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Well, I'm amazed! You were up AND dressed BEFORE sunrise?!! WHY?!!
Vicki
haha oh trust me if I didn't commute to Durham there is no way I would be out of my house before 7am. Anybody know of a job opening close to Cary in international affairs?
There have to be some nice sky views from the Top of the Tower restaurant in the Clarion in downtown Raleigh... Does anyone know if that's open to the public (for service) or do you have to stay in the hotel to dine there? I've often thought of popping in for drinks and appetizers just to catch the sunset (since I imagine it isn't open early enough for sunrise). Hm.. I guess if you were desperate enough for their sunrise view (or perhaps just really romantic ) you could get an east-facing room for a night.
I agree that the Triangle isn't a great area for wide-open sunrise/set vistas, especially ones that are relatively unobstructed. Many places are beautiful at sunrise or at sunset, but you may not necessarily be able to actually get a great view of the rising or setting sun itself. For example, I always think that the Court of North Carolina on the N.C. State campus is one of the most beautiful places in the area at sunrise, and you can see some of the sunrise from there, but there are way too many buildings and trees in the way to call it "unobstructed" at all.
I really enjoy the sunrise from the 7th floor (top level) of the parking deck of the CapTrust Tower at North Hills. I guess that's not technically public, but it is publicly accessible, and so far (!), I've never gotten chased out of there by security when I go there just to gawk at the sunrise at the crack of dawn. I guess it could be a good spot for sunsets, too, but it's angled much more perfectly towards the southeast such that a sunrise on a clear, crisp spring or fall morning is just ideal over the roofs and treetops of Raleigh.
You're right that a sunrise or sunset is especially dramatic when one sees it from across a large body of water, like an ocean or one of the Great Lakes, and to my knowledge there's no place within a half-hour of Raleigh that's quite like that. But the one that may come closest is the sunrise at Lake Crabtree Park at Aviation Parkway, just off of I-40. The precise spot at which the sun breaks the horizon varies a little according to the time of year, obviously, but I'm pretty sure I recall being there at some time when the sun did crack right over the water in a way that was easily visible either from the park or from the road. I don't remember what time of year that was. But it's a lovely and picturesque place to visit in the morning in general, of course.
For sunsets, I really like the view driving west on New Bern Avenue between about Corporation Parkway and Trawick Road, sort of around Taylor's Nursery. Many times, I've pulled over into the Taylor's parking lot for a few minutes just to watch the sun set gloriously over Wake Med in the foreground and the downtown Raleigh skyline in the distance. That still may not be the kind of truly public spot you're looking for, though. Speaking of the North Hills area, the Lassiter Mill Road bridge over the Beltline is also perfectly situated for a nice view of the sunset, and I've often stopped there on foot or on my bike to take it in. There are a few very nice sunset views from within various parts of Oakwood Cemetery as well, although I don't remember precisely where the best spots are, but that's such a nice place at dusk in general that you really can't go wrong. Also, this may be a little too close to directing you to somebody's deck or back yard, but there's a neighborhood called Delta Ridge (I believe) off of Duraleigh Road in the Pleasant Valley area that's situated on some high ground over Crabtree Creek and Umstead State Park, and many of the streets and homes there face southwest just right so that they get some magnificent sunset views at times. It's not a gated community or anything, so I'm sure that as long as you're polite, nobody would mind you driving or walking through there to enjoy the sunset sometime.
Also, another great place to enjoy the sunset is at the J.C. Raulston Arboretum. For the most part, they're not truly unobstructed views from there, but it's in a fairly high and open part of the city, so the obstructions are minimal. And it's such a beautiful setting. I always enjoy the way the perennial border looks at the end of a long, hot summer day, looking west towards the setting sun, with the Fairgrounds buildings sparkling beyond the greenery. Probably the least-obstructed sunset view there is from the rooftop garden, above the McSwain Building. A gorgeous spot at any time of day, but particularly nice on a pleasant evening at sunset.
Oh, and for a public place that's really spectacular at both sunrise and sunset, how about the U.S. Highway 64 causeway across Jordan Lake, in between Apex and Pittsboro. Being a highway, it's easy to disregard it as merely utilitarian, but it's really an incredible place at any time of day. But it's beautiful at dawn, when the morning's first rays highlight the plume of steam from the Shearon Harris cooling tower, or at dusk, with the sun sinking behind the thickly wooded hills of Chatham County.
Finally, since the Triangle doesn't have a big, wide-open public waterfront like some places have, a lot of views of sunrises and sunsets here are kind of indirect and fleeting. But then again, a sunrise or sunset itself is such a fleeting and ephemeral phenomenon that that seems kind of appropriate. One spot I've noticed with a wonderful but extremely fleeting sunrise view is the huge off-ramp/on-ramp that carries traffic from eastbound I-440 (the old "Inner Beltline") onto eastbound U.S. 64 East Bypass, in between the New Bern Avenue and Poole Road exits. It's a big, sweeping curve that soars very, very high over the other lanes, and that part of Raleigh is pretty open and flat, so it offers a quick but commanding view to the southeast, and is absolutely gorgeous at sunrise. You can't really stop to enjoy it there, though, for obvious reasons. The road actually has enough of a shoulder that one could pull over there for a few minutes, but it's probably hazardous and unwise to do so, and I haven't had the time or the nerve to do it so far. Maybe one day.
Thanks to everyone, especially tompope -- a wonderful response!
The roof of the parking deck on Wilmington St. is the 8th floor. That should get you above most every building to the east of it for sunrise. Not exactly a destination, but you'll get a good view of sunrise.
Why thank you! I'll be there tonight to see the sunset! And I might as well stay the night (the couch is fine) to see the sunrise!
Turkey bacon and eggs are fine for breakfast. And there's still time for you to go to Whole Foods for gluten-free raisin bread for my toast in the morning. While you're at Whole Foods, you might as well get rice milk that I use in my coffee.
As you may recall, the original post said this...
Quote:
If you say your deck/backyard/land, I will take that as an open invitation to visit you any time at sunrise and sunset.
The roof of the parking deck on Wilmington St. is the 8th floor. That should get you above most every building to the east of it for sunrise. Not exactly a destination, but you'll get a good view of sunrise.
For what it's worth, I specifically didn't mention any of the downtown Raleigh parking decks because even though they're semi-public or quasi-public, I actually have gotten chased out of them by security guards a couple times when I was there just to hang out and enjoy the views rather than to park. But you're right that there can be some surprisingly nice views from the upper levels of those decks, including of sunrises and sunsets. Which of the Wilmington Street decks were you referring to as a sunrise spot? The one at Wilmington and Cabarrus, across from the Lincoln Theater? That would seem like the most obvious one. I don't think I've ever been there at daybreak. Just out of curiosity (and certainly none of my business), when and why did you happen to be there to watch the sun rise?
I have had the experience of being in the parking deck at McDowell and Davie (the one that's supposed to have the "L Building" around it someday) at sunset, and that's a very nice, fairly unobstructed view. That's actually a rather scenic parking deck in general, with pretty nice views of the Amphitheater, the Convention Center and Shimmer Wall, the Warehouse District, and the rest of the southern part of Downtown Raleigh. That is also a place where I've been hassled by a Paul Blart-type security dude, though, so bear that in mind.
Best 2 Places For Sunrise: 1. Boylan Bridge on Boylan Avenue next to the Boylan Bridge Brewery looking towards the best view of the skyline as the sun rises majestically above the buildings (you can even bring breakfast, they have plenty of chairs and tables underneath a roof on the bridge)
2. Dix Hill located beside Dorothea Dix and the NC Dept. of Health and Services (they have a huge vacant parking lot facing the skyline as well as acres of possibilites as well, and you are rarely disturbed by anyone at all).
PICS: 1. Boylan Bridge: [url]http://raleighskyline.com/images/03.25.10/spring_2010_raleighskyline.com_11.jpg[/url]
2. Dorothea Dix Area: [url]http://images.raleighskyline.com/images/2012/scenes-from-a-foggy-morning-raleigh/raleigh_fog_raleighskyline.com_11.jpg[/url]
ENJOY!
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