today marks three weeks in Raleigh! with a few weekends under our belts, i wanted to share what we’ve been up to 😊
Saturday, August 26
✨ Coffee break
📍 Pink Wink Coffee @ Ruby Deluxe Bar, Raleigh
we stumbled across this back alley, self-proclaimed “cute coffee shop” and had a good chat with the barista and great oat milk lattes! she also hooked me up with a tattoo and piercing studio recommendation.
✨ NC Vintage Bazaar
📍 Raleigh Convention Center, Raleigh
this massive convention center was transformed into a thrift market! we went because i always like to look at little vintage knick knacks, vases, decor, etc., but i didn’t realize that this event was solely clothing 🙈 it was a lotttttttttt of the same Harley-Davidson tees, Mickey Mouse tees, photorealistic wolf tees, band tees, etc. also a lot of piles and bins to sort through. just not really my jam. we had to pay $15pp entry fee and we kind of regretted it immediately but we had already committed.. oh well 😜
✨ “The Surrealist Impulse” (and ongoing collections)
📍 North Carolina Museum of Art, Raleigh
we had been to the NCMA before—when we visited NC earlier this year—but i was eager to check out this new exhibition. the entire museum is free, and is surrounded by walking paths and outdoor sculptures. it’s no ICA, but I still enjoy it. we haven’t explored the grounds yet, but it’s on our to-do list 😊
✨ Plant shopping
📍 Copperline Plant Co, Raleigh
we picked up two lovely plants from Copperline, a ficus tineke and a prayer plant. it’s great in there.. everything is displayed really nicely, they have gorgeous planters, and cute things from hemleva. they also started a punch card for us 😊 i’m appreciating the fact that we have a car so much. it was so easy to drive to a plant shop and put them in our car. luxuries i’m not used to 😜
Saturday, September 2
✨ Brunch/Lunch
📍 Guglhupf Bakery, Cafe, and Biergarten, Durham
!!!! this spot was soooo cool, i had heard about it when i was researching the triangle; it’s a popular german indoor/outdoor restaurant with plenty of vegan options! i had their “spicy fried tofu sandwich”, which was a dill pickle marinated tofu patty breaded in grits and fried, with vegan chipotle aioli, pico de gallo, pickled pepper slaw, and dill pickles on a vegan brezel roll. SOOOO YUM!! i want to go back to try their other vegan options, beers, and their mini vegan gugelhupfs. their outdoor space was so lovely.. plenty of picnic benches, lounge seating, bistro seating.. small fountains, sculptures, and wall art..
✨ Exploring another botanical garden
📍 North Carolina Botanical Garden at UNC Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill
after our immaculate meal from Guglhupf, we drove a short 12 min to the NC Botanical Garden. when we visited the Triangle earlier this year, we went to the Duke Gardens at Duke University and absolutely loved it. so the bar was set really high when we went to scope this one out. it was def different from Duke Gardens… a lot smaller, and a lot less extravagant in its plant varieties and layout. but we enjoyed their herb garden, their carnivorous plants garden, and walking trails. we also saw some absolutely MASSIVE butterflies there. they must be well fed & well hydrated because i have never seen butterflies that big before!
✨ Getting bubble tea
📍 Tea Hill, Chapel Hill
i simply must have boba every weekend. i don’t make the rules, that’s just how it is. i had heard that Tea Hill was a popular, local-ish, vegan-friendly spot for bubble tea in Chapel Hill and yup, can confirm. it hit the spot!
✨ Visiting the kitties
📍 Cat Tales Cat Cafe, Chapel Hill
this cat cafe is another spot we had been to on a prior trip, and it was no less sweet to see the kitties (through the glass) once again. you have to get a reservation well in advance if you want to actually spend time with the cats, but i don’t mind admiring them from afar. the cats have an amazing setup here. tons of different cat towers, beds, toys, places to hide, places to play. everywhere we looked, there was a cat!
Monday, Labor Day Weekend
✨ Beach day!
📍 Sandling Beach @ Falls Lake, Wake Forest/Raleigh
WHO KNEW. who knew!??! who knew Raleigh would have swimmable beaches, within a 25 min drive!? i did not know, and i am still gushing about it. we learned this past weekend that there are multiple beaches along Falls Lake with swimming, showers, grills, other amenities. we chose Sandling because it seemed to be the most reviewed, but i worried that the parking lot or beach itself would be full. nope! 3 PM on a holiday and we had no issue getting a good parking spot and place on the sand for our blanket. the beach was so nice! clean, busy but not crowded, soft sand, no overabundance of rocks or seaweed (is lakeweed a thing?).. the water was the perfectttttt temp for swimming, and not too murky or weird either! you know how sometimes lakes can have icky surfaces at the bottom… it was just sand! just good ol sand.. it was a gorgeous day. i’m in awe that going to the beach can be a new part of my everyday if i want… it doesn’t have to be a big daytrip.. just a short jaunt over to Falls Lake. 🥹
What’s next?
for anyone curious, i’ve got a little list going of websites i check regularly for local events, markets, concerts, things to do:
but what’s really on my mind is going for a bike ride on the greenway (dale & i ordered bikes over Labor Day weekend!), kayaking at Millpond Preserve (we ordered kayaks, too!), seeing some lemurs, meeting rescued goats, picking my own fruit & veg at The Collard Patch, getting some vegan desserts… people say there is “nothing to do” in the Triangle but this [former] city girl is doing just fine so far 😊