No power meant no television and no heat for many. A warm theater with a good movie seemed a nice alternative.
"Right now, me and the kids are out checking out a movie, getting some popcorn and drinks," Valentino King said Friday night." I work at RTP, and I went to work today powerless, but I went, anyway.
Mark McNiff chose to go to a restaurant.
"Trying to find a warm place to hang out with my daughter is something else," he said.
McNiff and his daughter weren't alone. A warm meal was the missing ingredient for many families still without power.
"Luckily, I have a gas heater," McNiff said. "I was able to boil water to at least bathe a little bit. So it's better than nothing"
Another warm place that the winter weather couldn't put on ice was the Cary Towne Center shopping mall. Business at the mall was up 30 percent Friday.
"You just don't want to lose a full day if you can avoid it," said Pat Anderson, general manager of the Cary Towne Center. "With schools being out and people without power, business is real good."
The Christmas shopping season is already a week shorter this year. Anderson compared the last day or two to the shopping day after Thanksgiving.
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