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One thing I miss here are views of sunrises and sunsets, such as the NY sunset in the video below.
Sunrises and sunsets are, of course, always enhanced when viewed over bodies of water, and we don't have a lot of lakes or rivers around here (compared to many other places).
But the sun rises and the sun sets every day. SO -- can anyone recommend any public spot in Raleigh or within half an hour of Raleigh where one can view an unobstructed view of the sun rising or setting?
If you say your deck/backyard/land, I will take that as an open invitation to visit you any time at sunrise and sunset.
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.
Sunsets: In a rocker on the front porch of the Maple View Dairy Store in Hillsborough.
That is indeed a lovely sunset spot, but I wasn't thinking of Maple View as being within a half-hour of Brentwood in Raleigh, do you think? Certainly not at any time of day when there's any traffic on the roads, as there often is in the pre-sunset late afternoons. I thought even my suggestion of the Jordan Lake causeway was pushing it, but I believe that's doable as long as it's not peak rush hour.
I've seen some lovely sunsets over lake crabtree from the black creek greenway/umstead park entrance near the publicly accessible entrance off of weston parkway. I walk my dog around the time of sunset and there is nothing more glorious than seeing a sunset over a body of water.
One of my favorite spots is on 64 driving west through Apex past Laura Duncan and around North Salem. The elevation changes and you can see the hills in the west with the sun behind them (at sunset).
The sunrise in the Starbucks parking lot at Crossroads this morning was fantastic
You know, you're at least partly kidding about that, I guess, but in fact, some of the very best sunrises and sunsets that one sees around here are in the big, flat, empty parking lots like those around big shopping centers, especially those situated on open, high ground, such as Cary Town Center mall, and some of the ones along Glenwood Avenue in the Pleasant Valley and Brier Creek areas, and also the PNC Arena lots. A parking lot is not what one generally thinks of as conventionally scenic, of course, but actually the sea of asphalt can have sort of a similar effect as a the surface of a small lake. I can't think of any shopping center parking lots in Wake County that are so consistently spectacular that I would direct lovebrentwood to them, but I wouldn't say it's out of the question.
The sunrise in the Starbucks parking lot at Crossroads this morning was fantastic
Well, I'm amazed! You were up AND dressed BEFORE sunrise?!! WHY?!!
Vicki
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