Obviously the person who thought *THAT* was a wonderful idea was not the one driving Katie to her first Enloe Charity Ball in downtown Raleigh! The Charity Ball is an annual student-led event that raises fantastic sums of money for their cause celebre (this year it is Alliance Medical Ministry) with the goal being a $175,000 donation. And don’t put it past them to blow past that goal…one year had them raise over $200K!
Anywho, you know you’re in for driving hell when you see a little too late that I-40 eastbound is backed up and of course the crash just happens to be at exit 306 for US-70 which is the absolute worst place for it to occur.
No problem, I’ll just jump off at exit 303 onto the Jones Sausage Road and use the back roads to bypass all of the silliness on the motorway. And that plan worked a treat…except for the person in front of me who felt that going 5-10 miles per hour below posted was in any way helpful!
I finally make it to Clayton a bit late but everything’s looking just peachy for the return trip back into Raleigh.
That is until it becomes obvious that Person St is closed from I-40 into downtown which is the most direct route to the venue that avoids all of the other activities occurring downtown at the same time.
So now we’re stuck with coming in on South Saunders/McDowell to Hargett Street dodging several street closures and short-cycling lights ensuring that the traffic is moving so slowly that glaciers would seem to be speedy by comparison.
But don’t let that make you think there aren’t things going on that offer entertainment value!
On the short run to Moore Square, we were treated to more than a few loud (and likely inebriated!) people sometimes on the sidewalks and sometimes right in the lane of travel. If that wasn’t impressive enough, about a block away from destination was when we saw at least three males start throwing punches and grabbing each other to the cheering of the onlookers which sounded more than a little like a start to a state of public disorder!
I finally get to a point where I can safely drop off Katie and then I ended up pacing her to the far end of the block where the queue to enter ended at the part of Person Street that isn’t completely in the bin.
Never was I so happy to turn left at that stoplight and then escape on New Bern Avenue.
I can only imagine how much fun it’ll be when it comes time to retrieve her round 2300 hours. 🙂
That being said, no matter how much the drive to Clayton and then back to downtown Raleigh reeked (and it really did!)…I’d be inclined to drive my Traverse through the ninth ring of Dante’s Hell if that breathtakingly beautiful young lady in the co-pilot’s seat ordered me to do so.
Even if it weren’t for a charitable cause… 😉