Wednesday, January 1, 2014

After the big night........................


We really 'went to town' for New Year's Eve!
A chilly night, but no wind or dampness, so it wasn't 
bad out if you bundled up. We pinned on our 
First Night 2014 buttons (thank you people who 
support the arts and worked so hard 
to make this such a great night), and joined 
the merrymakers to.......
  • Walk, a lot!
  • March in the People's Procession.
  • Enjoy fabulous music venues from Mozart on a huge church organ, to bluegrass, folk, pure jazz, and a new British singer from Yorkshire who thrilled us with her songwriting, voice and piano skills. Go here to listen to Fran Smith who was here in Raleigh last night - for her first American performance! This gal will go a long way.
  • Chow down on Mexican - the only restuarant we could get a seat without a reservation!
  • Spend far too long trying to get through 100,000 other merrymakers to get back to the Marriott Hotel.......but made it just in time to get to our room, pop the bubbly, watch the acorn being dropped below us at midnight, and make a rousing well-intentioned toast to you of course, as the fireworks burst so close we could feel the windows shudder!


This morning we were a bit lazy and missed breakfast 
at the hotel. OK though as it meant we could have a little 
lunch which included black-eyes peas, collard greens and 
cornbread, a Southern tradition which supposedly brings  
prosperity in the new year......and who would pass up on a 
chance at that!


We took a little exercise after lunch, 
walking for a while through a favorite 
shopping center.....it was quiet, 
sunny and cool, but a nice way to start the 
new year and chat about plans for the 
coming months of 2014.
Hope your celebration was fun.
Don't know about you but I'm over celebrations
for some time.........but wouldn't you know it, 
stopping at the drugstore on the way home, the 
shelves were bowing under the weight of hundreds of 
very red, heart-shaped chocolate boxes - shame on retail. 

11 comments:

  1. Lovely post Mary, love the acron! Many more happy adventures for you in 2014. We head off once again to Panama for a month.it is such a beautiful country.
    Xx

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  2. You are the only gal I know who went out on the town! Fun!

    We are having a light snack while we watch Jeopardy and that will end it for us, too. None too soon.

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  3. It sounds like it was a lovely celebration last night and today.
    Happy New Year to you. Yes, I am ready to get back to
    some normal living for awhile. I have a long list of things
    that have been on hold. Welcome 2014!

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  4. Happy New Year! Glad you had a wonderful celebration! We enjoyed a quiet evening at home and enjoyed a bottle of delicious wine.

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  5. It sounds like a wonderful way to ring in the new year Mary. We stayed at home and watched the ball drop in NY. Today we relaxed, took a walk in the neighborhood and had beans and greens with dinner at home.
    xo
    Penny

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  6. What a fun way to ring in the new year, Mary. I didn't know about the acorn symbol - is it made of copper?

    We had dinner with friends, laughed a lot and talked even more. It's been a slow, but lovely day around here. Now we're sitting reading in front of the fire.

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    Replies
    1. Yes Lorrie, local artist David Benson crafted the huge 1200 lbs. copper acorn in 1991 and donated it to the city for the bicentennial celebration. It used to stay mounted in a park throughout the year but was being damaged by vandals if I recall correctly, plus getting worn by the weather, so it's stored at his home now and only brought out for the New Year drop. It's really a beautiful piece of art and represents Raleigh - The City of Oaks - perfectly.
      Thanks for your interest - your evening sounded lovely.
      Mary

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  7. Thats nothing Mary we have hot cross buns on sale here!!!

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  8. Well, you and Bob had a very fun and exciting New Year's Eve. And you have an acorn drop! How fun. We rang in the new year with friends at our home. The temperatures here are SO cold. It was -30 C. (-22F) this morning and won't get any warmer than -16C today so we are staying in again. Happy new year to you and Bob! Hugs, Pamela

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  9. I was going to come back and ask you where you stayed New Year's Eve. I think this was a great idea.

    And, I have loved Cameron Village since I was a young child. It is still one of my favorite place to shop.

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  10. That sounded like you had a lot of fun! My daughter was in NYC for new years and enjoyed it; me, I snuggled in bed! haha!

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