A neat 'find' in recent visit to the mall

Even though we've been in Raleigh for six plus years now, I can't say I'm an expert in citing the exact number of traditional indoor malls there are in the Triangle. But I think that right now there are only two, one on the Northside of the city and the other in Durham. 

There had been a third, in suburban Cary, but it shuttered a few years ago, and the property is undergoing a substantial multi-use redevelopment.

We have visited the one in Raleigh, Crabtree Valley Mall, probably a dozen or so times or so since we've been here. It just so happens that Crabtree is the site of the only Apple Store in the area, so half of those dozen visits probably were related to reasons pertaining to visiting the Apple Store.

Our most recent visit, on Nov. 1, was an entertainment outing of sorts. Lee Ann's granddaughter, Lizzy, was with us for the day, and we thought she'd enjoy exploring the various shops at the mall. 

As malls go, Crabtree is pretty nice, I'd say. It's two anchor stores are Belk and Macy's, but in addition to the Apple Store, it has a good variety of clothing, accessory, beauty, sports and novelty shops as well as a very respectable food court featuring a diversity of cuisine -- Italian, Thai, Mexican, Mediterranean, Greek, Japanese, Asian, Creole and Cajun plus a Chik-fil-A, Moe's Southwest and McDonald's. To top it off, there is a Haagen-Dazs ice-cream kiosk just off the food court. Elsewhere in the mall, there are sit-down restaurants (among them Cheesecake Factory, Seasons 52 and P.F. Chang). 

One new shop (well, to me anyway) we visited turned out to be my favorite of the day. It is called Earthbound Trading Company. That is where most of the first images in this post were taken, including the cool potted mug leading off the post. My favorite "find" of the day was the Woodstock/Max Yasgur's Farm shirt shown in the image below. I came close to buying one, but for whatever reasons, held off.

The other images, other than the novelty timepiece right below the Earthbound merchandise, reflected Christmas decorations and/or merchandise that are already on display in the mall.   

Mi Cancun: 1 out of 2 ain't bad ... I guess

We had an itch for Mexican cuisine recently, so we spent considerable time researching what would be a very good place to enjoy that in the Triangle. We hadn't sampled too many such places in the years we've been here, but because Lee Ann is the true fan of that cuisine, I let her settle on a place. 

I don't know how Lee Ann considers Mexican food such a delight, given her disdain for spicy foods, but I've encountered apparent palate contradictions like this in other people (including me) before, so I'm sure it's not uncommon. 

In my case, my stomach and digestive system cannot handle onions unless they are minced (and I'm talking pulverized here) and cooked thoroughly, and my stomach will do cartwheels (not in a good way) with the first whiff of high concentrations of garlic, such as garlic bread. And yet, I otherwise enjoy spicy foods. 

For example, I will sprinkle seasoned pepper on my frozen pizzas, and I like curry and paprika on sundry foods (Lee Ann does not).

But I'm getting off the subject. We landed at a franchise establishment that goes by Mi Cancun and picked the one on High House Road in Cary, a Raleigh suburb, because it had the best reviews. 

I had a luncheon sampler plate -- a burrito, an enchilada and a taco ( feel like I'm telling a joke here ... you know, a burrito, an enchilada and a taco entered a bar ... ). I believe Lee Ann ordered a fajita plate of some kind with rice, bean dip and guacamole on lettuce. She enjoyed her meal, I found mine lacking in imagination and, most importantly, flavor. That's the fajita dish you see in the photo leading off the post. Her side dish and my meal are the first two photos shown below, in that order.

We also had margaritas and elected to get the top-shelf tequila, and despite getting the premium alcohol, which we thought would guarantee satisfaction, we both found the margaritas slightly below average. The beverages looked a lot better than they tasted (see photos below the food).  

The rest of the photos depict the eatery's decor.