.)
The main road that loops around the center part of Cary
is called Maynard. Coincidence? Hmmmm....
Maybe not. :)


Natalie posing as Blackbeard.



Emily and Natalie in the Crow's Nest of a pirate ship.
Argh!


Maya's got the cannon ready.

Em, Donna, Kathy and Nat touring a virtual pirate's ship
& Scott and Maya shooting a rival crew with cannon fire.


When we were done "a piratin'" we went to a tattoo and piercing studio
called Warlock's.
Natalie thought about getting a belly button ring
but was discouraged by the fact that she'd have to stay out of the pool
for a full month.
No swimming didn't hold Emily back, though.
She left the studio sporting a stud in her nose.

All the Warlock's excitement made us hungry
so we headed to the Marriot
where Donna, Kathy, Em and Natalie were staying
and had dinner at
The Five Guys Burger's in the plaza.



After dinner, we ate Ben & Jerry's ice cream
and the kids went for a dip in the Marriot's pool
while Steven and I took a walk around the plaza
in a light, cool rain.
GREAT day in Raleigh!