HERE'S TO FIVE YEARS

We made it to 5 years, cue the champagne! Or the steak...

This year marks 5 years of married life for us and while we have been quite busy building up the homestead, we still have been making monthly camping trips a priority. Although we would have loved to be up in New England to celebrate this milestone, we decided a quick 3-day trip to Raleigh would suffice this year. 

As mountain lovers, we haven't actually spent much time in Raleigh, NC because we typically head west through the state. We picked Falls Lake State Recreation Area as our destination. It was a fairly short ride north of us, so we headed out on the Friday after work, but much to our disappointment, it down poured as we packed up to leave and everything was wet when we arrived. That didn't stop us from enjoying some "sodas" and banjo outside, courtesy of Cameron! 

On the actual day of our anniversary, I had made reservations at The Angus Barn. It was a beautiful property and venue that had a wonderful selection of steaks and drinks. Cameron has been loving Smoked Old Fashioned's, and the Angus Barn is known for their special version of this cocktail, so it seemed almost too perfect! 

We did a little hikin', readin', and banjoin' beforehand and then got ourselves dolled up for anniversary dinner. We had also planned a little photoshoot at the venue as well, so we went early in the afternoon. The barn was just as described and quite dazzling. We took some fun pictures around the property before heading to the outdoor bar. 

The really neat part about the Angus Barn is all the various areas to enjoy yourself, and also the decor. It's really a great event space too for weddings and other functions. There's an outdoor event pavilion, a little gift shop, an outdoor bar and seating area, and upstairs lounge, plus the main barn for dining. We did a little browsing and made our way up to the lounge to have drinks and light apps before our table was ready. The Angus Barn does a fantastic job celebrating special events. The staff was wonderful in every area we stopped at.

This sitting area inside was decorated so well!

As far as the actual dinner, there were no phones or cameras allowed at the tables (yay, more places should have this rule!) so you'll just have to take our word for it that the steak was DELICIOUS. They also give everyone celebrating a special occasion a pound cake. Cameron and I were too stuffed to enjoy it at the table, but we took it back to the camper and enjoyed it later on. We definitely had a memorable dining experience celebrating 5 years. 

Since we were staying in the area until Monday, we decided to explore the area Sunday. After another morning hike around the campground, we headed into Wake Forest to check out what the town had to offer. We stopped at some small stores in town and grabbed some beers and pretzels at Norse Brewing Company. There really wasn't too much going on in the town for a Sunday, and we honestly didn't quite fit in with all the expensive cars and designer hand bags and shoes milling about. 

Nevertheless, we enjoyed yet another local town for what it had to offer, and afterwards we headed back to the campsite to enjoy the lake views and grilled food, wrapping up a perfect anniversary weekend. Here's to many more years of exploring new places together and eating lots of steak!