TTT: Take a photography class

My travel tip for you this Tuesday: if you’re going on a trip of a lifetime (in my opinion all trips are trips of a lifetime, but that’s another topic) and you love capturing your memories in photographs, you should absolutely consider taking a photography class.  Last night I took the last of my basic DSLR photography classes at Wake Tech.  I learned a lot about photography and even some about Photoshop.

For the last class, we were each supposed to bring in 24 pictures that we’ve taken, preferably while we were in the class but we could bring in older pics since we didn’t get to do the field trips due to cold weather.  I was really proud of my pictures, and I’d like to share a few this you.

Here’s the Sri Venkateswara Temple (Cary, North Carolina) – first with polarizing filter, then using silly fish eye adapter:

Here are some moon pictures taken in Morrisville using various white balance settings to make it more interesting:

Barrel Monster in Raleigh

Check out the barrel monster that was spotted on Hillsborough Street in Raleigh (via New Raleigh):

Photo from nopromiseofsafety.com

Triangle: Got to Be NC Festival, May 29-31

Excerpt from In the Field about the event:

The Got to Be NC Festival will return to the State Fairgrounds Friday, May 29, through Sunday, May 31. With free admission, free parking, free bluegrass and beach music and free food samples from nearly 100 N.C. companies, it’ll be a fun place to wrap up your Memorial Holiday week.

…

You’ll want to come hungry and stop by the free Got to Be NC Food Expo. On Saturday, you can also get your fill of North Carolina BBQ as teams of Masons face off in the Carolina Pig Jig. Adults pay only $10 to sample as much BBQ as they can hold, and kids under 12 eat free. Looking for something a little more deep fried? The Got to Be NC Festival will feature some of your favorite “fair food” along with lots of rides and games from Brinkley’s Entertainment. And to get your motor running, you’ll want to attend the Draft Horse Pull on Friday night, the Tractor Pull on Saturday and the Lawnmower Race on Sunday. All events take place in the Grandstand and are $5 each.

Sounds like fun!  I’ll tweet about it if I decide to attend.

Triangle: Theatre in Oakwood Cemetery

Have you been to Raleigh’s historic Oakwood Cemetery?  If not, you should go!  I especially recommend visiting as part of the 2 hour Segway tour.  If you have been there, you’ll be intrigued by Burning Coal Theatre Company’s production this weekend – Lessons Learned: Stories from the Oakwood Cemetery.  This is actually the 5th play Ian Finley has written to be performed there.  (Source: WUNC.)

Image from CensusDiggins.

Triangle: Taste of Durham

Check out the fifth annual Taste of Durham at the Imperial Center tomorrow. 

What is it?  A food, wine, and beer tasting event with live entertainment.

When is it?  Tomorrow! Saturday, May 23, 2009, 11a-7p

How much is it? That’s a little more complex – it’s $4 in advance or $6 at the door to get in to the area.  Then you buy coins to pay for whatever tastings you want to do.  A coin is $1.  1 coin will buy a soda or water; restaurant samplings will be 1-5 coins; each beer or wine tasting table will be 1-2 coins; and beer/wine concessions will be 4-6 coins.

It sounds like a great thing to do tomorrow.  Have you been to one of the past events?  I wish they had more info on the website.  While they do have information about the food sampling,  they don’t have much info on the wine and beer side of things.  Frankly, those are the things that would get me to attend.  If you attend, let me know!  Hopefully I’ll find out some more info about this and attend next year.

Triangle: Durham’s City Guide

The fabulous Design*Sponge recently shared a guide to Durham from photographer, blogger, and Durhamite, Jessie Gladin-Kramer.  Check it out!  She tells you where to eat, shop, drink, and visit.  She also gives shout outs to a few blogs, including one of my new favorites, Carpe Durham (“Ramblings about food by people whose only qualification is that they eat a lot”).

Restaurant Week Review: Savoy

Last night I had dinner at Savoy (Raleigh, NC) with my husband and 5 of our friends.  Savoy is one of the participating restaurants in Triangle Restaurant Week, so it was 3 courses for $25.  We were all looking forward to trying a new restaurant, and we were even pretty excited about the menu.  The overall consensus was that the food was pretty good, the atmosphere was nice, and the service was pretty bad.

TTT: Restaurant Week

Triangle Restaurant Week is coming soon, so mark your calendars.  This year it’s May 11-17.  Several of my favorites and a few I want to try are on the list.  $15 for lunch and $20 for dinner = 1 app, 1 entree, 1 dessert.  Make reservations to guarantee your spot and don’t assume all the restaurants serve both lunch and dinner.

Check out info on restaurant week in other places at National Geographic’s Intelligent Travel blog.

TTT: Travel Tip Tuesday

Triangle’s first Anthropologie now open!

Spouses of Triangle shoppers, BEWARE!  The Triangle’s first Anthropologie opened yesterday at the Streets at Southpoint in Durham.  I love their dresses and tops and jackets and knick-knacks and curtains and… okay, everything.

Image from A Design Affair.

Triangle Beach Music Festival

Get ready – it’s time again for the annual Triangle Beach Music Festival.  Here are the basics:

11th Annual Triangle Beach Music Festival
Saturday, April 25, 2009
Bryan Farms, 1832 New Bethel Church Road, Garner, NC
Gates open at 9 am, show is 9:30 am – 4:30 pm.
Tickets: $30 at the gate, $25 at select ticket outlets

Go and get your shag on!

Image from Cal’Donias.