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Hello All, we are looking to come down during the Easter break for another visit. It will be my third time in the area and my wife's fifth. We basically know what we are looking for in terms of neighborhoods and we pinned down several in the Wake Forest area that we like. However, we are going to take another look in Apex, West Cary (Amberly) and possibly some developments in North Raleigh. On our previous visits we were basically house hunting and looking at neighborhoods. On this trip we do plan on visiting some of the local attractions like; Marbles Kids Museum, NC Museum of Natural History, Duke Gardens, Umstead Park etc.. We will be travelling with a 9 year old, so we do have to mix some kid activities into this trip. Are there any "must see" places? Can anyone recommend a good restaurant or two? I already checked and the Durham Bulls and Carolina Mudcats are out of town , I could have checked another baseball stadium off the list, lol. I will have to wait for that until a future visit. Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated. Thanks again.
If you have a 9 year old, I'd skip Marbles. In my opinion, that's better for the younger set. Instead, I'd go to the Museum of Life and Science in Durham, especially if it's a nice day. Tons of cool stuff to do in the outside exhibits. Not cheap though. We have a membership so can go for free whenever.
Thanks. We wanted to get out to Durham and Chapel Hill to see the area around there as well. Thanks again for the tip about Marbles. When I looked on the website I came to realize he may be too old for it.
Kids that age like defy gravity in morrisville. Maybe pullen park. My kids are older and still like it. Walking around chapel hill is nice too. Gets some energy out. Knights Play in Apex for golf if you like.
I have a 9 year old and agree - skip Marbles and go for the Museum of Life and Science in Durham. If you end up in downtown Raleigh I love Raleigh Times. The Pit is owned by the same folks and is quite acclaimed - its our local famous BBQ restaurant! They have a great beer selection. You could also hit up one of the "famous" Ashley Christensen restaurants in downtown Raleigh. She's been published everywhere! Ashley Christensen Restaurants
Umstead is fun for hiking or renting a row boat. You could also blow through the History and Natural Science museums in downtown Raleigh.
I agree with the NC Museum of Life & Science in Durham, too. The grown ups will like it also. It's very different from the Raleigh Natural Sciences Museum, which is also good. The NCMLS has a many outdoor exhibits and lots of room for kids to run around and be kids. http://lifeandscience.org
(The trampoline places scare me. I've known several people to get injured pretty severely — torn ACL requiring surgery, broken foot, etc.)
Location: Chapel Hill, NC, formerly NoVA and Phila
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Although I agree that Museum of Life and Science is better for a 9-year old, my only qualifier is that it is so big. If you go there, you will want to spend the whole day there - you need it. And it's not cheap, so to me, I wouldn't want to spend $40 for a family of 3 to only skim the surface if I couldn't spend the whole day there. But I'm frugal that way. And I wouldn't want to spend the whole day there if I were only here for the weekend. We got a membership the year we moved here and got to spend a lot of time at the museum without feeling rushed each visit.
Marbles is for the younger set, I agree, but I took my Girl Scout Troop there in January (2nd and 3rd graders) and they found plenty of fun things to do. Best part is that it's cheap ($5 each), so you could just go there, spend a couple of hours and leave. I think there are still enough fun things there for most 9-year olds (probably just-turned 9's rather than 9-turning 10). You'd never need to go back after that one visit, though.
If you think Marbles is too young, another option might be to find a park and do a hike - like Umstead (Raleigh) or the Eno River State Park (Durham). There are some decent trails and you'll likely get to meet people on the trail to talk to and get a feel for the residents of the area. There are also some small trails at the Botanical Gardens in Chapel Hill.
If your 9-year old is into sports, there is an indoor rock-climbing place that might be fun, although that's not really unique to the area.
If he's into history, the Duke Homestead is a pretty neat museum. And there is also Bennett Place that he might like.
ETA: A couple more suggestions - how about the Planetarium in CH? Or the Flea Market in Raleigh? That's kind of fun.
When we were down there in Feb we took our kids to Dave & Busters in Cary. It is in the mall! They LOVED it! We also had appetizers there that were pretty good!
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, I could have checked another baseball stadium off the list, lol. I will have to wait for that until a future visit. Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated. Thanks again.
