Calling North Carolina Home Plus Harvest Day Fun in Cary, NC.

It’s interesting, but I think I spent the better part of my 20s wanting to be somewhere else other than North Carolina. You see, I was born in North Carolina. I thought London, New York, or Hollywood would be the place I would want to call home. 

In my 30s, I put those big city dreams behind me.  I decided to make Raleigh, North Carolina, my home. As a Chapel Hill graduate, I was very familiar with Blue Heaven, but didn’t know a thing about the capital city.

Those were the foundation-building years for me in my new city.  I married and started a family here in this city, but my personal life was so busy that I didn’t really soak up the true cultural atmosphere that the Triangle area offers its residents. 

Wow! Baby Diva will be three in a few weeks. 

Sure, I ate in our local restaurants, but that was about it.  The other times we were so consumed with nap schedules and feedings that our day was over by the time we figured out we had a short window actually to do something fun.

But, now in my 40s, it is a different story.  I often click my heels and declare that there is no place like home. I truly consider the Raleigh-Durham-Chapel Hill area my home now, and I’m so smitten with the area that I cannot imagine living anywhere else.

Seriously! I’m that much in love with the area.

It’s a great place to raise a family, and there is so much to do here. The choices for family activities are endless.

Baby Diva loves these cut-out things.  I think we will soon have a collection of photos from cut-outs.
The 2012 North Carolina State Fair

If a family sits around every weekend at home as couch potatoes, then it’s by their own choice. It’s certainly not because of a lack of things to do in the area. 

Sometimes there is so much to do in the area that you feel guilty if you do want to be a couch potato one weekend.

Well, I take that back. I don’t feel guilty, but you don’t get any peace at home with two kids in the house, so you might as well get out and enjoy yourselves.

In just one weekend, we tackled the North Carolina State Fair and free concerts at downtown Raleigh’s Red Hat Amphitheater for a special family day.  Raleigh’s children’s band, The Sandbox Band, opened the festivities for the free concerts.

Dancing to the Sandbox Band at Red Hat Amphitheatre. They get their moves from me. 

Yes, I think you could call us Sandbox Band groupies.  This is the second time we’ve seen the band in the span of a month.  It’s just fun.  The kids dance, burn off energy, and now that they are old enough to act decently in a good restaurant, we eat a very early dinner in downtown Raleigh.  And that makes mommy very happy.

And you may gasp, but this past weekend was also my first time at the N.C. State Fair.

The Picturesque 2012 NC State Fair

 I covered county fairs for many years as a TV Journalist and really had no desire to go to the State Fair to fight crowds, ride rides, and eat fattening fried foods after I got out of journalism.

But things change when you are a parent and your 6-year-old finally learns that there is a BIG FAIR in town.

Frankly, my dear, I was impressed. A Raleigh resident makes a Scarlett O'Hara replica dress every year.

We had fun at the Miss NC Scholarship Pageant booth at the NC State Fair.  My only regret was that I didn't
get to wear the crown and hold the septor. So not fair!!

Guess what?  I’ve been missing out all these years. We had a blast, and we’re already talking about next year!

And this weekend, you will probably find us in quaint downtown Cary, North Carolina for the town's Harvest Day.

Here's the Scoop on this Event:

Downtown Harvest Day is this Saturday, Oct. 27 from 2pm-5pm in Ashworth Village by the Heart of Cary Association. It will be a fun fall festival with live music by Tom Teachout, Fall/Halloween carnival games like Witch Pitch, Candy Corn Bean Bag Toss, Ring the Witch's Hat, Duck Pond, Corn Hole, etc. plus face painting, balloon animals, kids' fortune telling, and more. Wristbands are $3 for kids 3 and older, and adults are free. We'll also have additional concessions like Havana Grill, Chick-fil-a with a visit from the cow, Chuckwagon Grill, and a bake sale benefiting MOPS.

The wristbands from Downtown Harvest Day will let the kids continue on at no charge to the Town's events that night:

- Trick-or-treating in Ashworth Village from 5-7PM

- Hayride between Ashworth Village and Cary Elementary between 5:30-7:30PM

- Cary Teen Council's Tricks & Treats Bash at Cary Elementary with additional games, story-telling, and live music from 5-7PM.

*Adults require a $1 wristband for events from 5PM on.*

Hope to see you there. 

And don't forget to enter my current Pack Your Bags: A Luxury Hotel Giveaway to the Ballantyne Hotel and Lodge in Charlotte, North Carolina. The giveaway ends 11/17. 

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