After this I got picked up and taken to his place which was a mile south of the mall. It was nice, like a typical housing estate suburb. The room I got was awesome, and there was a little tablet I got so I could watch Netflix on it.
Day 2
Today I woke up early because I wanted to go to Raleigh. I walked the mile up to the mall and waited for the bus. The bad thing was that there was some snow and ice on ground front the cold weather so it meant there was a delay to the buses. This meant I was waiting around for 2 hours til the bus came in the cold. Funny thing was I asked a lady about Raleigh but I pronounced it Ray-lee and she didnt understand me. Apparently that isnt the way to say it, its more pronounced like Raw-lee. When it eventually did it was about a 1 hr journey to Raleigh. Once at raleigh I had a little walk around but knew I was to head to the pit for bbq. I'm had this place in mind because I saw it on man va food. I ordered a three meat combo chopped pork, brisket and ribs with Mac n Cheese and slaw.
It was amazing bbq, the standout the chopped pork. Sauced with that standard NC vinegar based bbq sauce it was succulent and juicy. Not to be outdone the brisket and ribs were both delicious and tender. As you could imagine a plate of this size was too much for me, I managed the pork most of the brisket and half the ribs. All this food for only $25 including tip, which was outrageously cheap, i thought for the different meats and sides. I was so full after this, I didnt even finish it, the walk around town was definitely a slow one after this. As I slowly trudged along I wandered around some of the city, stumbled across town hall (or state capitol building) and went inside. There was a little bit to see, not to much, but some history of the building and the state. Side note alot of information about what happened in the civil war era, so I assumed Raleigh played a significant role. After that I walked to the Museum row where they had several museums free to look in. First I looked at the North Carolina History (i think) museum, not massive like in DC but still a good size. They had a great exhibition on the Native Americans of the area which was what I was searching for when I went to the Native American Museum in NYC. This time it went more into the culture, livelihoods, which was exactly what I was interested in. I also walked around through the NC sporting hall of fame which was cool to see, as well as some other exhibits. I then made my way down to the natural history of North Carolina museum. This was a very big museum, and the best part was that it was focusing on the state of North Carolina and what you would see around the state, rather than expanding beyond borders. They go from beach flora and fauna to woodlands, to the geology of the area, to insects, snakes and even a small dinosaur exhibit. I thought this was an awesome place to visit, I especially spent heaps of time just staring at the snapping turtle and how it moved and what it did. After the museums it was late arvo, I planned to not be too late because I knew I would have to walk back to the house from the mall, and there was no footpath and no street lights, so I didnt want to get back to late (tip: make sure where you stay fits what you are doing and how you can get around). So I wondered abit more around the city, fairly big place, but not super busy. I got some honey fried chicken and honey biscuits and cane sugar grape soda for an earlish dinner.
I really got into these cane sugar soft drinks, or the ones sourced from mexico (could be the same ones) just tasted really good. Chicken and biscuits were both good, they drizzle honey ontop to mix it up which I thought was a good twist. After this I took the long bus rides back and walked in the dark back to the house. That night I did have a good chat with my host. Got to talking about travelling and all sorts of different things. A really knowledgeable and well travelled person himself so it was a great talk. This is one of the things about airbnb, the hosts are normally so open and you can talk to them about so many different things.
Day 3
My last full day in the triangle, I wanted an early start to go to Chapel Hill. Now I wasn't expecting much just to go try out a chicken and cheddar from timeout, which I saw off Man vs food, and to see UNC campus. Chapel hill was closer to the mall so it only took 30minutes, and you get dropped off right in the middle of campus. Again just the size of the place was amazing, really big and loads of new buildings mixed with older buildings that had history embedded in the stone. I walked in and around with no real direction just feeling like one of the many students walking around. I eventually made my way to their football stadium which was massive. Couldn't believe that a college could have such a sizeable stadium, and inside the stands were awesome, on the roofs there were fans and tvs. Just really breathtaking to see, and best off people can workout and excercise in the stadium and get that motivation. From the stadium I got a bit hungry, so I headed to try my chicken and cheddar from timeout. I was expecting more of a line or at least the place to be busy, but there wasnt really anyone in there. Nonetheless I ordered my chicken and cheddar, which was like $5, so cheap and really big size. It was a little dry probably needed a sauce, but the biscuit was so good, and the chicken was really juicy with the cheddar being masterly melted ontop. Its like something you could eat daily cause its so simple and delicious but not expensive and quick as well.
After this I just had a chance to walk around the town of Chapel Hill. I got to see the sorority and fraternity houses which was cool, they had the greek alphabet on the front, but nothing was going on at that time. The town itself is small but had an great feel to it, loved the sense that it was a college town and like everyone knew everyone. I eventually walked all the way around til I got to the hospitals. Yep more than one UNC hospital, I was so amazed at how big just that area was and how many people were there. Bout mid arvo I got on a bus back to Durham town, thought Id have a little mosey around. Durham township isnt that big, it felt a lot smaller than Raleigh and just a bit bigger than Chapel Hill. Got a bit hungry as I entered town I saw a chicken and waffle shop, thought there was no better time to try the famous chicken and waffles. I ordered a spicy chicken waffle and got mac n cheese as a side and bbq sauce, hot sauce, strawberry cream and vanilla cream on the side as sauces/toppings?? Yep sweet and savoury, it was definitely something interesting to eat, I didn't really know how to tackle it. I went for savoury bites, but also made sweet bites with the chicken and strawberry cream. Very good I thought, crispy chicken, waffles a little soggy but the sauces/toppings were awesome and mac n cheese very good. I would definitely love to open something like this in Brissy, or at least have someone open it for me so I can eat it again.
Safe to say another very full meal, and it was only like 5.30-6 about then, but I had a wonder around the streets. Very quite, there wasn't much going on, but I think it was like a wednesday then so I didn't expect much. They did have a small Durham museum which was cool, very small little shack that had a few little exhibits about the towns past. I even got a little tour from a lovely lady about each exhibit, the towns past and whats going on with the town now. I continued to walk a bit out of the centre, towards Duke, and there was some newer housing and apartment developments that were up and some renovated warehouses that got converted into boutique shops and restaurants. Seemed like there was a very positive growth happening in that area, quite modern but still small town feeling. I was so full and cause I still had the dark walk from the mall to the house so I went home again around the 8pm mark. That night I picked up some chips from this supermarket, which was like a fancy global one so didnt have any cheap stuff.
Tip: Do sort your accommodation out best of your knowledge and ability closer to where you wanted to stay. The place I stayed was awesome, felt luxurious, but it was far if you didn't have a car and it did hinder what you could do. That our spend money on taxis which I wasn't doing.
I definitely think the area is worth visiting, more than you'd think on what you could see and do. But that being said I know I missed heaps of what NC has to offer from the mountains to the shore, so it would be cool to go back to that area explore more.
