While we were in town for the PC meeting, we wanted to make sure to eat some local favorites. What is Raleigh known for? Barbecue. A local favorite located only blocks from the convention center is The Pit, which is perhaps described as a gourmet barbecue restaurant.
Our server easily identified our group for the out-of-towners that we were, and shared with us some of the details about the food. Eastern North Carolina barbecue differs from that served in other locations by its more considerable use of vinegar. The sauces and flavorings used on the food were lighter in color than I'd expect from a typical jar of BBQ sauce, and they definitely had a sharper taste to them. The other distinction is that some of the menu items were "chopped" into smaller sized bits than you'd expect from a typical Texas "pulled pork," for example. We loved the food, and thought it was terrific.
One of our committee members (Tracy Camp, program co-chair extraordinaire) is a vegetarian, and kept us honest in making sure she was able to eat as well. The Pit has a barbecued tofu dish that is incredibly good. Tracy asked many of us to taste her food, saying "are you sure this isn't chicken?" I'm happy to confirm that yes, it was indeed tofu, and we highly recommend the dish to anyone.
The Pit is located one block north and three blocks west of the convention center, at 328 W. Davie St. It gets really busy: visit the website and make a reservation for lunch or dinner.
Tuesday, October 25, 2011
Wednesday, October 19, 2011
Brainy Transportation
Greetings from the SIGCSE 2012 committee.
We're all looking forward to seeing you in Raleigh! We've just returned from our program committee meeting in Raleigh, where we got together to decide what paper, panel, special session, and workshop proposals will appear in the final program. It was also an opportunity for us to learn more about the event site, and so we hope to share with you some of the excitement that we've had.
If you're traveling alone between the airport and downtown Raleigh, Super Shuttle is probably your most economical option. If you have a larger party, however, you can take a cab and split the cost. There are many taxi companies in Raleigh; we chose to try Trivia Taxi in traveling back to the airport from the hotel. During a Trivia Taxi ride, you get asked six trivia questions. If you get at least five of them right, you get a free ride!
The experience was an absolute blast, and we'd recommend it to anyone. The four of us in the cab were allowed to discuss and consider answers, but one of us had to be designated as the "final answerer." Trivia queen and symposium co-chair Laurie Smith King enthusiastically took on that role.
The questions started off fairly easy, and we whipped through them in due course. The difficulty was suddenly ratcheted up when this team of four computer scientists was asked "How many different ways are there to make change from a $1 bill?" On the short ride to the airport, the pressure was fierce. Multiple approaches were discussed, scraps of paper scrawled on, and at least one family member was called via cell phone, but we didn't have the time to whip out a laptop and code up a simulation.
Embarrassingly, we paid for the ride. But it was the best cab ride we had ever paid for.
We're all looking forward to seeing you in Raleigh! We've just returned from our program committee meeting in Raleigh, where we got together to decide what paper, panel, special session, and workshop proposals will appear in the final program. It was also an opportunity for us to learn more about the event site, and so we hope to share with you some of the excitement that we've had.
If you're traveling alone between the airport and downtown Raleigh, Super Shuttle is probably your most economical option. If you have a larger party, however, you can take a cab and split the cost. There are many taxi companies in Raleigh; we chose to try Trivia Taxi in traveling back to the airport from the hotel. During a Trivia Taxi ride, you get asked six trivia questions. If you get at least five of them right, you get a free ride!
The experience was an absolute blast, and we'd recommend it to anyone. The four of us in the cab were allowed to discuss and consider answers, but one of us had to be designated as the "final answerer." Trivia queen and symposium co-chair Laurie Smith King enthusiastically took on that role.
The questions started off fairly easy, and we whipped through them in due course. The difficulty was suddenly ratcheted up when this team of four computer scientists was asked "How many different ways are there to make change from a $1 bill?" On the short ride to the airport, the pressure was fierce. Multiple approaches were discussed, scraps of paper scrawled on, and at least one family member was called via cell phone, but we didn't have the time to whip out a laptop and code up a simulation.
Embarrassingly, we paid for the ride. But it was the best cab ride we had ever paid for.
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