With the excitement surrounding U2’s recent album release and international stadium tour, the minute U.S. dates were released, I scoured the schedule for shows we could attend. The pair of Chicago shows intersected with our planned Ireland trip, so we settled on a weekend getaway to Raleigh, North Carolina, to see U2 at Carter-Finley Stadium, among many other fun activities.
Friday, October 2
We were at the Des Moines airport bright and early to catch our 6:30 a.m. flight to St. Louis, on our way to the Raleigh-Durham International Airport. We arrived, grabbed our rental car, and made our way into Durham for a noon-time lunch at the well-reviewed Watt’s Grocery. After lunch, we traveled four miles west to tour the historic Bennett Place site, home to the largest Confederate troop surrender of the Civil War.
Bennett Place historic site.
Our afternoon featured a unique bi-plane ride over the Raleigh-Durham metropolitan area. The hour-long tour, which departed from Durham’s Lake Ridge Airport and was piloted by American Airlines veteran Mike Ratty, featured aerial views nearby Falls Lake, the campuses of Duke and North Carolina, and the better part of the Durham and Chapel Hill communities. We took a lot of photos and videos documenting the experience, from takeoff to landing.
In front of our red bi-plane.
Following the flight, we stopped by an overpriced pottery store before making the most important stop of our trip at Locopops, a cute little storefront dedicated to selling homemade Mexican popsicles (“paletas”) in fruit and cream varieties. We ended up trying several flavors in our two stops, including chocolate brownie, cookies-n-cream, chocolate blueberry truffle, and cherry lime.
A most memorable stop.
Our night ended watching the Carolina Hurricanes home opener, where we witnessed a 2-0 loss to the Philadelphia Flyers among a crowd of 18,680. It was our first NHL game, and we went all out with tickets, spending more than we did for the U2 concert to sit in the fourth row behind the glass. While the arena was larger and hockey was played at a higher level, the game didn’t resonate as being significantly more enjoyable than the USHL games we had seen in Sioux City, Sioux Falls and Council Bluffs.
The crowd had given up on the game by the final minutes of the third period.
Saturday, October 3
The most important part of our trip was scheduled for the evening, when we were set to witness Muse and U2 perform at Carter-Finley Stadium, home of the North Carolina State Wolfpack. Our day started with lunch at Lilly’s Pizza in Raleigh before making our way to the North Carolina State campus bookstore. We later made a stop at the Crabtree Valley Mall before returning to the hotel, then making our way to the concert.
We ordered custom t-shirts to wear to the concert.
We had no problems getting to the concert or parking, and were inside the stadium in plenty of time to eat a Chick-fil-A sandwich and purchase a souvenir program and t-shirt. Muse was a solid opening act but their performance wasn’t especially memorable, and may have been marred slightly by the super fans in front of us screaming along to every song.
Adam Clayton and The Edge during Sunday Bloody Sunday.
The U2 show itself was spectacular, and our behind-the-stage seats offered a great view for the $55 price tag. The show was fun from start to finish, from Breathe to Moment of Surrender. One of the more memorable parts of the show was Bono tossing the mic to a fan to sing a bit of People Get Ready during the Sunday Bloody Sunday performance. Armed with our new Canon digital camera, we captured some fun video and photos to remember the concert.
Sunday, October 4
After checking out from the Hyatt Place North Raleigh, I dropped Amanda off at the Umstead Hotel & Spa for a morning treatment featuring a manicure, pedicure, and massage. While she was relaxing, I was exploring North Carolina’s backroads, photographing ten post offices and two courthouses in a triangular quadrant southwest of Raleigh-Durham.
Post-massage, outside the Umstead Hotel & Spa in Cary, NC.
We drove to downtown Durham for brunch at the Piedmont, before making a final stop at Locopops and checking out the nearby independent Regulator Bookstore before returning our rental car and catching our flight at the Raleigh-Durham Airport. Our return trip took us through Chicago, where we ate at the in-airport Chili’s Restaurant during our very long layover. We arrived in Des Moines shortly after 11 p.m.
