Spontaneity & Such
Jul. 13th, 2014 10:23 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
ofearthandstarsEvery once in a great while, we'll have a magical day where the boys are off with their bio-dad and we can pretend that we're young and adventurous and dating again. Today was one such day. We didn't have a lot of advanced notice, and we had a limited time frame to work within, but we were able to plan a lunch up in Raleigh and then some time out at Lake Johnson.
We first had lunch at The Remedy Diner, which is a cute little place off of Hargett Street, with a menu that caters to omnis, vegetarians, and vegans. We had planned to go to The Fiction Kitchen, but they were apparently closed for holiday. Thankfully, the Remedy came to the rescue (they serve Brunch until 3:00 pm on Sunday). We had fried broccoli with vegan ranch dressing, and I had a vegan BLT with avocado. L. also ordered vegan with the "Hot and Gooey", which was "fried fake 'chicken' and veggie bacon smothered in Daiya cheddar cheese and homemade gravy served on a biscuit". All of it was very tasty, though very "greasy-spoon" diner fare. It's near NCSU so the atmosphere was definitely college hipster, but even though we stood out like sore thumbs, we would definitely go again.
We then hit the lake to walk off all the food. The lake has about a 3.0 mile round paved trailed on the east side, which we took, and an unpaved trail on the west side. It was pretty warm out, but the majority of the trails are shaded, and in certain places you can poke your toes in the water to cool them off a bit. Lots of people were out dog-walking and letting their dogs splash around in the lake, which was fun to watch. The entire area is very peaceful and pretty.
Pictured: Lakeside with several Canadian geese. They were interested in us for all of two seconds until a couple of dogs walked up to the opposite shore - then they all swam/flew over to investigate.
Pictured: A single grey and white duck, with orange beak tipped with black, looking straight into the camera. This little guy (gal?) rocked because zie stood very still just watching me as I took the photo. So intelligent looking! I tried to talk zir into coming home with me, but then again, I don't have a fancy lake in my backyard.
Pictured: The lake from the dam side. The bottom here was concrete and pretty slick. Also, at least one person was sunbathing on the hard concrete of the dam, which I thought would be incredibly uncomfortable - but to each their own.
Pictured: A view of the lake and boathouse from the crosswalk parallel to Avent Ferry Rd. Apparently you can rent the boats out by the hour or for the day, but they were unavailable today due to maintenance.
It was a lovely trip, just very hot and humid. The trails are described as "easy to moderate" and I would agree with that; we found some portions pretty hilly (which I found a little challenging to navigate with my knee) and we were glad to have taken along our water bottles. Afterward we came home and showered and became people again, and then took a nap in the air conditioning - which pretty much made the end of the day perfect. All in all, I'd recommended going to either of these two places if you're in the Raleigh area and want good eats or good relaxation.
♥
We first had lunch at The Remedy Diner, which is a cute little place off of Hargett Street, with a menu that caters to omnis, vegetarians, and vegans. We had planned to go to The Fiction Kitchen, but they were apparently closed for holiday. Thankfully, the Remedy came to the rescue (they serve Brunch until 3:00 pm on Sunday). We had fried broccoli with vegan ranch dressing, and I had a vegan BLT with avocado. L. also ordered vegan with the "Hot and Gooey", which was "fried fake 'chicken' and veggie bacon smothered in Daiya cheddar cheese and homemade gravy served on a biscuit". All of it was very tasty, though very "greasy-spoon" diner fare. It's near NCSU so the atmosphere was definitely college hipster, but even though we stood out like sore thumbs, we would definitely go again.
We then hit the lake to walk off all the food. The lake has about a 3.0 mile round paved trailed on the east side, which we took, and an unpaved trail on the west side. It was pretty warm out, but the majority of the trails are shaded, and in certain places you can poke your toes in the water to cool them off a bit. Lots of people were out dog-walking and letting their dogs splash around in the lake, which was fun to watch. The entire area is very peaceful and pretty.
Pictured: Lakeside with several Canadian geese. They were interested in us for all of two seconds until a couple of dogs walked up to the opposite shore - then they all swam/flew over to investigate.
Pictured: A single grey and white duck, with orange beak tipped with black, looking straight into the camera. This little guy (gal?) rocked because zie stood very still just watching me as I took the photo. So intelligent looking! I tried to talk zir into coming home with me, but then again, I don't have a fancy lake in my backyard.
Pictured: The lake from the dam side. The bottom here was concrete and pretty slick. Also, at least one person was sunbathing on the hard concrete of the dam, which I thought would be incredibly uncomfortable - but to each their own.
Pictured: A view of the lake and boathouse from the crosswalk parallel to Avent Ferry Rd. Apparently you can rent the boats out by the hour or for the day, but they were unavailable today due to maintenance.
It was a lovely trip, just very hot and humid. The trails are described as "easy to moderate" and I would agree with that; we found some portions pretty hilly (which I found a little challenging to navigate with my knee) and we were glad to have taken along our water bottles. Afterward we came home and showered and became people again, and then took a nap in the air conditioning - which pretty much made the end of the day perfect. All in all, I'd recommended going to either of these two places if you're in the Raleigh area and want good eats or good relaxation.
♥
