I will be in Cary, NC for most of a day on our way to Corolla, NC. I will be on my own - any suggestions on what to do in the area? Never been there before! Shopping ? Sights? Etc.? Thanks.

Looks like there's not a darn thing to do there.

Cary does have big box stores and a decent mall (Belk, Hecht's, Dillard's etc). Cary is a booming bedroom community so something historic in Cary is over 10 years old. How attached are you to Cary? Raleigh has several museums and a science museum if you have kids along.

Annie,

What day and month will you be in Cary?
Makes a very big difference as far as things to recommend. Also, how much is "most of a day". Corolla is a good 4-4 1/2 hours from Cary and Raleigh.

Dick

Thanks, ncgrrl and Dick. We will be there on Wednesday of this week. I will be in the Cary area for about 5 or six hours - no connection, no children - just waiting until my husband's meeting is over and then we can leave. I just didn't want to hang around the hotel all day.

Dick, we knew it was a rather long ride to Corolla so we made plans to stop in Williamston for the night and then drive to Corolla on Thursday morning. I could drive into Raleigh to explore the area.

Thanks so much to you both for responding - we are anxious to see the Outer Banks and compare to our own beloved Cape Cod.

Hi, Annie,

You might want to get on I-40 a couple of exits north and visit our spandy-new mall, The Streets at Southpoint, which is -- as is much of Cary -- a shopping mecca, but it has wonderful architecture (as malls go) and some great stores, including Nordstroms and Cold Water Creek, as well as some pretty good restaurants.

Alternative might be to find your way to the NC Museum of Art (not too far from Cary just inside our "beltline"). It's not a first-order museum but it has some interesting stuff and a nice little restaurant.

Also meant to welcome you to Corolla. Unfortunately, it's gotten pretty much built up compared to CC, although Corolla Light area isn't as bad as Nags Head/Kitty Hawk. But for a fair comparsion, you have to go down to the Outer Banks National Seashore and drive that spine of the outer banks. I love the Cape, but it includes more of an old, established community. "OBX" from Corolla to Hatteras is so tourist-oriented --EXCEPT for the Seashore lands-- that it's a little depressing. My favorite part is the island of Ocracoke, but you'll have a pretty decent time in Corolla. It's a lovely old lighthouse, and the water is WARM!!!!! After our warm water, you'll have trouble dipping a toe into Nauset Beach waters again (although Skaket isn't bad, it just has no surf).

Annie,

If your idea of a new place is a typical shopping center, then try Crab Tree Mall in Raleigh on the Outer Beltline. Much closer than Streets at Southpoint.
Being an old retailer, most upscale malls are pretty much the same old thing.

You time would be better spent exploring downtown Raleigh and the State Capitol area. It would give you a little feel of the place.

Raleigh was incorporated in 1797 (+- a year), so it has many historical markers, as is common in the South.

You seem to have very limited time, so I think downtown is the way to go.

Dick

Annie, obviously from all our answers, you will need a car.

Dick, your map must be different from mine if you think Crabtree Valley is closer to Cary than Southpoint (do you even know where Southpoint is?). I guess it depends on where in Cary you are. And Crabtree Valley is an older, more traditional mall, that has Lord&Taylor instead of Nordstrom's (if that means anything to you, Annie), and slightly less imposing restaurants. Annie, if the Mall thing is of any interest to you, we can give you directions to either one.

Otherwise, I suggest you (Annie) grab a map and take a look around. From Cary, it is not too hard to get into Raleigh, which has some older, pretty residential areas and a less than compelling downtown, although the City Market area has a little cachet. There's an "Exploris" museum/IMAX as well as the Art Museum, but the Art Museum is a little easier to get to from Cary.

But it is also not that far to either Durham (which has Duke Univ=very pretty, esp. with Duke Gardens; also the small but interesting "Brightleaf Sq." converted tobacco warehouse with a handful of nice-ish stores) or Chapel Hill (UNC, very college townish).

If you want to be a little more adventurous, go out to Seagrove (maybe an hour's drive) to see the potters, or out to Fearrington Village (about 20 min. west of Chapel Hill), which is a bit precious but it has belted Galloway Cows and a couple of nice stores and a bookstore in a bucolic setting. (The Fearrington Inn is one of NC's few 4-star, Relais & Chateau establishments, but you can have a nice lunch in their market cafe.)

"All upscale malls pretty much the same"? Well, Dick, you can't have been to Southpoint yet. Either that or "as an old retailer" you don't see malls the way the public does. It's true that they tend to have a lot of the same stores (Pottery Barn, Renovator's Warehouse, Gaps, etc.), but what distinguishes them is what it feels like to wander them, what the rhythm and layout of the place is.

I have problems with Southpoint -- somebody's going to get killed on those two outdoor cross-overs where pedestrians and cars can meander through (I don't think there are even Stop signs there), and there aren't nearly enough restaurants for the size of the mall, not to mention the huge cineplex. But Southpoint has an original layout, at least for NC, in trying to convey the sense of "streets," etc. If Annie comes from an area where all malls are like Crabtree Valley -- just an extended indoor hall of stores with the obligatory food court -- Southpoint might actually interest her. (And I agree with DCC that it's not further to S'point.)

But Annie, you have to tell us: when you say "shopping," do you mean quaint local stores or what?

What do you like to do? Truthfully, Cary is largely a collection of shopping malls, mostly of the strip-mall variety. Unfortunately, it's not made for ambling around like a tourist but rather for short-hop drive-around suburban errands.

As a Triangle native, I would say that Cary doesn't have all that much to offer the tourist. It's a nice place to live, but you wouldn't want to visit there. ;-)

It all depends on what you're looking for, Annie. Southpoint is a great new mall and worth a trip if you enjoy that type of shopping. If you like college towns and that sort of feel, Chapel Hill is the place for you. There are also a few funky shops along Franklin St. in Chapel Hill, though not nearly as many as there used to be since now it's the Gap et al. The campus is beautiful, though, especially on a nice day, and the Ackland Art Museum and Morehead Planetarium are cool if you like that sort of thing.

Raleigh has some nice historic buildings and fairly good museums.

Annie?

You there?

Hi, I'm here!

Thanks to all for the ideas of things to do while I'm in Cary, NC. Yes, I have a car and it's only for a few hours so I'm sure I'll be able to pss the time exploring downtown Raleigh or the Art Museum and maybe find a few shops to browse around in. If not, then I'll find the Crab Tree or Southpoint Mall - both sound as if there are stores to interest me for a few hours.

Thanks again - I really appreciate all the suggestions.

Dear D.C.C.,

Having driven the Cary, Raleigh, Durham area as a business for 4 years, from Chatham Street in Cary to Southpoint Mall in Durham is 18.4 miles and 27 minutes (with little traffic). The same address in Cary to Crabtree Valley Mall is 11.43 miles and 21 minutes (again depending on traffic). At least you don't have to be on I-40 through RTP. Perhaps you need a new map source.

CAIT, if you knew anything about major malls, they are all the same; only the stores change. If you think for one minute that going to a mall with a 5 or 6 hourlayover in Cary, North Carolina is something to look forward to, good luck.

Annie, I know Cary like the back of my hand. I could show you some incredible homes, golf courses, pretty drives etc. Cary is a Yuppie town of around 100,000.

I would be glad to give you a tour if you would like. Post back here if interested. By the way, I am very safe and know many of the fine Cary police having worked for the Town of Cary for a few recent year.

Dick

I don't need a new map source, since I have lived in Chapel Hill for 22 years and commuted to various places in Raleigh, east, and south along the way. (And how on earth did you get your calculations -- to the hundredth mile for pete's sake -- did you actually go out and clock it for the sake of this stupid dispute, or did you use the ever-fallible Mapquest calculations?) I'm willing to concede that from your particular address in Cary, Crabtree Valley (I at least got the name right) might be closer, but I don't think for Annie's purposes that makes Crabtree Valley the place to go over Southpoint. NO way is it 27 minutes from any of the Cary exits on I-40.

And Cait is right, they aren't the same in feeling even if there are a few duplications of chain stores. There are many fewer of the Southpoint type around the country than there are of the Crabtree Valley type. And frankly, the garage parking at C'tree gives me the willies. I don't like parking there.

Annie, don't expect too much in the way of "downtown" in Raleigh. But enjoy our state, and have a great time at Corolla.