Day of R&R: Day 6

So we decided Raleigh would be a good spot to take a day off. We woke up and had breakfast.  The hotel had this pancake machine that fascinated me.  You just hit a button and it measured the right amount and went down a conveyer belt until it rolled out onto your plate.  Amazing!  And it tasted good too, but my dad and Mike's pancakes are still far superior.  At breakfast this man who had talked to us while checking in was asking how far we would be going today. He did a tour with his dad on a tandem bike years ago.

We decided to change hotels so we could stay more in the heart of downtown and walk around to explore. We logged a total of 4.5 miles today, which I am a-okay with. We didn't even put our biking clothes on. I biked in my dress I packed and sans biking gloves. I don't want them to get sweaty quite yet. We were able to check into our new hotel early, and the ladies checking us in were super impressed by our trek. Especially when they found out we didn't do it all in one day.  Ha. Did they think I am superwoman?  The hotel is kind of unique. It is a circle so all the rooms have cool views of the city.

So off we go to explore Raleigh!  Mike found this burger place that looked really good so we went. It was delicious. The burgers were all really unique, the fries came with lots of dipping sauce choices ( I love sauce), and they had milkshakes!  I ended up getting sweet tea again though. 

So tasty!  With full stomachs we head off to explore. We went in a couple of shops and walked around a bit. Then we went to the Capitol building and took a tour. It was pretty cool. 

From there we decided to take the free bus around downtown to see all the different districts and get off if we saw something unique. It was super hot out so it was nice to get a riding tour of the city. 

We hopped off the bus and went to this ice cream shop. It was no hotter today than other days, but without the breeze from the bike it was hot. The ice cream was home made!  It was seriously so good. Ask Mike. I think I said that like 10 times while eating it. 

I think I found my new motto!

Today was the only day so far I have gotten sunburned. Go figure, on our day off I forget sunscreen. Thankfully it isn't bad. Then we decided to try to hit up a happy hour. We head to the Flying Saucer, a chain they had in Texas too. They have 80 beers on tap. We learn that bars in NC aren't allowed to have happy hours, but regardless we get some pints. My new favorite was called Humingbird water' mostly pear cider with a splash of Lindemans Framboise (Meghan, I think you would like this!). We also spent time there completing th crossword from the paper. 

Then my favorite part of the day!  It was travel day for everyone in my family. My parents arrived at the beach this afternoon, and my brother and nephew arrived in DC in the afternoon as well. James and Joe went to my house, gathered our beach stuff and are driving my car to the beach. Aka, so Mike and I have a way to get home. This is a one way bike trip!  Since they had to drive through Raleigh they stopped in for dinner. It was so fun to see them for a bit. 

I tried to convince James that he should bike the rest of the way and I could drive Joe. Joe thought it was a good idea, but I don't think Mike or James did. 

Love this little man!  See you again in 3 days!

306.5 miles done on the trip.