Come celebrate July 4th at North Hills this Friday. There will be games, music, a parade and even an appearance by the 2008 Mrs. North Carolina America, Maureen MacDonald. The event is free and open to the public. See below for some more details.
What: July 4th Celebration at North Hills
When: Friday, July 4 from 11:00am - 3:00pm
Parade registration from 11:00 - 11:20am
Parade starts at 11:30am
Where: The Commons lawn (across from Regal Cinemas)
More Details:
Parade:
The children’s parade will have prizes for the best decorated bikes, tricycles, wagons and costumes. Please decorate your child’s bike before coming to the event and arrive around 11:00am to register for the parade, which starts at 11:30. The suggested entry fee is one canned food item to help restock Wake Relief’s pantry.
Music:
After the parade, there will be music for people to enjoy. Guitarist Josh Long will go on at noon and Old Avenue will play at 1:15pm. Old Avenue is a jazz/funk/pop rock band made up of local high school stundents who recently won Lincoln Theater’s Battle of the Bands contest.
Other:
In addition to the parade and music, there will be a moon bounce and amusement park games for kids. There will also be a juggler, balloon artist, face painter and caricaturist for added entertainment. If you’re in the mood to shop, I’m told there will special holiday promotions at North Hills stores.
This should be a nice July Fourth celebration for friends and family. I may be at the beach on vacation, but if I’m in Raleigh, I’ll definitely be there.
If you’re a big martini fan, you should check out Midtown & Bar 115. Every Tuesday is $5 martini night there. They’ve got a great bar if you prefer to be inside, or you can sit outside and enjoy the open air. Either way, it’s a pretty good deal for a martini at North Hills.
Have you ever been to Midtown & Bar 115? How was your experience?
Yesterday some friends and I headed over to the Commons at North Hills for the music they have there every Thursday. We were planning on going to the luau at Mura later, but wanted to check out the music first. The area was pretty packed. It seems like more people show up to hear the music each week, and yesterday I’d estimate there were about 2,000 people there. Most people were standing, but others brought their lawn chairs to relax in.
The Music
The Mardi Gras Band put on a good performance and when they took a break an emcee came out and encouraged people to come up front for some shag lessons. People seemed to be having a lot of fun and it was crowded, but not so much that it was uncomfortable.
The Luau
At around 8:30ish people started heading over to the luau at Mura. They had roped off an area outside Mura with tables, a Red Bull mini-bar, and a DJ who was spinning over by the fountain. There was a long line to get in, and the line wasn’t moving very quickly. But there was a girl passing out leis so this was a good distraction from the wait. We finally got to the front of the line and I found out that I’d mistakenly reported the price of admission and sushi. I’d heard it was $10, when it was really $15. But the money went to a good cause (Muscular Dystrophy Association) so I paid and went in.
We met up with the MyNC.com crew (see picture below), who were there getting the word out about their community website, which features sections for Raleigh, as well as other areas of North Carolina. I definitely think they’re doing some cool stuff with this, as it seems they understand the trend towards citizen journalism and user-generated news.
The Food
After talking with a few other friends and meeting some new people, we decided to investigate the food situation. Unfortunately there was no food yet (after 9pm). People had gathered by the one table where the sushi was going to be and were waiting to eat. Eventually they brought the sushi out but it took a while to get through the line to get food.
For the $15 admission fee you received two tickets, which were good for one plate of sushi each. I’m definitely glad I waited, as the sushi was excellent. The only things I would have done differently would be to get the sushi out earlier, utilize more than one table so the lines would be shorter and include some options for vegetarians — I’m not one, but I’ve come to accept them…I don’t make fun of them nearly as much as I used to
Overall it was a good event benefitting a great cause. For anyone else that attended the luau, what did you think?
The Pictures
See below for some pictures from the music and luau. Click the thumbnails twice to see the largest versions. You can also see these pictures and others on Flickr.
Today my buddy Taylor Barr met me for lunch at Cinelli’s Pizza at North Hills. I am a huge fan of the restaurant, but Taylor had never eaten there before. We sat outside and both ordered the lunch special (2 pieces of pizza and a drink). You can choose from a few different styles of pizza at Cinelli’s but I always go with “Grandma’s Pizza.”
Here’s how Cinelli’s describes Grandma’s Pizza on their website:
Thin crust, baked in a pan, litely topped with mozzarella cheese & Italian plum tomatoes. Sprinkled with Olive Oil, fresh garlic, basil and oregano. An Olde World Recipe that dates back to our Grandma and her Grandma, brought to NY by our mother and now brought here to NC by the Cinelli brothers.
The extra herbs and fresh ingredients give this pizza a great flavor. I highly recommend it.
Check out the video below to hear what Taylor thought about Cinelli’s and Grandma’s Pizza.
***** TONIGHT’S SHOW HAS BEEN CANCELLED DUE TO THE SMOKE/AIR CONDITIONS RELATED TO THE WILDFIRES IN EASTERN NORTH CAROLINA ****
It’s Thursday and you know what that means. The Midtown Music Shag Series continues tonight with a performance by Part Time Party Time Band over at the Commons from 6:00-8:30pm.
Many of you have already known this but Triangle Business Journal recently did an article that publicized the fact that a two-story Harris Teeter grocery store will be the main tenant in the future St. Albans building at North Hills East, the area that is still under construction across from the main North Hills development.
The new double-decker Harris Teeter will open in 2009 and occupy a 48,200 square-foot area in the new building. Unfortunately for Alexan residents who enjoy the quick walk to Harris Teeter now, the current store will close when the new one opens. It has not been determined (to my knowledge) what will occupy the space where the current Harris Teeter lives.
What do you think about having a two-story grocery store? Ever been to one? If so, what is it like?
If you’re going to be around North Hills today, and are interested in jewelry and design, be sure to check out the trunk show at Elaine Miller Collection. They’re having famed jewelry designer Elizabeth Locke showcase her spring collection from 10:00am - 6:00pm.
If you’re a jewelry connoisseur you don’t want to miss this.
Today, North Hills Buzz (along with News 14 and NBC) covered the press conference on the Commons officially welcoming Aldert Root elementary school to North Hills.
For the 2008-2009 school year, students in Aldert Root will attend school in modular units over at North Hills East. Kane worked with the community and school system to donate approximately 4 acres for the school to use while its 50 year old buildings are renovated.
By our estimate, about 150 people attended the event, and about 50 were kids. At the beginning of the event, the children gave a “Seussical” performance and sang songs inspired by famous Dr. Seuss phrases, such as “Anything’s possible,” “I do not like green eggs and ham,” and “a person’s a person no matter how small.”
Please see below for some video and pictures from the event. Click on the thumbnails for larger versions (click twice for the largest size).
This is a guest post by Lenore Ramm, an IT analyst and blogger who writes about food and restaurants at “Eclectic Glob of Tangential Verbosity.” Visit her at http://eronel.blogspot.com/. We’re always looking for people to contribute to this site, so if you’d like to write for us, please let us know by contacting us.
I recently met a group of friends at Hot Point Cafe, in North Hills Mall. It’s a brightly lit cafe offering a wide selection of food at very reasonable prices. I ordered the Crab Cake Salad, above, for only $6.25. It was a really huge meal and this was only the small size. The crab cake was very good and contained a decent percentage of crab meat. The salad was unexpectedly spicy, but not excessively so. The menu did mention “green demon pesto”, so I should have guessed. As you can see, the salad had a lot of parmesan cheese and sesame-ginger salad dressing, which someone more health conscious than I might consider asking to be placed on the side.
This is the catfish quesadilla, which was the meal of choice for the author of North Hills Buzz. It looked very impressive, as you can see. (more…)
Happy Memorial Day! I hope you’re spending it with friends and family and having a great long weekend. While we usually think of this holiday as a day to relax and grill out, it’s important to remember the real reason we celebrate this day–to honor soldiers who have given their lives in service to this great country.
Have a safe, relaxing day. I’ll be grilling/chilling and enjoying this awesome weather out by the pool.
North Hills Buzz is the online community for North Hills Raleigh. Here you'll find restaurant information, news and discussions focused on a variety of North Hills topics. Join the conversation! More
Today my buddy 
Many of you have already known this but 
