Day 5- Friday, June 17, 2011

We ate breakfast and checked out of our hotel. We are so sad to leave. We filled up the car and got snacks then headed towards the Ava Gardner museum in Smithfield, NC. It was really neat learning about her and seeing all her old clothes.

She was a very famous actress discovered in the 1940s. She was the youngest of 7 children and born on Christmas Eve 1922. Her story was awesome because she started out as a poor tobacco and cotton farm girl. Her brother in law was a photographer in New York City. He took pictures of her and posted them in front of his shop. A Hollywood agent saw them and thought she was very beautiful. That started her career. She appeared in several movies until her death in January of 1990. She was famous also for her marriages to Mickey Rooney and Frank Sinatra. It was too bad she got divorced though

Day 4- Thursday, June 16, 2011

We slept in today and ordered room service for breakfast. We went on a walk outside. Then we decided to go to an IMAX movie. It was awesome! We had so much fun. We went back to the hotel and had room service again for lunch. I LOVE staying in hotels. Then we went shopping and got the coolest clothes.

We went to dinner for our last night at The Borough. After dinner we went to get ice cream. I got cookie dough and coookies and cream in a waffle cone. My mom got chocolate with reese’s on top. We are so sad to leave. We are packing up now. I can’t believe the days flew by so fast.
Tomorrow we are going to the Ava Gardner Museum on the way home. That should be cool.

Day 3- Wednesday, June 15, 2011

Today we got up and had another yummy breakfast at our hotel. Then we went to my Aunt Mary’s house. I hung out with my cousins and had lunch with them at Chick-fil-a. Then we went to the Tar Heel Triple Classic Horse Show with my Aunt Mary and Uncle Andy. At the beginning of the competition they played the National Anthem and the NC state song which is “The Old North State”. They had both flags flying then too.

We went to the pool afterwards and it was so refreshing because it was very hot at the horse show. Later on we ate dinner at Franks.

I can’t believe we go home on Friday.

Day 2- Tuesday, June 14, 2011

This morning we ate breakfast for free. I got waffles and apple juice. My mom got eggs and coffee. It was really yummy!

After breakfast we went to the Executive Mansion. It was very pretty. It is where the Governor of NC lives. It was built in 1891. The entrance hallway is 90ft long. The dining room table seats 24 people!! The library is the most comfortable place in the entire mansion because it is more modern. I would love to live in a house like that! The governor living in it now is Governor Beverly Purdue.

While we were there we learned a lot about North Carolina. We even saw the state flower- the American Dogwood and the state bird- the Cardinal. The state motto is “Esse quam videri” which means “To be, rather than to seem”. While I was here we read a little bit about the history of North Carolina. Did you know that the first permanent settlements were established in 1653 by English colonists from Virginia? English colonists originally tried to settle Roanoke Island in 1585 and 1587 but were unsuccessful. They were sent by Sir Walter Raleigh which is why the capital’s name is Raleigh. There were early fights there like Culpepper's Rebellion in 1677, the Quaker-led Cary Rebellion in 1708, the Tuscarora Indian War 1711–1713, and many pirate raids during that time period. During the American Revolution, there was very little fighting actually in NC but many North Carolinians were fighting the war in other states. During the Civil War North Carolina decided to join the Confederacy even though they agreed more with the Union about antislavery laws.

Later we went to Frankie’s Fun Park and ate lunch there. My favorite ride was the Drop Zone. It was scary when we are so high up and it dropped so fast! But it was definitely my favorite. Another fun thing we did was Laser Tag. I wish my sister was there so I could beat her.

For dinner we went to The Twisted Fork. The pasta was so yummy. We are so tired after our busy day we are getting ready for bed. I can’t wait to go to the horse show tomorrow. Good night!

Day 1- Monday, June 13, 2011

Today we drove to Raleigh, North Carolina- also known as the Tar Heel State. It took 5 hours to get here. It isn’t too far from Charleston because both North and South Carolina are in the southeastern region of the United States. It was the 12th state to become a state and that was in 1789. We stopped at Arby’s in Florence, SC on the way for lunch. We checked into our hotel around 3pm. We are on the third floor in room 326. Raleigh is the capital so we saw the state flag at our hotel. It was red, white and blue.

While we were driving today we saw the NC license plate which says “First in Flight”. That is because 2 brothers from Ohio, named Orville and Wilbur Wright, flew the first “controlled, sustained flights in a power-driven airplane” at Kitty Hawk, NC on December 17, 1903. They were airplane inventors and aviation pioneers who became interested in flying in the 1890s because of the German engineer Otto Lilienthal's glider flights. Both of the brothers were excellent mechanics and experimented with a lot of aircraft designs in their bicycle shop in Ohio. Orville designed the engine, which they then put together and attached to their improved glider. Then the first flight on December 17th was made by Orville and lasted only 12 seconds. Then the fourth flight was made by Wilbur and it lasted 59 seconds. Their airplane design was then approved by the army. Now we can fly for several hours over oceans to get to where we need to go. This was a huge part of history in the state of North Carolina. And even then, people from Ohio came to the Carolinas.

Tonight we went to dinner at The Mellow Mushroom- I LOVE PIZZA!! After dinner we came back to the hotel and got ready for bed. We have a big day tomorrow. I’m really glad to be here with my mom.