Downtown Raleigh, North Carolina: Nutty
The following illustrates my premise:
– In the foyer of the Raleigh state capital building, there’s a marble statue of George Washington that’s two stories high, sculpted in 1820 by the famous Italian artist Antonio Canova. George is clad in a Roman toga, which is puzzling-he never belonged to a fraternity and since there’s no trace of any empty beer cans or keggers nearby, the toga doesn’t make much sense. There’s a tablet that Mr. Washington has obviously been writing on – but the written script is in Italian. Aha! Perhaps it says “Bud Light is better than Miller Lite.” We’ll have to look into that. Though no one understood why Washington was created in Roman garb, when the capital building burned down in 1831, the city fathers re-commissioned the statue. And wouldn’t you know, those party-hearty kids in Raleigh made sure that the second time around, the toga stayed intact. Here’s to good times âÂ?¦ tonight is kinda special.
– Talking of big and nutty, in a downtown city park called Moore Square (right across from the Greyhound bus station and yes, that smell of gas and that screeching sound means another broken-down vehicle has just pulled in) … sorry, where was I? Oh yes, The Big, Big Acorn, sometimes called “Nutzilla,” is about as tall as three men standing on each other’s shoulders. In perfect proportion to the real deal, the lower two-thirds of the nut consists of a rounded, slightly-ridged body, while the remaining top third stays true to the bumpy and lumpy texture of a real acorn top, acting as an overhanging helmet to the lower portion. I guess this is to protect the body from the frequent torrential downpours that makes Raleigh so very special. But here’s the best part: Once a year, Nutzilla is removed from its stand so that at midnight on New Year’s Eve, instead of dropping the Big Apple, they drop the Big Nut.
– As for more nutty goodness, Raleigh seems to lend itself to a happy state of argument. For example, there’s a bronze statue called “The Three Presidents” placed directly in front of the Capitol Building, with the representations of James Polk, Andrew Johnson and Andrew Jackson. But there continues to be a hotly contested argument as to whether Jackson was born in North or South Carolina, both states insisting that he belongs to them. Both states also have dedicated honors to their native son. They fight over which piece of earth actually contains Andy’s ashes. Then there’s the Krispy Kreme doughnut store, also downtown, just a few blocks from the capital. Proud citizens point to this 1950’s landmark as the original. However, three cities up and over, Winston-Salem states it had the original back in 1937. “But that was a factory, this is a retail store,” the Raleigh clan contests. And don’t even get them started on chocolate vs. glazed, hot vs. cold. Touchy, touchy, touchy. The local residents once sued the Krispy Kreme company, claiming that the Christmas red and green signage was much too large and immodest. (This, from a people who throw their nuts around at the first opportunity.) Krispy Kreme won that battle and now, per Raleigh law, the sign has been accorded landmark status. Maybe it’s the humidity, but gee, those Carolinians sure get hot under the collar. Maybe we should join them in some sweet tea, and calm the heck down.
Enjoy! I sure did!
