rticle about the best things to do in a city like Raleigh, North Carolina, would be a pleasant and cheerful read. You believe that it will list delightful attractions, from verdant parks to world-class museums, and that you will be able to visit them all with a smile on your face and a song in your heart.
I am sorry to inform you that you are gravely, and perhaps dangerously, mistaken. So, if you are the sort of person who prefers a life of quiet ignorance and predictable happiness, I suggest you close this article at once and find a more suitable and less melancholic list of amusements. For those of you who have a taste for the grim and the unsettling, please proceed. But do not say you were not warned. In any case, please remember that there is nothing to fear but fear itself, and an article about Raleigh is hardly worth such dread.
Despite the tone, this guide is designed to help you plan your trip efficiently. All prices, hours, and logistical advice are accurate at the time of publication.
If this is your first stop in the United States, read Travel Warnings: The Real USA Experience.
Best Things to See and Do in Raleigh (And Why They Might Disappoint You)
In any given metropolis, there is a list of Best Things to See and Do, an optimistic and misleading phrase that suggests these activities will be entirely delightful and without peril. Such a list, however, is merely a catalog of places where one can witness something curious, or perhaps even perform a curious deed oneself. One should approach this list with caution and a healthy dose of suspicion, as no one can truly promise that what you see and do will be anything but an experience of dreadful consequence.
While I endeavor to furnish you with the costs of regular adult admission for the various locales of interest, you must understand that the proprietors of these places will almost certainly offer lesser prices for children, students, the elderly, and other groups in order to make a simple transaction more complicated. You should also be aware that an alarming number of Raleigh’s museums, parks, and cultural events are entirely free.
Vaults of Collected Horrors (Museums & Machinery)
Step into these intimidating structures to witness monsters of the deep, inscrutable sculptures, and the cold, metallic efficiency of our robotic future.
Keep your wits about you at the North Carolina Museum of Natural Sciences
- What the guides say: This is the largest institution of its kind in the Southeastern United States, containing four levels of displays concerning the natural world. It includes a skeletal reconstruction of a dinosaur known as the Terror of the South and a room containing live butterflies. One may also sit in a three-story theater called the SECU Daily Planet to observe presentations regarding scientific discoveries.
- What they don’t tell you: A great many places in the world display specimens, and a great many are called museums. What makes this particular building so memorable, however, is not merely the quantity of its collected horrors, but the sheer, dreadful size of them. One can, for example, spend an unsettling afternoon standing before a gigantic whale skeleton suspended from the ceiling, a testament to the fact that even in death, some creatures remain overwhelmingly large and vaguely damp. You will also encounter the unsettling sight of taxidermied animals, forever frozen in poses of unnatural vivacity. And for those with a peculiar interest in the truly colossal and extinct, there is a newly unearthed collection of dinosaur remains so enormous it suggests that the world was once populated entirely by beasts whose only purpose was to terrify.
- Go for: The largest museum of its kind in the Southeast, featuring Duelling Dinosaurs and a massive three-story globe.
- Cost: Free (donations appreciated); small fee for 3D movies and special exhibits.
- Science: You can watch real scientists working in transparent research labs in the Nature Research Center.
- Photography: The Daily Planet globe outside is an iconic shot, especially when lit up at night.
- Verdict: It is a suspiciously free collection of colossal whale bones and frozen beasts, but standing before a prehistoric Terror makes the existential dread worthwhile.
Be horrified at the North Carolina Museum of Art & Park (NCMA)
- What the guides say: This museum consists of two buildings housing a collection of objects ranging from ancient times to the current year. Outside, there is a 164-acre park, which is the largest of its type in the country. It contains several miles of paths where one may encounter very large sculptures placed among the trees and grass.
- What they don’t tell you: The North Carolina Museum of Art is not a collection of cheerful landscapes, but rather a vault of sometimes-dreadful and sometimes-puzzling objects, often presented on a vast scale. It is a place so crammed with unsettling masterpieces that one is in danger of being overwhelmed, in the same way one might be overwhelmed by a sudden and inexplicable downpour. The park, in particular, offers a dreadful pilgrimage through a landscape scattered with enormous and inscrutable sculptures, which, like abstract anxieties, offer no clear meaning or comfort.
- Go for: A world-class art collection paired with a 164-acre outdoor museum park filled with monumental sculptures.
- Cost: Free (Permanent Collection and Park); fee for some special exhibitions.
- Location: The park is connected to the Capital Area Greenway, so you can bike directly from downtown.
- Photography: Capture Thomas Sayre’s GYRE rings for an iconic Raleigh art shot.
- Best Time: Sunset in the Museum Park provides incredible lighting for the large-scale installations.
- Verdict: The massive, inscrutable sculptures in the park offer no comfort for your anxieties, but the sunset light hitting the GYRE rings is undeniably spectacular.
Behold the enigmatic BookBot at Hunt Library
- What the guides say: Located within a library at North Carolina State University, the BookBot is a mechanical system that organizes approximately two million printed volumes. Visitors are permitted to look through glass partitions to see robotic limbs moving through bins to retrieve specific books. Many people consider this library to be the most technologically advanced in existence.
- What they don’t tell you: Journey to the campus of NC State University and marvel at a multi-million dollar library building whose books are not retrieved by human hands, but by a bizarre, robotic crane system. It is a cold, metallic reminder of how technology often solves problems you never knew you had while simultaneously making everything a little more impersonal and unnerving.
- Go for: A high-tech robotic book delivery system that retrieves books from underground vaults in minutes.
- Cost: Free.
- Where to Look: Head to the second floor of the James B. Hunt Jr. Library (NC State Centennial Campus) to the viewing window.
- Books: The BookBot can store up to 2 million items in 1/9th the space of conventional shelves.
- Photography: The library itself is an architectural masterpiece; visit the Rain Garden Reading Room for colorful, futuristic interiors.
- Verdict: Watching a robotic limb retrieve 2 million volumes behind glass is a cold, impersonal marvel that you simply cannot look away from.
Contemplate modern democracy at the North Carolina State Capitol Building
- What the guides say: Finished in 1840, this building is constructed in the Greek Revival style and is recognized as a National Historic Landmark. It was the primary location for state government business for forty-eight years.
- What they don’t tell you: Stand before this austere structure, where the peculiar machinery of governance grinds onward, producing laws and proclamations of truly questionable merit. Though tiny, it is a place that looks deceptively solid, suggesting an order and stability that any sensible person knows is merely a thin veneer over chaos.
- Go for: A beautifully preserved 1840 Greek Revival building that still serves as a cornerstone of state government.
- Cost: Free.
- Planning Tip: Self-guided tours are available daily; free public guided tours are often offered on Saturdays at 11:00 AM and 2:00 PM.
- Best Time: Early morning when the sun hits the granite exterior without the mid-day shadows from the surrounding trees.
- George Washington: The Rotunda features a duplicate of Antonio Canova’s statue of George Washington – depicted as a Roman general.
- Verdict: This granite fortress of governance houses a George Washington dressed as a Roman, proving that state politics has always been a bit surreal.
Descend into the dark corners of the Videri Chocolate Factory
Website | Map | Guided Tours
- What the guides say: This establishment in the Warehouse District allows visitors to walk along a specific path to observe the transformation of cocoa beans into chocolate bars. The air contains a strong aroma of roasting cocoa beans. At the conclusion of the walk, one may consume small chocolate confections or a chilled beverage on a wooden patio.
- What they don’t tell you: Witness the unsettling process by which the humble, bitter cacao bean is transformed into the sweet, addictive substance known as chocolate. You will be advised to sample the wares, a temporary pleasure that, like many of life’s fleeting joys, is merely a preamble to a dreadful post-consumption sugar crash.
- Go for: A bean-to-bar chocolate experience in the heart of the Warehouse District.
- Cost: Free (Self-guided tours); Approximately $25 for staff-led guided tours.
- Bean-To-Bar: Every chocolate bar is made from scratch on-site, starting with raw cocoa beans.
- Samples: Don’t leave without a sample! The self-guided tour ends right at the counter where they hand out fresh pieces.
- Best Time: Go in the afternoon for a frozen hot chocolate on their patio.
- Verdict: Witness the bitter bean’s transformation into a sweet addiction; the sugar crash is inevitable, but the free samples are a delicious preamble to disaster.
Pastures of Institutional Misery (Parks & Nature)
Stroll through these vast expanses of protected wilderness and manicured gardens to contemplate the neglect and thorns that define the human experience.
Walk the perimeter of the former Dix Hill Asylum
- What the guides say: This 308-acre expanse is the largest municipal park in the city and is currently the subject of a significant development project. It features rolling terrain, a large field of sunflowers that bloom during the summer months, and a view of the downtown skyscrapers that is not obstructed by other buildings. The land previously served as a plantation and subsequently as a hospital for those with mental illnesses, but it is now used for public gatherings, communal meals, and physical exercises intended to represent the city’s future growth.
- What they don’t tell you: Visit the vast, grassy expanse now known as Dix Park, once the site of a sprawling mental institution. As you stroll, you will be unable to shake the dreadful feeling that the land itself remembers the centuries of human misery and institutional neglect it bore witness to, a history that hangs in the air like an unwelcome fog.
- Go for: Sprawling green space with a complex history and the best skyline view of Raleigh.
- Cost: Free.
- Photography: Head to the Big Field for the classic panoramic shot of downtown Raleigh’s skyline.
- The Name: This was North Carolina’s first psychiatric hospital, named for mental health reformer Dorothea Dix.
- Verdict: The land still whispers of its history as an asylum, but the skyline view from the Big Field is the most beautiful way to ignore the past.
Stroll through the foreboding pathways of William B. Umstead State Park
- What the guides say: This is a large wooded area covering more than 5,000 acres situated between two cities. It features three artificial lakes and many paths for those who enjoy walking or riding bicycles and horses. A specific fallen tree has been carved into a horizontal sculpture depicting woodland animals, which is a popular sight for hikers.
- What they don’t tell you: If you are interested in a vast stretch of protected wilderness, where one might become hopelessly lost merely a few miles from the nearest civilization, then perhaps you possess a particular fondness for places that encourage an unnerving sense of solitude. As you wander along the various walking paths in this park, you may encounter the carved tree, an enormous, fallen oak that, instead of being left to its natural, dignified decay, was mutilated and transformed by a chainsaw artist into a grotesque menagerie of carved woodland creatures. It is a spectacle that will leave you pondering the unsettling relationship between nature’s harshness and humanity’s unnecessary interventions.
- Go for: A massive natural escape between Raleigh and Durham with over 20 miles of hiking and biking trails.
- Cost: Free.
- Planning Tip: There are two separate entrances (Highway 70/Glenwood and I-40/Harrison Ave); they do not connect by car inside the park.
- Photography: Hike the Sycamore Trail to find the carved log – a 25-foot fallen tree intricately carved with animals and forest scenes.
- Best Time: Early morning to spot deer or blue herons near the lakes.
- Verdict: You may get hopelessly lost in 5,000 acres of solitude, but finding a 25-foot oak tree mutilated into art is a hiking highlight.
Reflect on mortality at the historic Oakwood Cemetery
- What the guides say: Established in 1869, this graveyard is the final resting place for more than 22,000 individuals. It features many Victorian monuments and rolling terrain suitable for quiet walks. Two specific areas, the Magnolia Hill Section and the House of Memory, are considered significant parts of this historical landscape.
- What they don’t tell you: Stroll through this vast, silent city of the departed, where the unsettling artistry of 19th-century funerary sculpture is on full display. A truly dreadful way to spend an afternoon contemplating your own inevitable, and likely undignified, end.
- Go for: A historic garden cemetery filled with ornate Victorian monuments and local legends.
- Cost: Free.
- Photography: The Angel of Grief monument is one of the most hauntingly beautiful statues in the South.
- Location: It is located next to the Historic Oakwood neighborhood, which is worth a stroll for its 19th-century homes.
- Confederate Generals: Several Confederate generals and several NC governors are buried here.
- Verdict: A silent city of 22,000 souls where the Victorian Angel of Grief awaits to remind you of your own undignified and certain end.
Gaze upon the baffling statues at Pullen Park
Website | Map | Ride Tickets
- What the guides say: This park opened in 1887, making it the oldest public park in the state and the 14th oldest amusement park in the world. It contains a carousel built in 1911, a small train, and miniature boats for children. There is also a lake for pedal boats and a facility for theatrical performances, making it a frequent destination for families.
- What they don’t tell you: Visit this aging amusement park, which boasts the unsettling presence of an antique carousel and a miniature train – both relics of a simpler, yet equally doomed, time. Also note the inexplicably placed bronze statue of the actor Andy Griffith, which serves as a baffling tribute to a completely different, and possibly fictional, small Southern town.
- Go for: The 14th oldest amusement park in the world, featuring a historic carousel and a miniature train.
- Cost: Free entry; Approximately $2 per ride ticket.
- Planning Tip: Buy ride tickets online in advance to skip the ticket booth lines on busy weekends.
- Historic Landmark: The 1911 Gustave A. Dentzel Carousel is a designated National Historic Landmark.
- Photography: The train crossing the bridge over the pond is a classic postcard shot.
- Verdict: Between the 1911 carousel and a baffling Andy Griffith statue, this park is a relic of a doomed era that still charms for $2 a ride.
Seek out a moment of quiet at the JC Raulston Arboretum
- What the guides say: Managed by a university, this ten-acre garden contains a wide variety of plants that grow well in the South. It serves as a laboratory for the study of botany and includes a Japanese Garden and a Xeric Garden. It is a place where one may observe many different types of vegetation in a single location.
- What they don’t tell you: Subject yourself to the confusing arrangement of plants at this horticultural research center, where a dizzying variety of foreign and local flora are meticulously organized. It is a place that makes one feel acutely aware of the sheer, overwhelming complexity of the natural world and one’s own profound ignorance of botany.
- Go for: A nationally acclaimed garden with one of the most diverse collections of plants in the Southeast.
- Cost: Free.
- Best Time: Any time of year; it is designed to have winter interest plants, not just spring blooms.
- Photography: The Xeric Garden features incredible cacti and succulents that look great in high-contrast midday sun.
- Planning Tip: Check their website for Rare Plant Auctions or symposia that happen throughout the year.
- Verdict: The botanical complexity will highlight your profound ignorance of nature, but the Xeric Garden cacti look magnificent under a punishing midday sun.
Gaze upon the baffling grandeur of the Raleigh Rose Garden
- What the guides say: Situated behind a small theater, this garden contains sixty individual beds with more than 1,200 rose bushes. The plants typically produce flowers from the month of May until the first frost of winter. The area includes a stone amphitheater and is a common location for marriage ceremonies and outdoor plays.
- What they don’t tell you: Wander through this manicured patch of land, where hundreds of rose bushes – a flower renowned for its unsettling combination of beauty and sharp, dangerous thorns – are cultivated with obsessive care. It is a place that illustrates the dreadful truth that even the loveliest things carry the capacity to wound.
- Go for: A hidden gem featuring sixty beds of roses and a stone amphitheater.
- Cost: Free.
- Best Time: Late May through September for peak blooms.
- Photography: The stone tiers of the Raleigh Little Theatre amphitheater (adjacent to the roses) offer a great vantage point for wide-angle shots.
- Accreditation: It is one of only three accredited rose gardens in North Carolina.
- Verdict: Wander through 1,200 bushes to learn that beauty always comes with sharp, dangerous thorns; it’s a lovely place to be carefully wounded.
Ponder the murky depths of Lake Johnson
- What the guides say: This park centers around a 150-acre body of water and features both paved and unpaved walking paths. One may rent small boats, such as kayaks, or walk across a long bridge made of wood. It is a suitable location for the observation of birds or the viewing of the horizon at dusk.
- What they don’t tell you: Take a walk around the perimeter of this large body of water, whose murky surface conceals whatever unpleasant creatures or discarded secrets lie at the bottom. It is a truly dreadful place for quiet reflection on the things you cannot see.
- Go for: Waterfront views, paddle boating, and a 3.5-mile paved loop trail.
- Cost: Free to walk; fees for boat rentals (Approximately $5 – $15/hour).
- Planning Tip: The East Loop is paved and flat; the West Loop is unpaved and more rugged for hikers.
- Photography: The long wooden boardwalk over the lake is the best spot for golden hour reflections.
- Best Time: Early morning for a quiet walk before the local moms arrive.
- Verdict: The murky depths conceal secrets you are better off not knowing, but the long wooden boardwalk is perfect for reflecting on things unseen.
Labyrinths of Self-Imposed Oblivion (Food & Drink)
Engage in the perplexing rituals of local consumption, where the sustenance is either thoroughly disassembled or saturated with defiant amounts of sugar.
Eat, if you dare
- What the guides say: The city possesses many different types of restaurants, including Poole’s Diner for traditional food and Brewery Bhavana for dim sum. One may also find North Carolina barbecue at a place called Sam Jones BBQ. There are numerous options for meals, ranging from expensive dinners to quick items sold in a large food hall.
- What they don’t tell you: You would be well advised to try pulled pork barbecue and a glass of sweet tea before leaving Raleigh. One is a meat so thoroughly disassembled it scarcely resembles its former, innocent self, and the other is a liquid so utterly saturated with sugar it defies the laws of nature – a truly upsetting combination.
- Go for: Laotian fine dining at Bida Manda (Map), famous Mac & Cheese at Poole’s Diner (Map), or BBQ at Sam Jones (Map).
- Cost: $15 (casual) to $50+ (fine dining).
- Planning Tip: For Poole’s Diner, there are no reservations – arrive 15 minutes before they open to snag a seat.
- Photography: The wall of cookbooks inside Brewery Bhavana (next to Bida Manda) is a dream for interior shots (Map).
- Verdict: Subject yourself to disassembled pork and tea saturated with defiant amounts of sugar – it’s a culinary tragedy that tastes like a local triumph.
Engage in the perplexing rituals of a local brewery tour
- What the guides say: There are more than 30 establishments in the city that produce beer. People often take tours in a vehicle that resembles a trolley to visit several of these locations.
- What they don’t tell you: Partake in the modern Raleigh tradition of visiting a succession of establishments where one consumes various dark, malty liquids. This activity, known to the locals as craft beer culture, invariably leads to bewildering conversations and a general dulling of the senses, a form of temporary, self-imposed oblivion.
- Go for: Sample some of the 40+ breweries in the area.
- Cost: Free to walk the Beer Trail; Approximately $6 – $10 per pint.
- Passport: Sign up for the Raleigh Beer Trail Passport (free) to earn prizes for visiting different taprooms.
- Suggested Route: Start your tour at Trophy Brewing & Pizza, and then perambulate to Incendiary Brewing, Wye Hill Kitchen & Brewing, Crank Arm Brewing Company, Brewery Bhavana, and finally Burial Beer, if you survive that long.
- Trolley Pub: If you don’t want to walk, join a Trolley Pub tour (Website).
- Drink and Walk: Raleigh has a sip and stroll downtown district where you can walk with open containers in designated areas.
- Best Time: Saturday afternoons when many breweries host live music or food trucks.
- Verdict: A journey through malty liquids into self-imposed oblivion; start at Trophy and perambulate toward Burial if your senses can endure the dulling.
Succumb to a sugar-fueled panic at Krispy Kreme
Website | Map | Krispy Kreme Challenge
- What the guides say: This specific doughnut shop on Person Street is known for a neon sign that indicates when the food is freshly made. It is the site of a five-mile race where participants must consume twelve doughnuts.
- What they don’t tell you: Partake of the unsettling local delicacy known as the Hot Now glazed doughnut. This experience, which involves consuming a piping-hot confection of pure sugar and air, often leads to a brief, manic euphoria followed by a dreadful crash – a perfect miniature tragedy. Worse still is the Krispy Kreme Challenge, a dreadful dash where runners compete by running 2.5 miles to Krispy Kreme, where they consume a dozen donuts before running 2.5 more miles to the finish.
- Go for: The iconic Hot Now glazed doughnut at the historic Peace Street location.
- Cost: Approximately $2 per doughnut.
- Best Time: Look for the red Hot Now neon sign; if it’s lit, the doughnuts are coming fresh off the line.
- The Challenge: Every February, Raleigh hosts the Krispy Kreme Challenge, where runners eat a dozen doughnuts midway through a 5-mile race.
- Photography: Capture the doughnut theater through the glass window as they pass through the glaze waterfall.
- Verdict: The Hot Now sign is a beacon of manic euphoria; eat a dozen during the Challenge if you wish to turn a snack into a physical catastrophe.
Ponder the mysteries of the Historic Oak View County Park
- What the guides say: This 19th-century farm allows people to see how agriculture was conducted in previous eras. It includes a main house, a building for processing cotton, and a herd of goats. The park provides an educational look at rural life before the city became as large as it is today.
- What they don’t tell you: Visit this farm museum, which attempts to preserve a small slice of 19th-century agricultural life, a period that was, by all accounts, far more dreadful and uncomfortable than is generally advertised. You may encounter goats, whose cheerful, unblinking stares will leave you profoundly unsettled about their motives.
- Go for: A 19th-century historic farmstead with a plank kitchen, cotton gin, and resident goats.
- Cost: Free.
- Kid-Friendly: This is an excellent, quieter alternative to the bigger museums for families with kids.
- Photography: The white-washed farm buildings and the cotton field provide a rustic, Old South aesthetic.
- Best Time: Spring, to see the farm’s vegetable gardens in their early stages.
- Verdict: The unblinking stares of the resident goats are deeply unsettling, but this farm offers a quiet, free retreat from the modern world’s misery.
Wander through the Raleigh City Market
- What the guides say: This area features cobblestone streets and buildings that date back to 1914. It was originally a place where farmers sold their crops, but it now contains various shops and places to eat. It is decorated with small lights and is a popular location for walking in the evening.
- What they don’t tell you: A baffling collection of shops and eateries in a structure that attempts to recapture the chaotic, bustling charm of a century past. It serves as a reminder that all attempts to cling to the past are doomed to be charmingly, or perhaps tragically, inadequate.
- Go for: Historic cobblestone streets and independent boutiques near Moore Square.
- Cost: Free to walk.
- Photography: The string lights across the cobblestones look best at twilight.
- Original Purpose: Built in 1914, it was originally a public market for fresh produce and meats.
- Best Time: During a First Friday event for maximum energy.
- Verdict: A doomed attempt to capture the charm of 1914 via cobblestones and string lights; it’s a picturesque spot to contemplate the passage of time.
Exercises in Social Discomfort (Culture & Expression)
Join the throngs of people who willingly subject themselves to crowded galleries and visual cacophony in a desperate search for meaning.
Submit to the strange power of the First Friday art crawl
- What the guides say: On the first Friday of each month, many galleries, museums, and shops in the downtown area stay open later than usual. There are often musical performances and refreshments provided to the public. This is a time when one can visit Artspace to see where local artists perform their work.
- What they don’t tell you: Join the throngs of people who, on the first Friday of every month, willingly subject themselves to an evening of crowded galleries and questionable free wine, all in the name of culture. It is an exercise in social discomfort that one is not likely to soon forget, however much one might wish to.
- Go for: A monthly celebration of art and community where galleries stay open late, and street performers line the sidewalks.
- Cost: Free.
- When: The first Friday of every month, 6:00 PM – 9:00 PM.
- Planning Tip: Start at Artspace (Map) to see the highest concentration of local artists.
- Photography: Great for candid street photography of the local Raleigh creative scene.
- Verdict: Galleries offer questionable wine and social discomfort, but it’s the only time the city feels properly alive with creative, anonymous desperation.
Attempt to decipher the meaning of the Free Expression Tunnel
- What the guides say: This is a pedestrian walkway under railroad tracks where individuals are legally permitted to use spray paint. The walls are constantly changing as students and other people apply new layers of paint and messages. Walking through the tunnel involves seeing many colors and smelling the scent of fresh chemicals.
- What they don’t tell you: Visit the infamous underpass on the NC State University campus, where layers of ever-changing graffiti accumulate. It is a baffling, colorful testament to the fleeting nature of human opinion and a dreadful visual cacophony of anonymous, scrawled desperation.
- Go for: A pedestrian tunnel at NC State, where graffiti is not only legal but encouraged.
- Cost: Free.
- Layers: The tunnel walls can be inches thick due to decades of layered spray paint.
- Photography: The colors change daily; check it out in the morning for fresh art before it gets tagged again.
- Verdict: A visual cacophony of layered spray paint and chemical fumes; it’s a colorful testament to how quickly human opinions are buried by others.
You may be tempted to believe that, having read this far, you are now an expert on the city of Raleigh. You may think that you have unlocked all of its secrets and have seen all there is to see. But this is the final, and most dreadful, misconception of all. For a city, like a person, is a labyrinth of sorrows and small triumphs, a constantly shifting landscape of things that were, things that are, and things that, unfortunately, will never be.
So, as you go forth, whether you choose to visit the museums, the parks, or the surprisingly numerous breweries, do so with a healthy sense of trepidation. Do not expect happiness, but rather, a series of peculiar experiences that may, in the end, leave you with a story to tell. A story of a city that is not good, or bad, but simply, irrevocably, itself.
Further Reading
If one is in search of a less dreadful and more pleasant perspective on Raleigh, a number of additional resources exist. These are, of course, presented with the understanding that such information is often a mere sugarcoating on a very bitter pill, and should be consumed with a healthy dose of suspicion.
- Visit Raleigh
- Raleighnc.gov – Raleigh Locals Guide
- “24 Hours In Raleigh: What To Do For 1st Timers!” by This Is Raleigh
- “36 Hours in Rio de Janeiro: Things to See and Do” from The New York Times (paywall)
