Five Days in Raleigh, North Carolina

Raleigh, North Carolina is a quietly bustling capitol city. On the surface, things are quiet. But once you plug into the scenes Raleigh has to offer (food, beer, coffee/donuts, art, history, politics) you’ll quickly find that a lot is going on.

I recently spent five days in Raleigh, visiting friends while working remotely for two clients. My work kept me at the laptop part-time, but the rest of my days and nights were fun and relaxing.

First of all, Raleigh is fairly easy to navigate, by both hard copy and digital maps. The city is laid back enough too that a quick lane change or a slow speed didn’t earn me any honks or extra stress. On foot, downtown Raleigh is compact enough that a pub- or art crawl is possible within a few hours. The city is sprawling out, though, and business parks on the outer edges probably provide most of the industry of the city.

One of my first stops in town was to the offices of iContact, where my friend Peter Ansbacher works. I used iContact as my e-mail marketing provider at the Vermont Foodbank for three years. iContact, by far, beats out Mail Chimp and Constant Contact for my money and Peter is one of the best Senior Strategic Advisors.

Then, after putting in some hours on the Coastal Maine Getaways and Vermont Foodbank websites, I headed out to the Boxcar Bar & Arcade. This is, obviously, a bar and arcade located in the warehouse district. It also has an industrial feel, with more than 75 classic and modern arcade games. I was delighted to find Frogger, the game of my childhood, although I found it difficult to advance actually! Also, lots of great pinball machines – try the Addams Family, skip the Wizard of Oz – and, my favorite, skeeball.

Gaming was reasonably priced and each game had a cup holder on the machine for your beer. I enjoyed a DuClaw Sweet Baby Jesus, a peanut butter porter out of Baltimore, MD, along with free popcorn from the side of the bar. With beer, popcorn, TVs and by pacing myself on the game tokens, I easily spent an hour and a half enjoying Boxcar with childhood wonder.

Before driving home for the evening, I walked over to Café de los Muertos, a small coffee shop with a definite edge. The décor is macabre in a fun, playful sense. I’m coming to realize that my beloved maple latte, even my dear caramel latte, may be hard to find outside of the northeast. So I got a latte and a scone and am getting use to the taste of real coffee!

Joule Coffee was another gem I was happy to stumble on in Raleigh. Various websites describe this place as a casual café and bar, but it’s classier than the descriptions say. First of all, one walks in between floor to ceiling glass windows with bar seating. I enjoyed people-watching from my perch inside. Also, Joule has waitstaff to cater to your coffee needs, along with a delicious menu. I had a gluten-free cinnamon apple muffin with an iced latte. The muffin was moist and delicious – these folks have definitely beat the bad wrap gluten free gets.

I also spent an entire afternoon at the North Carolina Museum of Art. The special exhibit, Chisel and Forge: Works by Peter Oakley and Elizabeth Brim, was wonderful, although I would have given Brim top billing. Oakley’s marble-carved every day objects were interesting, but Brim’s iron-forged delicacies (hats, tutus, flowers) were true wonders. They also visually stood on their own, but created intricate shadow play that would be worth experimenting with.

The permanent collection was also remarkable, in particular the Modern and Contemporary Gallery. I couldn’t resist getting photographic details of many of the pieces, especially those, like Angel Otero, that had an interesting process. Otero, with Laughing Clouds (2011), layered oil paint onto plate glass, letting it dry over several days or weeks. “Once the paint is fully dry, he carefully peels it in long, thin sheets off the glass and then collages the skins onto canvas, adhering them to the surface with thin layers of resin.”

I find myself drawn to works of art with interesting creation stories even when I don’t know there’s a story at first glance.

Here are some of my other favorite works from the North Carolina Museum of Art:

The grounds of the Museum are also spectacular – and they’re growing and being developed. They’re worth a 1-2 hour stroll, especially if you follow the map to create what I call partner art. There’s a self-guided walk where one person can stand by or near a piece of art. Another person goes to a designated spot and the other partner appears uniquely in, on or next to a piece of art. Very fun!

After the North Carolina Museum of Art, I went with a friend, Jen Newmeyer, on a self-guided tour of the North Carolina State Capitol. This was fun and full of lore. For one, there’s an Italian-style (and Italian-created) statue of George Washington in the foyer that really looks nothing like how we portray our first President. Secondly, there’s a debate about how the Capitol steps became so worn and tattered. One story says that slaves carried wood upstairs, to heat all four floors, hauling the loads up in wheelbarrows with steel wheels. It sounds arduous. The other story says that a secret room, full of liquor and political deals, needed to be stocked with barrels of whiskey regularly, which were dragged up the stairs. I went with the wood, Jen went with the whiskey!

Jen and I needed some snacks, so we headed over to The Raleigh Times. I’m discovering that pimento cheese is now something of a delicacy – or a culinary experiment? – in the south, whereas I once thought of it as one step up from Spam. Kudos to The Raleigh Times for showing me the light: I enjoyed the pimento cheese and crackers, as well as the fried pickles.

The evening was a nice tour of the nightlife Raleigh has to offer. The First Friday art walk was starting so we stopped into the Mahler Fine Art Gallery. The owners have a true appreciation of light in many of their works and I’d recommend a stop here to any serious art collector. Then we headed over to The Crank Arm, where I had an Icycle, a winter warmer ale with subtle hints of orange zest, cardamom, and ginger spices. I also turned the crank, literally, on some suspended, bicycle-themed works of art. As I cranked, all of the gears started to work together and two separate pieces began to turn.

Then, dinner at The Pit and, later, coffee and chocolate at Videri Chocolate Factory. The Pit, where I ordered The Sampler, with pit-smoked wings, delicious BBQ soul rolls, deviled eggs and potato fritters, delivered on southern fare with a unique twist. I also had great, fun company with Jen, her husband, Rob, and their friends Carter and Linda.

On my last day in Raleigh, I mostly wandered around before needing to leave for Asheville. I had a light breakfast at The Morning Times, right next to The Raleigh Times. This place seems to be a hotspot on the weekends, so grab a seat and hold onto it! Then I walked over to the City of Raleigh Museum and the North Carolina Museum of Natural Sciences. The COR Museum was fun and quaint, with insight into the growth and development of Raleigh as the Capitol. The Museum of Natural Sciences was crowded, but I should have expected that on a weekend. Especially impressive here were the large, re-assembled fossils of whales and even a ground sloth so big it’s going to give me nightmares. Seriously, the ground sloth was the size of an elephant!

Overall, I enjoyed Raleigh, North Carolina for its unique blending of scenes. One could tell that there’s business, tech industries and politics, right next to a lively beer and food scene, as well as a budding art and creative scene. Mixed into one city, they seem well-blended and balanced. At least that’s my impression from spending five days in Raleigh.

Things that were on my radar screen, but I missed:

• Jubala Village Coffee
• Guglhupf Bakery
• Monuts Donuts
• Bella Monica
• Bida Manda
• Happy & Hale
• Poole’s Downtown Diner

Want to see more photos of my visit to Raleigh? Visit my Photography page.

Save