Raleigh's miniature version of Rockefeller Plaza, complete with an outdoor ice skating rink, opens tonight for the holiday season.
A 40-by-85-foot rink, kept frozen by portable chillers, will be open seven days a week through Jan. 31 at City Plaza on Fayetteville Street, between the Progress Energy and BB&T buildings.
Admission, including skate rental, is $6 for as long as your legs hold up. The rink can hold up to 140 skaters at a time, though the ice may be crowded at that capacity.
The rink will open at 5 p.m. today, along with Winterfest festivities that include live entertainment and sledding ramps made of artificial snow.
Mayor Charles Meeker will flip the switch for City Plaza's first Christmas tree-lighting at 7:30 p.m.
Never skated before?
North Carolina's winter climate, though comfortable to many, offers few outdoor ice-skating opportunities.
Downtown Raleigh Alliances hopes to offer skating lessons Sunday afternoons for those Tar Heels new to the slippery sport, said Brandi Barnhart, a spokeswoman for the group.
Emily Vivian, 14, a freshman at Holly Springs High School, started skating two years ago, but Thursday night made the second time she'd ever ice-skated outside. Her first experience was visiting at a pond at her grandfather's home in Ohio.
Emily has some advice: Hold onto the side and lace those skates up tight.
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