Escaping Irene

We spent this weekend on a spontaneous trip to Raleigh, North Carolina! It was spontaneous, in that once our county was under voluntary evacuation from Hurricane Irene, I freaked out, and me and the Mr. packed up the car and hit the road! After an exhausting drive, getting turned down at the hotel we had already paid to stay at, and then finally getting a room at a different hotel, we were ready to settle into our temporary digs.

No hurricane party can be complete without some snacks and, ahem, beverages, so we headed to the nearby Harris Teeter to pick up a 6-pack of Terrapin and a bottle of Arbor Mist. I had a terrible sweet tooth, so we headed to the bakery and found a delicious package of Italian cookies!

I had really wanted some of these during our trip to Chicago, but they were about $8 a pound up there. We got this package for a cool $3. The weather was already starting to get a bit yucky that night, so we were glued to our hotel room TV to watch the coverage and relax.

Saturday morning we woke up, and I was surprised at how gusty the winds were, even though we were over 100 miles from the coast! From our third floor hotel room, those parking lot streetlamps were swaying a little bit! After drinking a little bit too much coffee at the hotel's continental breakfast, Dustin and I worked off our caffeine jitters at the Crabtree Valley Mall. I was so happy to find they had a Moe's in the mall!

I did some back-to-school shopping at New York & Co. and loved using their 15% military discount! My dress pants ended up being only $25 a pair, and I got a pair of capris for only $13. They are one of my favorite stores, because they sell pants for tall (5'9") gals like me!

That evening we headed out for a double date with one of my dear friends, Brittany, and her boyfriend. We met up at Backyard Bistro to watch the Falcons pre-season game. It was pretty neat that they had seating set up theater-style around some giant TVs, but they weren't playing our game! We headed downtown to Tobacco Road Sports Bar instead. They were super-packed, but were playing the game. It was fun to catch up with old friends, and the area we were at reminded me so very much of Gainesville!

This morning we woke up early, had a nice filling breakfast, did my lesson plans at the hotel (since I had the internet and power, might as well use it!), and then we headed back east. I was shocked on the drive on how many HUGE trees had been completely uprooted and toppled over from the base! Luckily, our apartment had absolutely no damage, and the power was already back on. I had a few last-minute school items I needed to buy, so we headed to Target. Their cash registers were working, but all the lights were off!

It was such a weird experience to shop in a completely dark store, but it was pretty neat!

I just received word that no kids will report tomorrow, but teachers still will. I guess that means I will get even more ahead on my lesson plans, perhaps two weeks ahead? I am spending the rest of this evening hanging some DIY artwork and photos in our family room (photos to come soon) and watching Julie & Julia on TV!

I feel so grateful that we were left unharmed by the hurricane! How did the rest of you all fare? I hope Irene didn't cause too much damage!