Bigal9

Our family will be traveling to Cary during Christmas week. What would be fun for the kiddies. My 9 year old loves sports. We gave him a choice of either the University OF NC basketball game vs. Rutgers or traveling 2 1/2 hours to Charlotte for the bowl game on Dec.30 Navy VS. Boston College. Also what about some kid friendly restaurants in the Cary area. Someone mentioned a moose restaurant or something like that. Also is anyone familiar with the ice skating park that is outside in Cary. What is that all about?
Thanks.

julie_Colorado

My son graduated from Chapel Hill and plans to be back over the holidays. He mentioned that every home game is sold out?.. .... unless you have an in. The ice skating park in Cary that I'm aware of is a standard indoor ice skating rink. Not sure if the Hurricanes are in town that week - but that could be an option (they look pretty weak this year... but if you like hockey?). Or if you would be willing to go to an NC state game - that's always an option.

ncgrrl

Cary, NC is a bedroom community of Raleigh. Not much but housing subdivisions and big box stores in town.

You'll have to get UNC tix through resale, probably way above face value because the team is #3 but should be ranked higher (ok, I'm a fan). But you should see if the other schools in the area have home games during your stay. Probably can get NCSU tix game day at the box office. And see if the Hurricanes are in town they are the reigning NHL Stanley Cup champions.

Raleigh has several museums aimed at kids. IF you can, take them to the Monet exhibit at the art museum, well worth the $$ admission. I think the Raleigh tourism website is VisitRaleigh.com.

Brian_in_Charlotte

Go to the basketball game - the excitement level will be much higher there, and you'll save 4 hours driving.

Bigal9

Julie,I heard there is ice skating in a little makeshift christmas village in Cary. There is food and shops. I forgot what they called it. Someone told me that if we go to the game in Chapel Hill we should be able to get tickets outside because it is Christmas week and that many students would not be in town who would normally go to the game.

Bigal9

I think I will go to the basektball game because my son did not like the idea of traveling for 2 1/2 hours. He lost his gameboy and I told him he is not getting a new one.
I do not mind paying more than face value for a ticket but do not want to go crazy. Any idea how much the seats may go for re-sale. Again I am hoping because of Christmas week many students will not be there.
Cary is just the hub where we are staying for 5 nights. We will explore form there. We had to use a ticket from Southwest Airlines before end of year or we would lose it. The only place where we could fly direct from Tampa was Raleigh.

julie_Colorado

OK.. The Cary ice skating rink is something I don't know about (left this area a few years ago). .. Not sure banking on tix outside is safe. The students that come to sell the tickets would stay for the game. I'd be hesitant to count on that.

I would be willing to pay over the top from a broker for tickets. Only you can decide if that is worth it. Since my son was an athlete at UNC, his former coach gives him tickets when he is in town... Otherwise, he hasn't been successful finding reasonable options this year (we are all huge tarheel fans!!).

julie_Colorado

Sorry.. missed your exact question. I have no idea what tickets are going for... though this particular game isn't a big match up... So it might be just slightly above face value. I bet people that are not in town might sell on ebay. You might want to check there.

GoTravel

Bigal9, it isn't the students that sell out the games but the alumni and other basketball fans.

Bigal9

Thanks for your ideas. There will probably be less students attending the game though. And I guess Rutgers is not a big draw from what you are saying. We are just excited to see what it is like inside,with one of the best teams in College Basketball.

starrsville

yep. Did a Raleigh search on craigslist. Chose tickets. Did a search for Rutgers. There were some tickets for sale.

Bigal9

Wondering if we could get some before game time. Read my post on Knoxville TN and you will find the answer to the second home vacation place.
Thanks to all.

kgh8m

I would have to imagine that you could get tickets before game time. I went to school there, and I don't remember a game other than a Duke game where there wasn't a handful of people standing at the steps of the Smith Center selling tickets. So, a game against Rutgers is likely to have tickets available from someone.

I would, however, say that more than 2 together might be tough. In my experience, tickets sold out front at a game are usually just pairs.

It wouldn't hurt to keep an eye on ebay, though.

Go Heels.

Bigal9

I agree with you,about the 2 tickets. Not sure if my wife and my younger child want to go. If not what can they do while we are at game in Chapel Hill? I believe it is a night game?

starrsville

A movie?

ncgrrl

If you only have one car, have your wife drop you off at the park-and-ride lot at the Friday Center (I think it's exit 274 from I-40, the sign will say UNC for the exit). I assume you both have cell phones so call when you leave the game and have her pick you up at the park-and-ride lot.

Southpoint Mall is only a couple of miles away (no need to get back on I-40, stay on highway 54 to highway 751 south to Renaisance Parkway). It has a all the standard mall shops, plus a food court, restaurants, and a movie theater.

If you go the way I mentioned to the mall, you pass a Target and some other stores in a nearby shopping center.

I think the official website for UNC basketball is carolinablue.com. See if they list tix for sale.

Bigal9

Now this is a great idea except for one reason. You are costing me more money by having my wife go shopping. Actually we will only have one car and 2 cell phones. This is a very good idea. How many minutes apart are the 2 sites?

scott23

Cary is in close proximity to Chapel Hill, Raleigh and even Durham. That said, a tour of the Dean Dome or Kenan Stadium (Go Heels!) would be fun. A Duke tour probably isn't your best bet, the stadium isn't that impressive.

Bigal9

Well we are staying in Cary across from a mall. When we go to the game in Chapel Hill,we were thinking of going earlier to explore the area. If we do this how much time would we need and what should we look for. I agree with taking a tour of the University.

ncgrrl

I think the website is tarheelblue.com, but I don't usually go there so it could be a third option I haven't thought of yet.

Cary is exits 290 - 293 off of I-40. Southpoint mall is exit 276 (Fayetteville Rd., but my directions for you above are from CH). The exit for UNC is 273 (probably 273A, you loop around to exit -- usually backed up onto the highway for game day). Exit numbers are related with highway miles. So if you are staying in the Crossroads area of Cary (exit 293), it's 20 highway miles to exit #273.

I'm sure your wife understands you can't pack too much stuff into the going home suitcases.