Car Free in Raleigh

My good friend Mandy talked us into getting out of the house this morning. We met her on her way to Food Lion, then trekked back to my house to get my laundry going, then up to her house for some toddler playtime.
Roundtrip: 1.6 miles
Why is it so hard to get myself out of the […]

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This week looks like it will be gorgeous in Raleigh. 70 degrees and sunny.
This morning, we played with a little friend, had some lunch, and then headed out to walk to a nearby park. It was 1.5 miles away, but the weather was lovely, and Mandy had encouraged me to get out of the house […]

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We enjoyed a nice holiday with my parents, who came down from Pittsburgh. It was strange to have access to a car for several days in a row.
We went to a lovely Christmas Eve vigil mass, although we would have preferred Midnight Mass. But, having a toddler and lacking our own car, we made do […]

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Tonight, I had the urge to make my Incredibly Good Brownies™. Unfortunately, I created the recipe long before we had a toddler with food allergies. I’ve yet to create a Malachy-safe version.
So, tonight looked like it would be the night. I melted the “futter” (fake butter - Earth Balance brand). I mixed in the cocoa […]

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As we walked back from a nearby store (1.5 miles away) a few days ago, Mark and I talked about the stranger parts of The Typical American Lifestyle.When we owned a car, I frequently did paradoxical things like driving 2 - 3 miles to walk at a local greenway…. for exercise. Or driving 1 mile […]

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So, we had planned to head out to Lowe’s this morning to get a heater. But when we woke up, it somehow registered that today is one of the few of what we Catholics know as “Holy Days of Obligation” (read: “Get your heiny in church or else!” days).
(The Feast of the Immaculate Conception of […]

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Today, we packed up our Radio Flyer wagon and headed down to Food Lion to get some groceries.
My first mistake was choosing this trip as the time to shop for a month, rather than a week. Yes, theoretically, it is cheaper. But seriously, do you know how much food it takes to eat for a […]

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One difficult part of living without a car is the limited bus service on Sundays (and after hours any other day). For example, compare the CAT weekday routes to the Sunday route list. On a weekday, we can hop on 3 or 10 and be downtown in a few minutes. However, neither route is […]

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My neighborhood has a Walk Score of 42:
Not Walkable: Only a few destinations are within easy walking range. For most errands, driving or public transportation is a must.
I agree that public transportation is a “must” for my neighborhood; we’re not close to offices or other places where most people work. On the other hand, we’re […]

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