PaulaL

Hello! My husband and I will be in the Raleigh area for 3, possibly 4 days in May. Could you recommend hotels and/or b&b's, restaurants and any sight seeing things that we should not miss? I did receive tourism data from the Chamber of Commerce, so there are plenty of items listed, we're just looking for your personal recommendations and which area hotel(s) we should consider for our stay. Looking foward to it! and thanks for any help you may be able to provide.

Andrew

I enjoyed walking around the old houses in downtown Raleigh (forget the name of the neighborhood, but it's not that big an area) and the nearby cemetery with old civil war graves. One of the museums had an exhibit of presidential portraits from the Smithsonian last July but I doubt that is still there. The museum of natural sciences was OK but not a must-see. Duke University has a beautiful campus in nearby Durham - I'd recommend taking a walk through it. There's a garden that will probably be beautiful in May.

Stayed at the Hilton in North Raleigh (very close to downtown) for $30/night with Priceline. The hotel was OK - I would only recommend it at that price. There are other hotels right downtown but being downtown isn't all that exciting in Raleigh anyway.

Andrew

ncgrrl

If you are visiting the weekend of NCSU graduation (probably Mothers' Day weekend), you might have trouble finding a room.

If you like flea markets, there is huge one on the state fair ground on the weekends. Just down the road from there is the NC Museum of Art. It's free admission except for special exhibits. The museum is closed on Monday and Tuesdays.

You could probaly do the downtown (state run) museums in the afternoon. The Exploris museum (private, with admission charge) is a kids oriented science museum and has an IMAX theater.

You might want to visit Lake Crabtree (near the airport) or head down to Jordan Lake.

Or head over to Chapel Hill and tour the campus. As long as it is not graduation weekend, you shouldn't have too much probrem parking on the weekend. Over in Durham is Duke University. The Duke Gardens are gorgeous. And NCSU has the Raulston Arboretum. I haven't been there (yet) but I have heard good things about the gardens.

If you like to shop, the big malls are Crabtree Valley, Triangle Town Center (opened last year), and Cary Towne Center. Cary is a suburb of Raleigh that has a lot of shopping centers. Closer to downtown Raleigh is Cameron Village. It's rather spread out (one of the first shopping areas in the state) and has some unique stores intermixed with chain places.

Memorial auditorium at the BTI Center might have a touring company of a broadway play.

Diana

Andrew may be referring to the Oakwood area.
Our favorite restaurants in town are Sullivan's or Ruth's Chris for steak, Second Empire for special occasions, Sushi Blues or Kanki for sushi or Japanese, and a little ole' seafood place called Captain Stanley's in Garner for huge fresh broiled scallops and shrimp.
We stayed at a nice B&B in Oakwood on our wedding night. That was awhile back, so I can't remember the name, but I'm sure there are quite a few nice ones.
We have a couple of nice brand new malls - the Streets at Southpoint with a Nordstrom's and a lot of other good stores.
There's almost always live music or concerts or dance of some kind at the Civic Center.
The North Carolina Museum of Art almost always has a great exhibit going on. We had Rodin not long ago.
I agree that the North Raleigh Hilton is not too great, but it is well located.
The Marriott at Crabtree is pretty nice, but traffic in that part of town can be a bear.
DON'T stay in RTP - traffic nightmare.
May is a great time to come - not too hot yet.

PaulR

Best restaurants: Bloomsbury Bistro in Raleigh and Nana's in Durham. Call each for directions.

Gretchen

Well, if you're gonna list excellent restaurants in the area then Magnolia Grill in Durham would have to make the list. But whoever mentioned the possibility of being there over graduation had a good point. It would also be UNC and Duke's graduation time too and it is a ZOO.

GoTravel

Outside of Raleigh but have you checked out the Fearrington House?

Good restaurants, 518 West, Margaux's, 42nd Street Oyster Bar.

PaulaL

Thank you to all for your comments and recommendations. I really do appreciate it! I hadn't thought about the graduations, so we'll look into those dates and build our trip around them. My husband's business trip is somewhat flexible and in the planning stages.

This is a combination trip; a little business for him, a BIG birthday for me, and I've never been before, so I'm really excited about seeing the area. My husband also says that if we were to relocate, that he considers the Raleigh area a top choice. I'm a native Bostonian, but I can tell you my family teases me relentlessly about my constant conplaints about the weather up here and that I should like it! Well, I don't like it! We're stuck inside for the half the year and my gardening season is much too short! Anyway, I digress.

I wouldn't mind driving a little bit for a hotel outside of Raleigh, it's just that we of course don't know the traffic patterns etc. of the area.

And yes, GoTravel, I have looked at the Fearrington's website. Gorgeous place, but a little steap on the nightly rates for us. I have only eaten at one Relais Chateaux facility in Maine, and I have to say, the food was just amazing.

Thanks again for all the great ideas! The gardens and the lakes are tops on my list, as well as the art museum and any flea/farmers markets. Lots of note taking on my part!

Any other hotel suggestions would be welcome.

GoTravel

Paula, if it isn't graduation, call the Fearrington House and ask for a good rate. Especially if your dates are during the week I'd bet they give you a good rate. Good luck!

Cassandra

Former Bostonian, now Tar Heel -- let me make a couple of suggestions. There are some very nice hotels between Raleigh and Durham on I-40 (and a few around Crabtree Valley on Rte. 70), which would put you in a decently central position to "do" Raleigh and Chapel Hill and Durham (also not far from one of the newest and biggest-deal shopping areas, "Streets at Southpoint" which has indoors and outdoors walkways, fountains, and an array of stores from Sears to Nordstrom's).

Commencement: everyone is quite right, you will have a heckuva time finding accommodations around the May 11th weekend (Duke, which is in Durham) and the May 18th weekend (UNC-Chapel Hill AND NC State, which is in Raleigh). These events will also choke up the restaurants, so think about making a reservation for your one or two big nights.

There are several really fine restaurants in Raleigh, esp. out Glenwood Ave. including Fins and Enoteca Vin, but I know the Durham and Chapel Hill restaurants a lot better, and I'm here to tell you Magnolia Grill is falling from grace fast. By far the best in Durham is 4 Square, although Nana's is still a very good bet. The Fearrington Inn is an order of magnitude more expensive and more "impressive" than any other place this side of Charlotte and perhaps anywhere in NC -- a 5-star "Relais et Chateau" place that will set you back $100/piece at least. However, driving out to the grounds, seeing Fearrington Village and the belted cows, and eating there is a very special experience and flavor for someone coming from the northeast.

Second the suggestion of seeing Duke Gardens (which will include seeing something of Duke, which has a very lovely campus) at that time of year.

If you are in Chapel Hill, you can taste "Southern Gourmet" at Crook's Corner (not my favorite but sort of a landmark), catch a little of the local scene at Top O' the Hill (located above the downtown "crossroads" area, try the latest fave restaurant, Lantern (pan-asian), or -- at the complete other end of the scale -- catch some reportedly bitchen rock at Cat's Cradle, which has a national reputation. For a good but very upscale formal dinner in charming surroundings, the Carolina Crossroads restaurant in the remodeled Georgian-style Carolina Inn, right on campus, is a lovely thing to do -- and they have a great Sunday brunch (just skip Commencement Sunday).

Now that I've thrown a lot of stuff at you, why not tell us what actually interests you in the way of sights?

PaulaL

Thanks, Cassandra, for taking the time to respond and giving me such great, in-depth info. I really do appreciate it!

With my birthday being 5/1 we were planning on trying to go the following weekend, but thankfully we've discovered, via this forum, those times will be very hectic due to the college graduations. My hubby is pretty sure he can move his trip out two weeks, so we're looking at Memorial Day weekend - the plus side being we can make it a 4 day weekend and get at least two full days out of it (Friday and Monday being partly taken up by fly/travel time).

ncgrrl had some great suggestions as well, so we are interested in the art museum, the various gardens, the arboretum at NCSU, antiquing, checking out the victorian architecture in the Oakwood section of Raleigh, nice spots for walking, any scenic drives, sampling some southern fare, jazz music, and somewhere in there, some time to relax and have a nice dinner together. Unfortunately we don't have a whole lot of time, but hopefully I'll be able to get a decent 'feel' for the area. Thanks again to all for your help!