RALEIGH -- Triangle natives have adjusted to the habits and eccentricities of transplants from up north, even the bagels and New York pizza.
But ice skating in the fresh air? It sounds impossible, but this northern wintertime custom is taking hold in the Triangle.
Three outdoor skating rinks have recently opened, featuring both honest-to-goodness ice and the artificial kind. A beneath-the-ice chiller system keeps the ice from melting at the rink downtown, and sheets of synthetic, plastic ice have turned two shopping centers into skating destinations.
It's all a little more technologically advanced than the homemade rinks Don MacMillan skated on as a kid in Connecticut. MacMillan, the guy in charge of the ice at the RBC Center, said each winter the fire department would spray down a grassy area at his church so the kids could skate.
It wasn't a perfectly groomed, NHL-style rink, but when you're a kid, those things don't matter.
"If it had a soft corner, you didn't skate there," MacMillan said. So if the sun comes out and creates a puddle in the Raleigh outdoor rink, who cares?
In North Carolina, rain and humidity add to the difficulty of maintaining an outdoor rink, said Becky Schmidt, general manager of Koka Booth Amphitheatre in Cary.
In 2006 and 2007, the concert venue hosted a holiday-themed event that included a skating rink of real ice. Amphitheatre renovations axed the rink last year, and this year the venue decided against having one. Although the rink was not designed to make money, it never really broke even either and wasn't included in this year's budget.
Keeping outdoor ice in North Carolina is a labor-intensive process.
"You have to have crews watching it basically 24 hours a day," Schmidt said. "You want it to be ice, not water skiing."
The Raleigh ice rink, on Fayetteville Street, is the centerpiece of a nearly two-month event called Winterfest. Organized by the Downtown Raleigh Alliance, the group found sponsors to cover the rink's nearly $100,000 cost. Advertisements line the boards of the rink, just like at the RBC Center.
If outdoor skating in North Carolina seems odd, the company that operates the rink, Ice Rink Events, has faced much hotter challenges, including Mexico City.
For a less genuine, but seemingly no-less-fun experience, skaters can try the artificial ice popping up at shopping centers.
Gracie Payne, 4, glided across the "ice" on Friday at North Hills, calling out "watch this, Nana!" before executing perfect spins.
Her grandma, Pam Parsons, whipped out her cell-phone camera to document the stylish moves. Gracie had never been on skates of any sort.
Parsons saw something about the rink on TV and knew her granddaughter would enjoy it. Gracie's mom, Jennifer Payne, also skated.
Mom and daughter had so much fun that they're already planning a nighttime return trip from Goldsboro to skate beneath the Christmas lights.
