Durham one of the USA's most underrated destinations
Raleigh, Durham, Chapel Hill, CaryThe Triangle Area
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I don't have a problem with Durham, but no where in the Triangle is a "destination". This is a great place to live and work but I struggle to find things for my family to do when they visit.
This reminds me of the meeting in 1986 when my employer informed us that our entire group would be relocating to RTP from another state. An HR person from RTP was telling us how great the Triangle is. She said, 3 hours from the beach (this was before I-40 to Wilmington), 4 hours from the mountains, and 5 hours from Washington. One of my colleagues said, Oh, so you're telling us that we're hours from any place we'd like to be.
We weren't particularly keen about the Triangle for the first 10 years we lived here, but as it grew we found it more likable and now we are reluctant to leave even though I'm retired and the S.O. will soon be.
I don't have a problem with Durham, but no where in the Triangle is a "destination". This is a great place to live and work but I struggle to find things for my family to do when they visit.
I agree with this - great place to live and I love it here. Vacation destination?? Nahhhh
I went to Austin this weekend and there was way more stuff to do there than even all the counties combined around here.
I don't have a problem with Durham, but no where in the Triangle is a "destination". This is a great place to live and work but I struggle to find things for my family to do when they visit.
I wouldn't plan a week vacation or anything, but I actually think the Triangle is good for a long weekend trip. Hit the art museums, wander the Duke gardens, visit the lemur center, some restaurants, some breweries, Bulls game if you're a baseball fan, and show at DPAC (or if you're more into music than me, some of the indy music venues).
(I would very much like CNN to not tell the rest of the world about Cumberland, though, which is also on the list. I like my half deserted national seashores to myself.)
I wouldn't plan a week vacation or anything, but I actually think the Triangle is good for a long weekend trip. Hit the art museums, wander the Duke gardens, visit the lemur center, some restaurants, some breweries, Bulls game if you're a baseball fan, and show at DPAC (or if you're more into music than me, some of the indy music venues).
(I would very much like CNN to not tell the rest of the world about Cumberland, though, which is also on the list. I like my half deserted national seashores to myself.)
I guess it just depends on the person visiting, but I don't find any of those attractions enough to warrant a trip from more than an hour away. My folks are from WNC and like a laid back pace of life - they prefer beach trips or destinations in the mountains. We have already been to Duke Gardens multiple times, as well as the Raulston and Coker Arboretums, NC Botanical Garden, and the gardens at Fearrington Village.
We usually end up at a brewery which you can find anywhere in NC (something I am grateful for).
I agree with this - great place to live and I love it here. Vacation destination?? Nahhhh
I went to Austin this weekend and there was way more stuff to do there than even all the counties combined around here.
Ditto...
This is a great place to live...but can't see a reason we'd really have "tourists". I won't go as far to say as cities/regions that do attract quite a bit of tourism and places that are great to live are mutually-exclusive...but I think there is some correlation there.
That being said; as someone who grew up in Western Wake where Durham was the "scary don't go there!" (unless it was to shop at Southpoint when it first opened) black-sheep of the Triangle region....I can see the "ranking" if talking about within the state as a whole. It has a little more of a pulse to it than many cities it's size (and larger). I live in the city of Raleigh and am about equidistant to DT Raleigh and DT Durham; and find myself going to the latter more-so than the first. American Tobacco complex, DBAP, DPAC, Brightleaf etc. stack up well to Glenwood South, Fayetteville St, etc.
That being said; I don't see people from the other 49 states booking plane tickets to sightsee in the Triangle as a realistic storyline.
Raleigh does have the Dreamville Festival and the IBMA (International Bluegrass Musical Association) festival. If I had traveled to visit Raleigh for one of those festivals, I could see myself taking a day trip to Durham. But I agree I wouldn't plan a vacation anywhere in the Triangle for no reason other than to see the area.
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