Raleigh/Cary area, what to do?

[SagaLore]

We've been here in Cary for about 5 months now, and haven't gone out of town but for seeing the duke gardens in Durham and going to a co-worker's picnic in Knightdale.

My wife is getting cabin fever... she wants to "see" this state we now live in, but I don't know where to go. 😕 We are planning a trip to Asheville, but until then, what else is there to do? Something that takes a short road trip, only needs to be a few hours. I already signed her up for a facial tomorrow morning. 😉 So I've got 1pm to 9pm open for something else fun...

 

[SpecialEd]

If you like nature, go for a hike or bike at Umstead Park or at Jordan Lake. Both places are close and very nice.

 

[luckysnafu]

There's lots to do around Raleigh/Cary. The beach is less thatn 3 hours away which is where I will be all weekend 🙂 If you are looking for stuff to do there are museums in downtown Raleigh that are nice and one has an I-max theater attached. Tons of parks/lakes around the area if you like swimming/boating. Durham has a minor league baseball team and the games are fun and most weekends they have fireworks after the games. Check out triangle.citysearch.com for tons of stuff and reviews on stuff to do. Have fun 🙂

 

[aircooled]

Wilmington/Wrightsville beach is about 2 1/2 hours away. But this time a year it is usually slammed. I usually do the beach during the edges of the off-season.

Check out Old Salem it's about 2 hours away also (maybe less).

 

[SagaLore]

Originally posted by: aircooled
Check out Old Salem it's about 2 hours away also (maybe less).

Okay, I looked up their website... so its a historic town? Is that worth seeing?

 

[aircooled]

Originally posted by: SagaLore

Originally posted by: aircooled
Check out Old Salem it's about 2 hours away also (maybe less).

Okay, I looked up their website... so its a historic town? Is that worth seeing?

It's worth doing once just to see it. It's more of a really large neighborhood than an actual town, but it's got all the old 1700's homes with dirt sub floor basements and people dressed in character giving tours. One of them was a boarding home and it's pretty cool to see things like the kitchen where they cooked in a large fire place and kettles. I think sometimes they actually cook food from the period and let you try it (maybe just breads).

The architecture is really cool to look at considering when it was built.

I probable don't need to see it twice, but I'm glad I went.

 

[fbrdphreak]

There's some kind of zoo not too far away from Raleigh, I can't remember what its called. We went there one and it was pretty cool.

I hear Umstead Park is cool, we've been meaning to go biking/hiking there.

Asheville rocks, downtown is really cool. My gf used to live there and we're spending a weekend up there for our anniversary in a couple months.

Old Salem is alright. Not much to look at IMO, but you can wander around a bit and check out Winston Salem. Its something to do

I think there's some big zoo/aquarium in Asheboro. There's also a state aquarium somewhere out east, near Greenville area.

 

[JEDI]

there are a few pool halls in the area.

Almost every Sat at 2pm at the Borders in Cary, there's a Chess tournament. you're grouped by people w/similiar skill.

 

[Mutilator]

Well you could always go sky diving and see a big chunk of the state from a few feet up. 😉

And just driving around during rush hour or going to any of the local malls is always an adventure too.

 

[aircooled]

I forgot about the Zoo. It's actually a kick-ass zoo. I like it as good or better than the San Diego Zoo. It's in Asheboro right down highway 64 under 2 hours away.

Don't go on a screaming hot day, all the animals hide in the shade.

 

[NuclearNed]

I lived in Durham for a short while. Like others have said, go the the local parks, the beach, the museums, etc.

Asheville is really nice. I live about 45 mins from there now, and there are plenty of things to do. Also, you are fairly close to Congaree National Park in SC, and Great Smokey Mountains National Park in NC/TN. Both are great places, although it might be better to visit Congaree sometime other than the middle of summer.