Raleigh & Durham, NC 2023
Christopher and I took a quick trip to Raleigh & Durham to see Chicago at Durham Performing Arts Center. We weren’t able to make it to Orlando to see Chicago as originally planned, and it’s one of my favorite soundtracks and I hadn’t seen it live yet, so we found a show closer to home.
On the way we stopped in Mount Airy, NC for dinner at Little Richards BBQ. We shared a couple of platters that included brisket, baby back ribs, and roasted chicken, plus, fries, baked beans, mac and cheese, collard greens, and a pile of hushpuppies. The hushpuppies were SO GOOD, and I liked all the sides. The baby back ribs were delicious, the brisket was a little dry, but tasted good, and the chicken you can get sauced in any of their sauces, so it’s very versatile.
We also drove through Mayberry, pretty cute.
This was my first time visiting the Raleigh/Durham area as an adult, and they have basically everything you could ever want to do, eat, or shop for. If you’ve been reading for a while you know I love a good grocery store and Raleigh/Durham has all of my favorites: Trader Joe’s, Publix, Wegmans, Lidl, Harris Teeter, and Whole Foods, plus others that are perfectly fine or I haven’t tried yet. SO many options.
The area also has some of my favorite restaurants that I only get to visit when traveling: Potbelly Sandwich Works, Flying Biscuit Cafe, Insomnia Cookies, Jeremiah’s Italian Ice (Orlando OG), Jeni’s Splendid Ice Creams, and Metro Diner (FL OG).
We had Potbelly for lunch on Saturday and it made me so happy.
It was a rainy, windy weekend while we were visiting so we didn’t really get to do a lot outside, but Saturday cleared up a little and we stumbled upon a Beats and Bars festival at the American Tobacco Campus. This huge former tobacco factory complex houses businesses, restaurants, and a large open area in the middle. It also includes the Durham Performing Arts Center and the Durham Bulls Athletic Park across the street.
We walked around and listened to the music from the festival and then ordered some dinner from Boricua Soul. Unfortunately for us, the restaurant was so busy that after 45 min we had only received our drinks and had to leave for Chicago. They put up their closed sign early, stopped taking orders, and it was basically impossible to get in far enough to talk to someone. I hope the food we ordered and paid for didn’t go to waste and that someone else was able to eat it while we were at the show.
The Durham Performing Arts Center was great! We didn’t really have to wait to get in or have my bag checked, we only had to wait behind two people to get drinks and gummy bears. Our seats were great, and when I got a cocktail at intermission it came in a real, reusable, could go in the dishwasher, cup with a lid. I need to look it up and see if you can bring them back and use them again, because if so, I will try to remember it if we see any other shows there.
After the show we were so hungry! We tried to get Heavenly Buffaloes, but they closed early I guess, so then Christopher found Cosmic Cantina that stays open until 4 AM and let me tell you, I took ZERO pictures because I was 1000% sure we were walking into a front or horror film situation, or something. First of all it’s upstairs and the stairwell is narrow, rickety wooden steps, covered in stickers and graffiti, and the door to the restaurant is solid so you can’t see in. Once we opened the door though, the place was packed and smelled amazing. We waited in the long line, and got a steak burrito, a chicken quesadilla, and chips with queso. The lighting was pretty dim, so still no pictures. Good news though, we survived and I want to go back like tonight.
We tried Biscuitville for the first time, and I didn’t realize it was a fast food restaurant, so while it was perfectly fine, I wish I had picked something else.
We got coffee at The Optimist Raleigh, which was full of plants and good light. They had great coffee, lots of seating, and board games.
We drove around downtown Raleigh and saw some big historic homes, two of the original squares (parks), and an abandoned hospital.
North Carolina State University has a working dairy farm and ice cream stand, so of course we had to check it out. Howling Cow Dairy Education Center and Cremery has delicious ice cream and you can sit on the porch and watch the cows graze. I had a cup of Wolf Tracks and Christopher had a cone with Campfire Delight, we sat on the porch until an almost tropical storm popped up out of nowhere and started blowing furniture off the porch.
It was a nice little weekend away and I’d love to do it again. Watch out DPAC, we’ll be back.
We stayed at the Hampton Inn & Suites Raleigh/Crabtree Valley, and it was a nice hotel. We renewed our Marriott/Bonvoy Platinum Elite status in March, so we decided to try racking up some points with Hilton to see how their rewards compare. Two big bonuses for Hilton so far: many more pet friendly hotels, and they have coke products.
