'Big' City

Monday, since Bud had a 3 day weekend, we ventured up to the 'big' city of Raleigh.
We had purchased IMAX tickets to see Harry Potter, this is the first time I've paid for IMAX tickets.
When Bud was in college he worked at an IMAX theater part time so one of the perks was getting to see the movies for free.
Bud was there to critique the theater, compare it to the theater he worked at.
The main difference was that this theater was all digital, as in no film, whereas the Bob Bullock IMAX theater is film and it's quite an amazing setup!
The quality was still amazing, but the screen wasn't as big as "the Bob's".
Overall we enjoyed our experience and the movie!
Have you seen Harry Potter and the Deathly Hollows Part 2 yet?
Now that the movies are done I'm ready to read the books.
After the movie we decided to hoof around Raleigh a bit before starting the 1-1/2 hour drive home.
It had rained while we were in the movie and to be safe we grabbed the umbrella before we started our walk.
We ended up visiting the NC State Capitol...

State Geologist's Office

State Library Room

Lots and lots of books!

Presidents North Carolina Gave the Nation Statue
This work honors the three presidents born in North Carolina

...which took all of 10 minutes.

Granted the entire 2nd floor was closed for renovations, but the Capitol was drastically smaller than we expected.  

None-the-less it was a neat place to stop inside!

We walked the block surrounding the Capitol and saw a few neat churches:

There is something really neat about old churches.

The steeples.

The stain glass.

The stature.

They seem to have a personality all their own.

It was right after seeing the 2nd church that the sky opened up again and poured down buckets of rain!

We rushed inside the history museum gift shop to avoid getting drenched.

Unfortunately, they were about to close so once the rain let up we were out taking our chances with the elements!

Turns out my umbrella was broken so as I attempted to walk it continued to turn inside out.

We made it a couple more blocks before the sky unleashed again.

It was at this point we had a decision to make, walk back to the car and drive to find a place for dinner or continue on foot and hope we found something soon.

A quick conversation with a businessman assisted us in finding a local BBQ spot.

With only about 4 blocks between us and the BBQ we decided to hoof it.

At least until we got to the next corner and the sky opened up again!

Luckily we were right outside a CVS so we jumped inside and made a few small purchases.

2 ponchos, 1 new umbrella, and 1 box of bandaids for my poor feet.

We donned our new gear and set out the remaining 3ish blockers to Clyde Cooper's BBQ.

This place has been here since 1938 and when we walked in we were immediately greeted by friendly faces and rapid service.

We both got Chopped BBQ Sandwiches with french fries and SWEET TEA!

Eric got his sandwich with coleslaw on it, which is very common here in NC.

We got our first taste of East Coast BBQ which is much different from TX BBQ, but still delicious!

I think Bud may have been a little skeptical prior, but he cleared his plate!

By the time we finished the rain had truly let up and we were able to walk back to our vehicle full and content and ready for the drive home!
It was a wonderful day and I look forward to more trips to Raleigh and more exploration of the new state!

I hope you all had a Blessed Tuesday!