Kickin Shimmer Wall from Leo Suarez on Vimeo.
Nothing new here. This is a recent video I took of the convention center shimmer wall on a very windy Sunday. I thought I would share this.
Category / Just For Fun
First Warm Weekend of The Year
The weather this weekend was great and if you were downtown at all, you would have seen much more activity then usual. Outdoor seating kicks some serious butt on weekends like these. What is your favorite outdoor spot in downtown? Whether it is for drinks, food, play, anything.
Get Up And Do The Cherry Bounce
About a month ago I decided to make this legendary Raleigh drink, Cherry Bounce, and this weekend was the official tasting at a party I organized. The words Cherry Bounce pop up here and there around Raleigh but the actual drink, rumored to have played a role in the choosing of the North Carolina capital’s location, is not served anywhere to my knowledge. Yes, Deep South can make it for you on the spot but this is a drink that needs to be made before hand so I don’t count it.
I’ll be honest, I did little research on the recipe but discovered the following and just went with it:
– 4 parts cherries
– 2 parts sugar
– 1 part whiskey
– Let it sit for six weeks
The cherries and sugar are easy but the whiskey is wide open. Since there are many types of whiskey out there, I made three different batches of CB for the tasting party. I asked a bartender friend for some help here and needed three different types to use. Jameson, Crown Royal, and Jim Beam were the final candidates. I had to use frozen cherries since fresh ones are not available right now and I went with brown sugar to close things out.
Making the CB was pretty easy. All three pieces were thrown together, stirred, and kept in separate pitchers for serving later. I did add a little water to the sugar beforehand so that it was more of a paste rather then pure sand.
After five or six weeks of sitting in my kitchen, the CB was ready to be strained. I used a huge cheese cloth and poured the entire pitcher inside a bowl wrapped with the cloth. Most of the drink comes out easily but you can get a few more ounces if you squeeze the cherries while inside the cloth.
During the party, there were mixed reactions towards the CB. Each batch was served blind and no one knew what whiskey was in each sample. It had also been sitting out for six weeks so the drink was at room temperature; no ice was added. The Crown and Beam batches were the most popular. Whiskey fans leaned more toward Beam while others preferred Crown. These two had pretty opposite tastes while the Jameson batch was more down the middle.
Overall, the drink was good, but not great. Fortunately, I still have some of each batch left. I am going to get more opinions and will tweak the recipe so it tastes really great (hopefully leading to a follow up post to this one).
Unfortunately, I’m lacking pictures during this whole process. It is nothing exciting unless you taste it for yourself. Ask for Cherry Bounce at your favorite bar and let’s get it flowing through downtown.
Raleigh Wide Open Vids
The weather turned out great on Saturday and people filled the streets up until the fireworks were over.
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From one end to the other, a walk down Fayetteville St. Video is a little shaky so jump around to get an idea of the RWO scene.
Firework as seen from Hargett and Fayetteville St.
Raleigh’s Signature Music Festival
The Spring weekend events have slowed down and in the thick of summer, people tend to travel more, at least I do. Don’t get me wrong, I love a good “staycation” in Raleigh but it’s good to get away from time to time. This weekend I’ll be in Baltimore for the Virgin Music Festival and I cannot help dream of the possibility of a huge music event here in Raleigh. I’m not talking about concerts at TWC pavilion but a multi-stage, multi-day event that draws people from in and outside of the country. If you have been to one, then you know what I mean and already know the difference.
A new amphitheater is coming on this block
Downtown will probably not hold this kind of event although we are stepping up. The upcoming amphitheater tent that will go up across the street from the convention center will be a big plus to the downtown music options.
What about the Dix property? Now there is a bold statement. I would bet that the idea of hosting a music festival here would receive a lot of opposition from Raleighites but the area is perfect for actually doing it. With a really expansive green landscape and a touch of urban with the buildings of downtown towering over, the Dix property could one day host such an event. It would provide a unique setting compared to other big name festivals. Coachella has their rolling mountains around the polo fields of Indio, California, Lollapalooza has the skyscrapers of Chicago in Grant Park, Raleigh can have its green landscape with huge trees and a buzzing city around it.
Maybe. Maybe not. Anyway, had to throw that thought out there.
Could you ever see a stage like this in Raleigh?
Downtown Arena Idea
Here’s an interesting idea I had inspired by some of the recent news. Hope you’ve brushed up on your math skills.
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Both pictures are taken at the same zoom level in Google Earth.
Am I suggesting we replace the prison with an arena? Not exactly; it’s just interesting to see that an arena, even with some parking, can fit on this site. The RBC Center and prison are not going anywhere any time soon so think of it with a planning point of view. Lets bring this back up 26 years from now.
Happy Fourth!
Raleigh generally migrates to the fairgrounds for fireworks but could downtown ever have its own light show on the fourth of July? Only time will tell.
