Traveling to Raleigh

My trip to Raleigh, North Carolina was extremely amusing and I was most certainly taken by surprise by the wonders of this city.
I had really low expectations for my trip, other than the Upsilon Pi Epsilon presentation I had to give at the SIGCSE '12, I wasn't really looking forward to anything else.
Turns out I went on the best weekend there is, First Friday is like this huge event that takes place every month. There's music, and art venues, it's filled with life and so much fun! The city also surprised me, it was just delightful, and so different to the architecture I'm used to seeing in Miami. I was a truly beautiful experience ... minus the flights... I hated flying, normally I'm okay, but the rides were so bumpy I felt like throwing up all the time. But lets forget about the negativity of my trip and focus on the greatness of it all.

the hotel

My hotel was fairly close to the Convention Center (8 blocks or so), most definitely walking distance. The only times I rode a cab was because it was early morning and I was wearing heels and when I was going to get to know the city and because it was somewhat dark. So yeah, if you're thinking of going to Raleigh Downtown this place is great (price and distance), near all the great restaurants in Gleenwood Ave and the Convention Center area. These areas are completely opposite to each other, making Days Inn prefect since its right in the middle.
So here it is, my stay:

arriving to NC

awesome billboard

Raleigh Convention Center

great display on the side of the Conv. Center