No, I’m not talking about smoking. I’m talking about lighting the Christmas Tree (is it still legal to call it that?) at the State Capital last night.

I was joined by Lisa Sullivan (of NBC-17 fame). Lisa gave me an impromptu lesson in video blogging, and we explored the nuances of rechargeable batteries and the need to put electrons into the batteries first.

Despite the technical hijinks, we had a great time - especially when the little kid who was supposed to announce “THREE” during the countdown to the lighting announced “TWO”. As the Governor noted, he was just in a hurry to get things lit up.

No trip to the State Capital is complete without me snapping a few brownies … here’s what I came up with.

Before I met Lisa, I took some time to explore the recently reopened Fayetteville Street. There’s a pleasant mix of old and new architecture here, and the Briggs building stood out nicely as an example of a restored, but not an over-restored building in a bustling downtown core. The Briggs building hosts a nice museum celebrating the history of Raleigh, which brings me to my next photo …

This isn’t that distant of a memory in Raleigh. In fact, some of the older restaurants in the city still have the separate entrances - without the marked doors, of course. I was too young to remember the civil rights movement (I was born in 1975), but it’s amazing how many reminders of segregation still exist today.

My last shot for today is a streetscape looking south from the State Capital. I’m especially fond of the coloured lights; note the purple illumination on the convention centre at the end of the street. The blurred lights of the car driving past give the shot a nice sense of movement and bustle - a happening place on a Wednesday night!