A Southern sampler

A 3 day tour of North Carolina
from our Southeastern issue,
Winter 2011.

	The farmers’ market in Carrboro opened in 1979.

Raleigh, Durham and Chapel Hill form an area known as The Triangle, home to internationally recognized universities and corporations. 

Visitors can  enjoy shopping, cuisine and music to take your group from uptown style to down-home fare.

Day One

Begin the day in Chapel Hill with breakfast at The Weathervane Restaurant, part of A Southern Season.

In 1975, A Southern Season opened as a tiny coffee roastery. These days, A Southern Season has expanded to 60,000 square feet.

If you’re exploring downtown Chapel Hill, you’re bound to run into Carrboro. The Durham-Greensboro Southern Railway line built a depot here in the late 1800s in an effort to keep noisy trains from disrupting the busy atmosphere at the University of North Carolina. 

Try lunch in Carrboro at Panzanella, a restaurant that bases its menu on available local produce.

After lunch, wander through Weaver Street Market, a cooperative dedicated to supporting local farmers. You can shop at Carr Mill, a restored textile mill, or go out to Maple View Dairy, locally owned and operated, to enjoy an ice cream cone on the front porch. Check out Carrboro Farmers’ Market, which is open year-round.

For dinner, try one of Chapel Hill’s four-diamond restaurants: Carolina Crossroads in The Carolina Inn, the front porch for the University of North Carolina, or Il Palio at the Siena Hotel, named for Italy’s famous horse race.

Chapel Hill also offers plenty of casual options, with many such as Acme Food & Beverage Co. highlighting local produce on their menus.

Nighttime offers numerous arts events at the University of North Carolina or The ArtsCenter in Carrboro.

Day Two

Spend the day in Raleigh, North Carolina’s capital. Enjoy a narrated, hour-long tour of the city on the historic trolley. Afterwards, stop at the City Market for lunch at Big Ed’s. This is real Southern fare. 

After the down-home feast, perhaps it’s time for a little exercise.

Stroll through North Carolina Farmers Market and browse 75 acres of items from across the state. 

Learn about one of the area’s oldest homes with a narrated tour at Mordecai Historic Park, site of an antebellum plantation museum. 

Then, visit Wake County’s oldest home, the Joel Lane House, which dates from the 1770s. Docents provide garden tours sharing the uses of herbs for culinary and medicinal purposes.

Day Three

See some Durham sites, such as the Duke University campus and Sarah P. Duke Gardens.

Durham’s distinctive dining is arguably the most sophisticated in the state, thanks to a thriving culinary community of nationally-acclaimed chefs. 

Try lunch at Foster’s Market. Owner Sara Foster honed her culinary skills working on Martha Stewart’s catering team.

Durham offers a wide variety of options for the afternoon.

Attend a signature annual event such as the Bull Durham Blues Festival, a celebration each September in the birthplace of the Piedmont Blues.

Visit Historic Durham Athletic Park to see where Bull Durham was filmed. Although the Durham Bulls now play at a minor-league baseball park a mile away, Durham Athletic Park still hosts festivals, special events and amateur baseball games. 

A stop at The Tuba Exchange allows you to see the only store in the U.S. dealing exclusively in tubas, euphoniums and sousaphones. More than 200 vintage instruments are on display.

For dinner, try Bullock’s Bar-B-Que.

Chapel Hill/Orange County Visitors Bureau
(888) 968-2060
www.chocvb.org

Greater Raleigh CVB
(800) 849-8499
www.visitraleigh.com

Durham CVB
(800) 446-8604
www.durham-nc.com

Offer your North Carolina itineraries to the editor.
Mail: 2465 112th Ave.
Holland, MI 49424
Fax: (616) 393-0085
Phone: 1-800-767-3489 between 8am - 5pm, EST.

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