In late February this year, I spent the last days of what would be a lingering late winter month for us here in Minnesota in Raleigh, N.C., where it felt much more like springtime to me.
In fact, the locals were still bundling up due to the mid-50s and low 60s temps, and casting furtive glances toward this stranger who roamed about the downtown wearing only a long-sleeve shirt.
This was another work trip, of course. ... I was off to pitch our start-up company Modulist to the attendees of the North Carolina Press Association 2020 Winter Convention. I still chuckle at the idea of what they term "winter," but weather is all contextual, isn't it?
Of all my business trips in the past year, this one left me with the least amount of free time to investigate the city. I arrived late the day before the convention was to begin, so there wasn't much to do that night but grab a late night salad in the hotel restaurant, where I was the only patron. But I must give a tip of the cap to the folks at BRAISE, the hotel's restaurant, for a top-notch steak salad. It really was delicious. ... And then on the day the convention closed, those of us vendors were released from duty about 2 p.m., and my flight didn't depart until the next day. So I had one afternoon to explore Raleigh.
The convention was held at the Raleigh Marriott Crabtree Valley in what would be northwestern Raleigh proper, amid a sea of this generation suburban sprawl. Directly across the street from the hotel, which was nice enough, with a pretty outdoor sitting patio with a gas fire, and an outdoor pool going unused in February, was a large, urban shopping center with casual to casual-nice restaurants and shops.
But, those kind of aesthetics really aren't my vibe, and so with my one free night, I hailed a Lyft and headed to the historic downtown.
Raleigh is the Wake County seat and capital of North Carolina, and it is the second-largest city in the state, after Charlotte. Raleigh is known as the "City of Oaks" for its many oak trees, which line the streets in the heart of the city, and has a population of 474,000, according to the U.S. Census Bureau. It, reportedly, is one of the fastest-growing cities in the country. The city of Raleigh is named after Sir Walter Raleigh, who established the lost Roanoke Colony in present-day Dare County.
Raleigh is an early example in the United States of a "planned city." Following The Revolutionary War, this was chosen as North Carolina's capital in 1788 and incorporated in 1792. The city was originally laid out in a grid pattern with the North Carolina State Capitol in Union Square at the center. According to Wikipedia, during the Civil War, the city was spared from any significant battle. It fell to the Union in the closing days of the war, and struggled with the economic hardships in the postwar period related to the reconstitution of labor markets, over-reliance on agriculture, and the social unrest of the Reconstruction Era. Following the establishment of the Research Triangle Park in 1959, several tens of thousands of jobs were created in the fields of science and technology, and it became one of the fastest-growing communities in the United States by the early 21st century.
One visit to downtown Raleigh and you understand very quickly what is meant by a "planned city." I asked the Lyft drive to drop me at the State Capitol, a mammoth, granite building that takes up several contiguous city blocks, and you could immediately see how the surrounding city ringed out from the Capitol.
After exploring the Capitol grounds and seeing the usual statuary devoted to dead white men and instruments of warfare, I ventured farther out in concentric rings around the Capitol. And what I found was mixture of almost 200-year-old churches, a good number of historic commercial buildings that were repurposed for 21 century retailers and also some modern small urban office buildings. But all in all, it is a beautiful city to walk around.
I spent the better part of five hours walking in a horizontal pattern south from the State Capitol on the S. Salisbury St., down to the Duke Energy Center for the Performing Arts, then east to Shaw University, and then back north on S. Wilmington St. back to the State Capitol. For a city, the walk was surprisingly easy and pedestrian friendly.
As usual, when I am walking big cities, I tend to look for the historic architecture that catches my fancy, or for unique cultural opportunities, fully admitting that might be of interest may just sound nerdy to others.
And I must give two quick shouts, as they were the only places I had time to stop.
First, I picked up a really good large latte with almond milk at a truly unique coffee shop called The Morning Times, which is only a block off the State Capitol. The Morning Times was founded in 2006, according to its website, and uses locally roasted coffee and provides unique menu items. "Everything we do here is inspired by our love for the community, from the heart in your latte to the veggies in your omelette that is made with local and hormone free eggs," its website reads. "Stop in for a house-made bagel on your way to work, or simply sit and unwind with friends in our upstairs art gallery. No matter what brings you to our neighborhood café, the world’s friendliest baristas are always ready to greet you with a smile and a cup of freshly brewed Counter Culture coffee."
I must say, with as many almond milk lattes under my belt as I've had, this one ranks near the top, and I love the fact that it is an independent coffee shop. And, finally, the art shop's graphic design is top notch, and the cafe itself is one of the more unique coffee shops I've ever been in.
So, if you find yourself in downtown Raleigh, do yourself a favor and stop in for your caffeine fix at The Morning Times. You won't be disappointed.
I'd be leaving out an important detail if I didn't tell you that one of the things that drew me to The Morning Times is that it is housed in the former home of The Raleigh Times, a famed Southern U.S. newspaper that closed its doors in 1989. I didn't plan this. It just jumped out at me as I was walking the neighborhood, but it makes total sense that if the State Capitol was configured as the center of town, then that town's original newspaper would have to be located nearby.
Finally, I would encourage you that if you do hit up The Morning Times, save an appetite to go next door to its sister restaurant, the Raleigh Times. ... Yep, you guessed it. The Raleigh Times restaurant is located in the remaining spaces of the former newspaper building, and it belongs to a company called Empire Eats Restaurants!, which owns them both and others.
While the food at the Raleigh Times was your average bar food, I was most enthralled with the space itself. The owners didn't spend much money on interior decorating and used much of the patina from the building's old newspaper days for decor. I didn't get very adventurous as I had planned to eat something much more exotic later in the day, and so I settled for The Raleigh Times Burger without a bun and a salad. The burger was too well done for my tastes, but I admit that I run the side of "mooing" for my beef. So it might be fine for others.
The place certainly seemed hopping, and contained at least three distinct different environments within the same restaurant. So it seems that there would be a vibe for just about everyone. But ultimately to me, even if the meal wasn't inspiring, it was worth the stop just to get to bask in the former home of such a prestigious newspaper. ... But I realize that's probably not how most of the population chooses it restaurants.
Hopefully I can get back to Raleigh one day with some more time on my hands. ... With that, here's a quick photo tour of other interesting downtown architecture and statuary.
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