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Taking a little daycation tomorrow in Raleigh from Charlotte. Not the happiest Charlotte camper, so I would love to see what everyone loves about Raleigh. Where are the must visit areas/shopping centers/neighborhoods/pretty things?! You get the picture. And how would you get to them off of hwy 40 I guess it is? And are there any fun lakes or water things.. anything like that? Any places just stick out to you Raleigh people? Thanks!
Raleigh is a good place to live. I never thought of it as a hot tourist spot. But recently, there was a NY Times article about "36 Hours in the Triangle" or something like that. Here it is: http://travel.nytimes.com/2009/06/14...l/14hours.html
I-40 gets you right to 440 (the Beltline), so it's pretty easy to get anywhere from there.
I'm not sure exactly.. it's too spread out, uptown charlotte is not exciting.. don't like the layout, it's just not for us. I'll def read that article.. thanks!
You are visiting on Father's Day? That's probably not a good day to come since everyone is going to be hanging with their dads.
It's really hard to answer your question without knowing some more about what you do like in an area. I could give you a route to drive through Raleigh that is stunning but I don't know if that's your thing. I could have you follow miles of greenways on foot through different parts of the city that also take you to city parks...but, I don't know if you'd enjoy it.
Nonetheless, let me see what I can do to help.
coming into Raleigh, take the Wade Ave. exit and follow it to I-440 North. Follow that around to Six Forks Rd. (north exit) and hit North Hills to start. One side is done and the other side is a huge construction site.
From North Hills, take Lassiter Mill toward the South and it becomes St. Mary's Street. Take St. Mary's Street to Glenwood Ave. and turn left. Take Glenwood into downtown to explore it a bit. Being Father's Day and a Sunday, it will be pretty quiet but you'll get an idea of what's there. I'd check out Cameron Village area since you'll be close and then hit the NC State Univ. area nearby. From there, I'd get a map and explore neighborhoods both inside and outside the beltline.
Good Luck and have fun.
In my opinion, Raleigh is MORE of what you described you dont like about charlotte. Very spread out (Chapel Hill to DT Raleigh to DT Durham to Cary/Apex to North Raleigh etc - these places truly are not "close" to one another) and if you think uptown charlotte isnt exciting, you will fall asleep in Raleigh. There really is no true city life in Raleigh, just a few manufactured scenes, thats about it.
I love Raleigh, dont get me wrong, but for the exact opposite reasons I think you would. It sounds like you want to live in a city - lots of things to do close by, exciting nightlife, diversity...Raleigh would be low on the list of places I would recommend that fills those needs.
Sorry to break it to you...maybe your experiences will be different.
Go to Glenwood South in Raleigh. Here is a NYTIMES article raving about the area...it is an older article so things have gotten bigger and better in this area.
Taking a little daycation tomorrow in Raleigh from Charlotte. Not the happiest Charlotte camper, so I would love to see what everyone loves about Raleigh. Where are the must visit areas/shopping centers/neighborhoods/pretty things?! You get the picture. And how would you get to them off of hwy 40 I guess it is? And are there any fun lakes or water things.. anything like that? Any places just stick out to you Raleigh people? Thanks!
Hard to suggest things without knowing what you do and do not like about Charlotte. Crabtree is probably the nicest mall in Raleigh, but it doesn't hold a candle to Southpark. Uptown Charlotte and the clubs and restaurants are more consolidated than the nightlife in Raleigh, which is spread among City Market, the Warehouse area, and Glenwood South. Umstead Park is huge, nothing comparable in Charlotte, if you want to get into nature and still be essentially in the city.
Lakes Norman and Wiley are overcrowded, something that hasn't happened yet with Falls Lake and to a lesser extent Jordan Lake. There are nearby small towns like Chapel Hill, Wake Forest and Apex that are like Davidson or NoDa. Cary is like a less nice Ballentine.
Raleigh does have nice museums, the State Fairgrounds where there are things happening frequently, and its closer to the beach. Raleigh has a flat IMAX screen, Charlotte's is round. Raleigh's airport is not a hub so you get better airline fares and more options for flying. Charlotte has done a lot more to revitalize its downtown, Raleigh is 10-15 years behind on urban renewal I'd say.
Overall what I like more about Raleigh is the fact that its less populated. You can get across town in 20 minutes taking the beltways, for example. Charlotte has become so spread out that getting to places you're not near can take a long time, traffic is reaching Atlanta levels, and its hard to find affordable living anywhere in the traditional subrurban belt anymore.
There's so much to do and see in either city though - its impossible to cover everything in a day. Fwiw, you may want to check out Greenville SC if you want more small town charm and a beautiful city center.
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