Looking for things to do on Sunday in NC

October 7, 2011 5:58 AM

Fun things to do on a Sunday in the Durham/Raleigh/Chapel Hill, NC area for parents with a 17 year old son?

We are traveling in the area for college tours, but there are not any official ones on Sunday. So we find ourselves with a free day in that area looking for things to do and places to eat. We are not interested in walking through a mall or shopping center with stores that are everywhere. Unique stores would be fine. Nothing too expensive since we are spending a bit on transportation and hotels. Son loves history and outdoors. We are pretty flexible about checking out things.

posted by maxg94 to travel & transportation around North Carolina (12 answers total)

Going to Weaver Street market in Carrboro for brunch Sunday morning is something that 1. is pretty unique, and 2. might not even be something he would do undergrad if he does goto UNC.
posted by sandmanwv at 6:08 AM on October 7, 2011

Don't go to weaver street for brunch. It's not that good for cooked food. Great place to hang out, if you are into the hippie scene, but the prepared food isn't that good. Go across the street to acme for brunch, if you want to scope out the hipsters. Their food is really decent and they do a pretty good brunch.
posted by TheBones at 6:11 AM on October 7, 2011 [1 favorite]

Hippies? Looks more like young families to me.

The Shakori Hills music festival is this weekend. The 17-year old would like that, I bet.
posted by thelonius at 6:15 AM on October 7, 2011

2nding Acme for brunch and hanging out at Weaver St. afterwards for coffee, etc.

You might want to check out Indy Weekly to see what is going on in the Triangle this weekend.
posted by ejazen at 6:16 AM on October 7, 2011 [1 favorite]

Stop and get a Locopop at some point!
posted by reverend cuttle at 6:24 AM on October 7, 2011 [1 favorite]

Durham has some pretty good restaurants. Downtown is pretty walkable. Chapel hill/carrboro is very walkable. Raleigh isn't walkable at all. To get between any of them will take you about 30 minutes to an hour, depending on where you go. Raleigh is more of a big city feel (though it really isn't). Chapel hill is very college town with a bunch of hip places to check out.

Cat's cradle is a very famous venue, may be worth checking out if you are into music, though I'm not sure who is playing. You can check their website for a calendar. Shows are usually under $15 a head and it's right downtown carrboro (across the street from weaver street).

I don't find raleigh that interesting or fun. I would suggest staying around durham and chapel hill.
posted by TheBones at 6:34 AM on October 7, 2011

DSI Comedy Theater
posted by Comrade_robot at 6:41 AM on October 7, 2011 [2 favorites]

The Duke Gardens (in Durham) are beautiful and a joy to walk through.

The North Carolina Museum of Art (in Raleigh) recently opened a new building and has a fantastic art collection.

Both of the above are free.
posted by BurntHombre at 6:46 AM on October 7, 2011

Oh, places to eat!

Ice cream (Chapel Hill area):
Maple View Farm. There's an outpost in Carrboro, but you can also drive out into the country and sit in a rocking chair and eat ice cream on a dairy farm. Deeelicious.

Germany Bakery (Durham):

Guglhupf. Named after a German coffee cake. Has a pretty good brunch, one of the better bakeries in the area.

Restaurants (Durham)
Watt's Grocery. Another good place to get brunch. Local food, etc. I love the buttermilk pancakes.

Geer Street Garden. More local food. They also have something called the Pile, which involves french fries, cheese, bacon, fried chicken, gravy, and three other kinds of sauces.

Burger (Durham)
Only Burger. They have a truck as well. If you've never had pimento cheese on a burger ... well, what're you waiting for? The store location is also next to one of those self-serve frozen yogurt places.

A blog with reviews of places to eat in Durham:

Carpe Durham

Restaurant (Chapel Hill)
Vimala's Curryblossom Cafe. Indian food, not open Sunday.
posted by Comrade_robot at 6:50 AM on October 7, 2011 [1 favorite]

You don't say where you're from; if you're from North Carolina ignore what I'm about to say, but I'm guessing you're not. If you're not from North Carolina, you should absolutely have some barbecue while you're there. I moved out of the stay a while back, so I have no idea when we started having hipster brunch places, but we've always had barbecue and it's delicious. Allen and Sons in Chapel Hill is a standard recommendation and is good. A&M Grill in Mebane is also supposed to be pretty good, on the off the chance that you make the kind of bad choices that lead a person to find themselves in Mebane.(I don't reckon there apt to be Metafilter Mebanites, so I'm comfortable making jokes about it).

I'll also second the North Carolina Museum of Art, which is outstanding. The North Carolina history museum was pretty mediocre the last time I saw it. They got a great new space back in the mid 90s, there's just not much in it. But if you want to see exhibits about Richard Petty without making the trip to Level Cross, it will probably fulfill that need.
posted by Bulgaroktonos at 7:12 AM on October 7, 2011

I work on UNC's campus, live in Carrboro, and love the place. Carr Mill Mall, adjacent to Weaver St. Market in Carrboro has some eclectic shops. Breakfast/brunch at Elmo's or Panzanella (Weaver Street Market's restaurant which is superior to WSM's buffet) is great. The Spotted Dog is one of my favorite places to eat, as is Mint on Franklin. Chapel Hill comics has lots of good stuff to browse. DSI, mentioned above, is fun. I'm actually working on Sunday, else I'd offer to give you an impromptu tour of UNC's campus myself. It's beautiful, as is Duke's. If I think of anything else I'll add to the list.
posted by malaprohibita at 7:32 AM on October 7, 2011

Duke Lemur Center!
posted by troublewithwolves at 9:33 AM on October 7, 2011 [1 favorite]