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Must see Triangle spots


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Duke Gardens is a lot nicer in the summer and fall, but still worth checking out (as long as it's not snowing or anything).

I'd echo th Nasher Museum and the Morehead Planetarium. Downtown Raleigh is the best place for kids or anyone who's interested in history. My mom really enjoyed the Duke Homestead and Tobacco Museum in Durham when she came to visit. Take them out to dinner somewhere in the American Tobacco Historic District and to breakfast at Elmo's on 9th St.

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If you do CH/Carrboro hit/think about hitting the following (nightlife):

West End Wine Bar/The Cellar (hidden little bar beneath the wine bar)

Lantern (great food but a bit pricey/cool bar in the back)

Local 506

Reservoir (total dive bar but cool)

Carrburritos (best cheap Mexican around-high quality and very popular)

Mediterranean Deli (great middle eastern food, maybe the best in the Triangle)

The Cave-pretty cool little tavern with music just about every night

Carolina Brewery (good beer, good place to watch sports)

OCSC (Orange County Social Club)-hipster bar but people are pretty cool

Open Eye Cafe-cool coffee joint-same owners as Cafe Driade which I also recommend

anything in Carr Mill (Weaver Street Market etc)

Tylers

Spotted Dog-another local grill/bar place catering to vegan types

CD Alley-coolest record store in NC

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A few other items:

* A Southern Season

* A drive through RBC/Carter-Finley and by the fairgrounds, esp Dorton Arena.

* Drive through Duke (chapel and cameron) and by the BAP - didn't everyone see Bull Durham?

* Morgan Imports in Brightleaf

* Drive by Old Well and Franklin St. in Chapel Hill

* Drive by BC/BS building on 15-501

* Drive by Burroughs-Wellcome building in RTP. They need to cut those trees!

* Drive around downtown Raleigh

* North Hills

* NC Museum of Art, History, Sciences in dt Raleigh

* Second Empire

* Gov. Mansion

* Krispy Kreme

* Glenwood South at night - hoppin'

* Broughton High School

* St. Mary's St., Harvey St., Cowper Drive (Hayes Barton)

* Lunch at Seabord Cafe on a pretty day.

* Pullen Park

* 5-Star, 518, Sullivan's - all impressive to out of towners

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Thanks everyone for your suggestions! It almost boggles my mind how many cool, interesting things there are to do in this area. Urban, nature, etc...when you really look at it, it's just incredible. Sometimes viewing it from an outsider's perspective can make you appreciate where you live even more. The hard part for me is that what someone else thinks as great, I see as ho hum. Like Cameron Village...people freakin' love that place that don't live here. I like it, but there are so many better things to do around here.

I never thought about the original BAP! They've seen that movie of course, so they'll love that :thumbsup:

I'm thinking I might drive them through some of the more interesting parts of Durham (Nasher, Duke, 9th St, ATHD, Brightleaf)...and then check out CH. You can park, and just walk around aimlessly forever(soon Raleigh, too, will have that atmosphere). The next day I plan on showing 5 pts, Glenwood, etc.

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Each area does have it's own mini-tour you could do:

Durham:

Downtown

Carolina Theater

Durham Athletic Park

American Tobacco

Brightleaf

If kids are involved, you could go to Northgate (kids like the Carosel) and then further up to the Museum of Life and Science (butterfly house, etc)

If older kids/adults, could drive through Duke East campus, walk down 9th street, and then on to Duke campus proper - Nasher museum, Duke Chapel (I don't know if they still do it, but once took the elevator up, really cool view) Cameron Indoor/Wallace Wade (they filmed part of the Handmaid's tale and some other movies there), etc.

Then on to RTP or Southpoint if they're into that.

Chapel Hill:

The campus (Morehead Planetarium, Old Well, Dean Dome, etc.) and Franklin street from the planetarium to Carborro should be plenty. If not, Fearington Village isn't that far down 15-501. Or University Mall... they have some neat art stores and funky stuff like Cameron's.

Raleigh:

Downtown museums (Exploris, NC history, Natural Science)

driving tour of Raleigh Memorial Auditoium, CC excavation site, etc.

City Market/Moore Square

Krispy Kreme/Oakwood/Mordecai

Then can go

- down Hillsborough St to Pullen Park/NC State campus/Cameron Village/NCSU arboretum/NC State Fair flea market/NC Museum of Art

- up up Person/Wake forest to North Hills and the parks out that way

- through boyland heights and then on to the NC Farmer's market, Lake Wheeler

- on Glenwood through Glenwood South onto five points onto crabtree onto NC Museum of art or Brier Creek

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  • 1 year later...

I'm from NC and have lived here all my life. I've been to the Triangle many times, and think it's a great place. I'm planning a day trip to the Triangle in a couple of days really just to show it off to a friend of mine. It's been a while since I've really "been" there and I know much has changed. So, the question is...what are the "must see" things in the Triangle? This list should be good for anyone coming to or even living in the area.

Feel free to list cultural, natural, retail, educational, historic, or silly examples. Seeing a city/region the right way should probably include at least all those categories...

To get things started...

I plan to hit all three major universities.

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Chapel Hill

UNC-Main Campus (Wilson Library houses a museum), Morehead Planetarium, NC Botanical Garden, Franklin St., Gimghoul Castle, Forest Theater (and trail) Ackland Art Museum, Chapel Hill Museum, breakfast at the Carolina Inn/Ye Waffle Shop/Carolina Coffee Shop, Chapel Hill Greenway, Haw River, Jordan Lake, Historic Hillsborough (downtown Hboro), Carrboro

Durham

Eno River

Duke Forest

Duke-Duke Chapel, Duke Gardens, Nasher Museum

NC Museum of Life and Science

Brightleaf Square

DAP/DBAP

American Tobacco Historic District-next to DBAP

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My one day Raleigh drive/walk starts with breakfast/coffee at Third Place coffee shop in Five Points. The neighborhood is mixed-use, old, vibrant and has about 5 antique shops for browsing if desired, very walkable area. Then a drive over to Oakwood for a tour of the historic houses on Blount, Person, Bloodworth and East streets plus a pass up to Pilot Mill. If their is room for a breakfast number two then Krispy Kreme is in order. Mid-day can be filled with any of the downtown museums(Natural Science,History, City or Exploris for kids) or the art museum on Blue Ridge. I take people to Fayetteville St too to see all the construction and grab lunch somewhere we can eat outside like Vics or head over to Glenwood for one of many outdoor options. I split evening dinner and drink up between establishments becasue their are so many...Humble Pie, 5-Star, Porters/Fraziers, Rockford, Duck and Dumpling, Sushi Blues and Moonlight Pizza are all on my list depending on who I am showing around. A movie at the Rialto, it being a historic single screen setup is sometimes a nice relaxing finish. Everything I mentioned should show up on google.

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I'm from NC and have lived here all my life. I've been to the Triangle many times, and think it's a great place. I'm planning a day trip to the Triangle in a couple of days really just to show it off to a friend of mine. It's been a while since I've really "been" there and I know much has changed. So, the question is...what are the "must see" things in the Triangle? This list should be good for anyone coming to or even living in the area.

Feel free to list cultural, natural, retail, educational, historic, or silly examples. Seeing a city/region the right way should probably include at least all those categories...

To get things started...

I plan to hit all three major universities.

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I have friends and family here quite a bit, and here's a decent way I've been able to show them around (varies some on who is visiting). I know you said day-trip so take from this what interests you...this would be a full-day, so definitely would involve staying a night.

I would start in the Chapel Hill and Durham areas early in the day, and move east as you progress to evening (Raleigh, on the weekends is lively at night, a bit slower during the day hours).

Suggestions for morning:

Start in Chapel Hill and Carrboro---browse some shops in DT Chapel Hill or check out the beautiful UNC campus-- and have a nice breakfast around Franklin Street. Particularly nice this time of year, Chapel Hill is as good as it gets for streetlife in the Triangle. I recommend walking over to Carrboro and checking out Weaver Street Market, before grabbing breakfast at Acme (Carrboro), Elmo's, or Mama Dip's.

Mid-morning:

Take 15-501 over to Durham, and enjoy Duke Gardens. Nobody I've taken there has ever been disappointed. Perfect for spring. Nasher Museum is also impressive, but for this time of year--nothing beats being outdoors.

Afternoon:

Take in some browsing on funky 9th Street near Duke's east campus. Regulator bookstore is worth a visit, and the street in general is very laid back--grab a coffee at Blue Coffee or something. After this, take Main Street toward DT Durham and drive by Brightleaf Square and West Village....a nice little urban area that's undergoing revitalization. Then you MUST go around the Durham loop and veer right (on to Pettigrew?) to check out American Tobacco Historic District next to the Bulls park. I recommend Tyler's Taproom for good pub-type food and good beer selection. This area's undergoing a huge revitalization--pretty cool little area.

Evening:

Take I-40 over to Raleigh..Grab a late-afternoon or early evening coffee at Third Place in 5 pts. Great little neighborhood and it's a lively scene--connected to Lilly's pizza. Walk around and check out some of the stately southern homes around there. From there I suggest heading down Glenwood avenue to Fletcher Park--located btwn 5 pts and the burgeoning Glenwood South area. Underrated park, and easier on parking than popular Pullen Park.

Dinner: Head for the Fayetteville Street area DT to check out the growing area down there. I recommend grabbing dinner at either Riviera (on Wilmington St) or Duck and Dumpling on Blount. Both are good---some other options in that area are Raleigh Times Bar, Caffe Luna, Big Easy.

After that: Check out the warehouse district or Glenwood South to find a watering hole to your liking. Both areas seem to get busier the later you head down there. Glenwood's usually a parking lot around 2am. Again--you mentioned day-trip, so I think any of these options could be fun.

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Afternoon:

Take in some browsing on funky 9th Street near Duke's east campus. Regulator bookstore is worth a visit, and the street in general is very laid back--grab a coffee at Blue Coffee or something. After this, take Main Street toward DT Durham and drive by Brightleaf Square and West Village....a nice little urban area that's undergoing revitalization. Then you MUST go around the Durham loop and veer right (on to Pettigrew?) to check out American Tobacco Historic District next to the Bulls park. I recommend Tyler's Taproom for good pub-type food and good beer selection. This area's undergoing a huge revitalization--pretty cool little area.

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^^

Yeah, you're right...is Bean Traders where Blue Coffee was before w/ the blue awning? I think Locopops is putting a store down near Suntrust too.

jednc--check out the Locopops if you like frozen treats (basically popsicles for $1-2). The existing Durham location is on Hillsborough Rd---pretty close to 9th street. There's also one in Chapel Hill near Penang (w. franklin st.) in the courtyard.

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