A Guide to Interesting Sights in Raleigh NC

Raleigh, the city of Oaks.

This extremely pleasant city is as diverse and complex as any you can find.

For the first time visitor it can seem strange and intimidating. But fear not, this can help.

Raleigh is a very large city geographically. It is however not a dense city like Boston or Atlanta. At least not yet.

The inner city is defined as inside the Beltline also known as 440. There is a second loop being built starting in the northern part of the city called 540. Most of the roads in the city run north/south or east/west. It is recommended that you either use a map when trying to locate attractions as the city sprawls across such a large area.

What to see and do if you have children.

For families Raleigh has an immense number of attractions. During the summer their are more than 35 city parks and community centers open. For those looking for a major attraction here are a few.

The Museum of Natural Science located downtown. This museum is a modern multi-story facility with different displays on each floor. The top displays of here for most are the dinosaurs and the butterfly house. The dinosaur exhibit allows you to see not just the great lizards but also the remains of giant mammals such as the 19 foot tall sloth. The butterfly house (which is closed on Mondays) is on the fourth floor and has it’s own sloth. That right, they have a real live, and very shy sloth with his or her very own tree. A Leisurely tour through this museum can easily take three to four hours, particularly if there have live animal (or bug) exhibits and if you spend time in the childrens center. They do have a small cafeteria on the top floor. This is an extremely fun museum.

The Museum of History also located on Edenton St is a bit more formal museum, but every bit as interesting. It has the manditory Flight Museum as well as a very nice Sports Museum Gallery. There is also at least one exhibit provided by a major pharmaceutical company with a real 18th century pharmacy model (full size). There are many other exhibits of life during the various periods of North Carolinas history. Thanks to the locating of NCs copy of the Declaration of Independence, there may soon be an additional display. For a history history buff this is a real treasure trove. I know that when I was in my middle school years this would have been a great place to spend the day.

Exploris provides a hands on Experience for school age children as well as an IMAX theater for everyone.It has traveling displays as well as many hands on exhibits.

Other historical places to see are the State Capital building, the Governors Mansion, Modeci Historic Park (limited hours to the Mordecia house),

For art lovers Raleigh has a plethora of choices.

Artspaces is a building full of working art galleries. It also has an exhibit hall and classrooms. The building is a two story building just below Moore Square. As these are working galleries, all the art work is for sale.

If the idea is to just see art, the city has two art centers, Seratoma and Jordan Hall located in parks. Both offer art classes, but for the visitor there are often displays.

The North Carolina Art Museum is the top attraction for artist. There is always a new attraction on display. The museum has several levels, each with galleries of art from different periods and of different types. There is a small gallery of Jewish art. There is a gallery of Egytian. There is a gallery of African art. And the list goes on. A person with serious interest in the arts could easily spend days here. They also have short video in there theater on specific artists. And to top it off they have a fantastic restaurant on their lowest floor. Additionally they offer movies on friday evenings at seven pm. THey are closed on Mondays.

For the hikers:

Raleigh is a hikers dream come true. The city continues to extend it’s Greenway system. They have built tunnels under roads and recently completed a bridge over the Beltline 440. They have trails around lakes throughout the city. In addition the state of North Carolina has an 11 thousand acre park, Umstead inside the city with more trails.

There are parking lots at most of the starting points for the Greenways. Raleigh has also located recreation centers with bathrooms near most trails. Or it may have happened in reverse. Most trails are open to walkers, roller skaters and bikers, though there are bridges that may be hard to cross for the bikers.

Three favorites are Shelley Lake off Millbrook Rd., Lynn Lake off Lynn Rd. and Lake Johnson off Avent Ferry Rd. Each of these has excellently maintained pathways and a variety of wildlife. At Shelley and Lynn, many people just go down to feed birds.

Shelley Lake has three trails, one around the lake. On this trail you will walk by Seratoma Art Center and a city paddle boat rental. As you continue you will walk across a bridge where below you will see both Canadian Geese and native ducks. As you proceed you will walk along wooden walkways over the shallow waters of the lake. In the water, in addition to the ducks and geese, you may see muskrat, blue herring, alligator turtles and more benign painted turtles. Small fish are sometimes visible. Other animals that might be seen are squirrels, rabbits, raccoons, song birds and an occassional snake. The another trail leads off through the woods from the North end of the Lake. This trail leads through a tunnel under a road then under a bridge under another road. It continues through the woods following a stream until it ends at a city street a mile or so North of the lake. The third trail starts at the South end of the lake and leads under a bridge through a bamboo stand, following a stream starting at the lake South. It eventually ends at one of two locations on a city street. This trail is about a mile or so in one direction. The trail around the lake is about two miles long, thus any of the three trails provide a good two mile jaunt.

Lake Lynn has a trail that is in many ways comparable to Shelley Lake. A substantial portion of the trail is on a wooden deck over the water. The animal life along the trail is similar. It only has one trail with a small off shoot that goes to a community center. It can be quiet shady on most of the trail as it passes through the woods. This is about two miles around the lake.

Lake Johnson is another fine hiking choice. The trail around the complete lake is about five and one half miles. In season black berries can be found on the West side of the lake. The park facilities at the lake include paddle boat and small sail boats. The hike around the lake is in the woods along a paved trail for most of the trip. There is a brief portion of the trail opened to the lake.

There a lot of additional lakes and hiking trails throughout the city. Some are well marked and others need some imagination to find the trails. Some, like Durant Nature Park, have resident rangers to aid the visitor.

Attractions for the adult crowd, in addition to fine dining, includes two interesting establishments.

Jillians an adult arcade with all the favorite rides and games. It is a place where adults can act like kids. They can race each other on coin operated motor cycles or try to flip baskets in an arcade basket. It has a bar, a meal menu and a billard room. Jillians is located in the Warehouse entertainment area off West St. It is very much designed for group activities.

Frankies with even more adult acade games. Newer than Jillians it has many additional options for the young at heart. Located where Alexander Dr. and Glenwood Ave meet it is spacious. By being new it has many outside activities to entertain.

For the theater crowd Raleigh has a plethera of stages. The BTI Center for the Performing Art and Memorial Auditorium brings national level theater to the city. Broadway South shows are offered on a calendar basis. In addition the city has a number of smaller theaters such as the Little Theater.

Locally many of the colleges and a few of the high schools offfer theater performances on their campuses. The local newspapers provide complete guides every Friday. For those interested in plays they should check the paper two weeks in advance. The choices change every week and are usually listed two weeks or more before they are sold. Many performances sell out before the week they occur. Any week there is usually two to ten theater choices without leaving the city.

For lovers of golf the city has several public and private golf clubs within the city limits. There are also several driving ranges for those that just want to kick out a bucket of balls. For the kids there are mini golf ranges.

For those who love shopping, Raleigh is no slacker. In addition to a significant number of shopping centers, the city has two large malls.

Crabtree Mall is the older of the malls. It has remained competitive and interesting by bringing in fresh businesses. It is the local home of the Chocolate Factory for the cheese cake lovers. It has good parking, although the traffic pattern around it can be a bit difficult.

Triangle Town Center is the newer mall. It has a huge number of stores and is continuing to grow. In addition it has it’s own exit off I540. It has a huge amount of parking and a fantastic selection of stores. Like Crabtree, whoever designed the traffic flow around the mall likes to make it difficult. It has a service road that goes all the way around the mall. It is easy enough to get into the mall, though you may not know which floor you are entering on. Once in, it is a really impressive mall. For the really small children, there is a play area that can drain every ounce of excess energy for the weary parents. They have a very nice and open food court (in both malls).

For people that like neat things:

There is a park in Raleigh called Nash Square. In that park one can find some of the most amazing trees in the Carolinas. These trees are known as live oaks. There girdth is huge. They are a great picture taking opportunity in the City of Oaks. Just across from this park is Joe’s. This restaurant has the flavor of genuine Carolina. The hours are limited.

Edwards Mill Dam off Edwards Mill Road. Nice picture opportunity by an old mill dam. The mill is long gone. In season the houses opposite the dam have some of the most beautiful flowers on display in the city.

Falls Lake. Following Creedmoor Rd north from Crabtree Mall for about eight to ten miles and you come to Falls Lake beeches (after the boat put in). The beach on the right is intended for boaters. THe beach on the left is for swimmers. There are picnic areas on both sides. Excellent access to the water.

These are but a few of the hundreds choices available to visitors and residents in Raleigh. The visitors bureau has a web site called visitraleigh that has more complete information as well as contact numbers. No matter what you like, there is a good chance you will find it in Raleigh or one of the neighboring cities.