If you are already in holiday shopping mode, listen up! This holiday season, for the first time ever, more than 80 retailers and restaurants in downtown Raleigh are joining together to offer a Downtown Raleigh gift card. This gift card, which can be purchased through the Downtown Raleigh Alliance, will be accepted at almost any shop or restaurant in the downtown Raleigh district. The card can even be used at the Raleigh Marriott City Center and Sheraton Raleigh hotels, in the gift shops at the Marbles Kids Museum, The North Carolina Museum of History, Nature Research Center and North Carolina Museum of Natural Sciences; and art galleries like Artspace and Designbox. There are over 35 restaurants participating, including Poole’s Diner and Beasley’s Chicken + Honey, all of the Eschelon Hospitality restaurants like The Oxford and Zinda, and more. Seaboard Station is also getting into the act with many merchants, including 18 Seaboard, Donatos Pizza and others at Seaboard Station participating in the Downtown Raleigh gift card program. Gift cards will be available in denominations ranging from $10 to $500 and can be purchased online at www.ShopDowntownRaleigh.com or at the Downtown Raleigh Alliance office. What an excellent gift, you can’t go wrong!