Trip to Triangle Area during Thanksgiving Break

[peperoberto]

Originally Posted by torpy

Thanks for all the feedback everyone, we have booked our hotel near the Southpoint area. Our plan is to arrive in Durham, spend the night, explore Durham next morning and then drive to Cary/Raleigh. Any suggestions on where to go in each of those towns to get a good feel of the area?

If you want to commit several hours to a walking tour, here's my suggestion for Downtown Durham:

To explore Downtown Durham, I'd start at the American Tobacco Campus, park in one of the garages there. Take a walk around, catch some breakfast, get a look of the ball park and DPAC theater from outside, then walk north 2 blocks to Main St. From here, you can walk around the loop a little, see the different businesses that have sprung up on Main St.

I'd then catch the Bull City Connector Westbound/Duke (it will say that on the bus) and ride about a 1/4 mile west toward Brightleaf Square. Stop off here if you want to explore some of the shops, places like Parker & Otis, Morgan Imports. Lots of eclectic, locally-owned, funky shops.

Then hop on the bus Westbound again, drive past Duke University, and ride all the way to the Medical Center. From here, you can walk around Duke's main quad, which is a block south through the hospital (ask for directions at the main desk), or head a block east to the Duke Gardens (again, you can ask just about anyone for directions).

When you're done at Duke, hop on the bus headed Eastbound, and get off at the bus station (about a 12 minute ride). You're now back at American Tobacco.

This will give you a good overview of some of the things happening around Downtown Durham, but there's of course tons I've left off the list (like the Carolina Theatre, Farmer's Market, the DIY-district with Motorco Music Hall, Fullsteam Brewery, and other things going on, Duke's East Campus, 9th Street, and the cool little commercial district at Broad and Markham, Goldenbelt, the old Durham Athletic Park from the movie "Bull Durham", several great city parks, and Duke's basketball museum, if you're into that).

If you're more into house hunting and getting a feel for different neighborhoods, then you can certainly drive a similar route. Parking's difficult during work days on-street, but there are several garages downtown you can use. Or, you can just do a windshield tour since you're short on time.

Some of the cool urban neighborhoods you should check out, if that's your thing, include Watts-Hillandale, Trinity Park, Burch Avenue, Duke Park (also a great place to take the kids for a mid-day break), Northgate Park, Morehead Hills, and Forest Hills. There's many other great neighborhoods, but this list gives you a sort of spread of different price ranges.

And, if you're into more of a suburban feel, drive around Southpoint some. Check out Hope Valley, both the newer section (Hope Valley Farms) and the older section. Then see some of the newer developments that have sprung up right around Southpoint.

[torpy]

Thanks for the detailed information peperoberto! Thumbs up for you