Accept no substitutes

36 Hours in Carrboro

The New York Times just did their 36 Hours on the “Research Triangle.” Like most locals, I had plenty of beefs with their selections, which I have to admit are all pretty good. They did end up at the Cat’s Cradle. They did drive through the Sunshine Biscuit drive-thru. They did like my favorite parts of the NC Art Museum. They did discover Fathers and Sons — and the Scrap Exchange. They also took some very nice photos. They did miss the best BBQ, the best taco trucks and a lot more by staying in Raleigh too long. They missed out on a lot in Durham and in Cary. But for a sort of 30-something kinda visit to the area, it wasn’t all that bad.

First, it occurred to me that my own past 35 hours in Carrboro was a more walkable and more fun time than they found spending too much time in the car. In fact, the wonderful “It’s Carrboro” song gives great shoutouts to many of the treats of Carrboro. Just visiting those would make for a nice 36 hours of visit. You’d want to add the biscuits from Neal’s, a coffee stop at the Open Eye, beer stop at Milltown, another stop at the Station, and a great dinner at Acme, Glass Half Full, Provence, Aki Hana, ice cream at Maple View, and a trip to Johnny’s for crepes, tacos, coffee, wine and atmosphere. And you could walk all of it — if you were timing things right during the 2nd Friday Art Walk so you could party at Wootini and hear klezmer music at Carrboro Creative Coworking.

How would you lay out your unique visit to Carrboro, Cary, Chapel Hill, Durham, HIllsborough, Pittsboro and/or Raleigh?

3 Comments

  1. Cristóbal Palmer

    First off, Cycle 9 in Carrboro rents bikes, including electric assist bikes. I would suggest an out-of-towner start a visit to Carrboro there, as that would make for excellent transportation to some great locations down Franklin & Rosemary in Chapel Hill, too. I’m a fan of Los Potrillos, for example.

  2. George Entenman

    Thanks for the head-up, Paul. I’d given a cursory reading to the Times Travel section yesterday morning but had missed that. The article alerts me to a couple of places I didn’t know about.

    — ge

  3. Paul

    Yes on Cycle 9! That would allow visitors to motor out to the real Maple View.

    Now if there was only a hotel in Carrboro or even a hostel.

    George, I too learned of Poole’s Diner there. Still haven’t gotten there tho.

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