Ping: gstelmack

[Draft Dodger]

hey, just noticed that you are from Cary. Heading down there in a month for a wedding - I wont be there very long, but anything exciting about the place I should know about?

[gstelmack]

hey, just noticed that you are from Cary. Heading down there in a month for a wedding - I wont be there very long, but anything exciting about the place I should know about?
Cary is an upscale family community. So no, pretty much nothing exciting http://dynamic2.gamespy.com/%7Efof/forums/images/smilies/biggrin.gif Do much besides movies, shop, or a sports bar, you'll need to head to a neighboring community. Those from the Triangle, prepare to berate me for my stereotypes:

Durham is a blue-collar / major medical town. Biggest thing you may be interested in there is going to a Durham Bulls game, although Duke Gardens is well thought of.

Chapel Hill is your liberal college town. In my right-wing conservative Republican view, it's your typical "let's be liberal with all our laws EXCEPT where all the rich lawmakers live" type town. But mostly you may be interested in the college atmosphere with a strong art/music scene.

Raleigh is a small-ish capitol city with a mixed environment. Lots of government, university, technical people. Some good museums downtown.

There are also lots of parks for biking, hiking, and canoing around the entire area.

And we're around 2-3 hours from the beach and 4-5 hours from the mountains.

But definitely do not expect a big city "let's hop a bus to go to X" type of atmosphere. It's a driving area, things are spread out, and fairly diversified, so you can probably find something that fits your tastes to do, you may just have to drive a ways to get there.

[3ric]

What's the stereotype on Greensboro, NC? My parents lived there for two years.

[Draft Dodger]

thanks - that's kind of what I expected. truthfully, we wont really be there long enough to do much of anything (arriving on a Friday leaving on a Sunday, with a wedding taking up most of Saturday). I just would feel silly if we drove all that way and missed a chance to see the worlds largest French Fry or something...

[Wolfpack]

gstelmack speaketh the truth, generally. If you're in Cary, be prepared to go somewhere else to be entertained. If you enjoy strip centers, big box stores, and the occasional mall, it's great. Other than that....

Durham, IMO, is basically a small-scale Detroit. Has some good areas and a lot of bad ones. They've done a lot to try to re-vitalize the city, though.

Chapel Hill is as advertised. It's a public Ivy college town, with every trapping and stereotype that entails.

Raleigh is basically like Cary, only larger and with some cultural amenities that come with being the state capital. Hillsborough Street along the north side of the NC State campus has been slowing dying for a number of years, so there isn't much to do there anymore. However, there's been a major re-vitalization effort that was completed recently called Glenwood South. It's a very trendy, upscale area now, which is a staggering improvement on the industrial area that used to be there.

As noted, the geography is very, very spread out. Cary to Raleigh is not too bad, but Cary to Durham or Chapel Hill will be 30-45 minutes (or more) depending on traffic. Avoid I-40 between Raleigh and Durham during peak rush hour and it shouldn't be too bad. Go at the wrong time and be prepared to wait.

[gstelmack]

What's the stereotype on Greensboro, NC? My parents lived there for two years.
Greensboro is interesting. I don't spend a whole lot of time there, but I think "Redneck Microsoft" (in a good way). It still has a very rural feel, but there are a surprising number of tech firms there. Charlotte and the Triangle get a lot of the attention, but the Triad is kind of quietly growing and enjoying it.

[gstelmack]

thanks - that's kind of what I expected. truthfully, we wont really be there long enough to do much of anything (arriving on a Friday leaving on a Sunday, with a wedding taking up most of Saturday). I just would feel silly if we drove all that way and missed a chance to see the worlds largest French Fry or something... What time are you leaving Sunday? If you can get there before 9 AM, Briggs Restaurant (corner of High House and Maynard) is a great little breakfast spot. And if you stick around for lunch, you almost HAVE to do Dim Sum at Neo China (same shopping center, but on the north end up Maynard).

MapQuest location: http://www.mapquest.com/maps/map.adp?latlongtype=internal&addtohistory=&latitude=jjNHyptIMSo%3d&longitude=UoYdlytKgUo%3d&name=Neo%2dChina%20Restaurant&country=US&address=100%20Maynard%20Crossings%20Ct&city=Cary&state=NC&zipcode=27513&phone=919%2d466%2d8888&spurl=0&searchtype=search&cat=%28All%29%20Restaurants

Restaurant Web Site:
http://www.neo-china.com/

But aside from going out to dinner or something, there won't be much else. If you have particular shopping interests, I might be able to recommend some places.

[Peregrine]

Yeah definitely don't miss breakfast at Brig's if you can, I go there quite a bit since it's very near where I live (Cary too, though my profile says Raleigh.)