Raleigh: The City of Oaks
Let Fun-Employment Week begin! This splendid long weekend was my first visit back to North Carolina’s capital for 2019. With several friends we celebrated birthdays, new jobs, and my college best friend acquiring her US citizenship. Hitting milestones is a lot sweeter surrounded by your people who sweep you off to Cornerstone to dance off all the Cookout.
Every trip down here, I do revisit my favorite hideaways while trying new spots per the recommendations of my friends here who are local.
It’s often bittersweet to revisit a place from your past - coming back brought a rush of memories.
Raleigh’s pretty dope. Forbes listed it as America’s 15th fastest growing city in 2018 (14th in 2017), 11th for best U.S. cities to buy a house, with its pop around 450,000.
A few spots I need you to see when (not if, when) you come down to visit:
Brewery Bhavana. Ever thought to yourself, “The world would be better if a bookstore/restaurant/bar/gift shop/flower shop could exist as one glorious comb, wouldn’t it?” Guess what…IT DOES. I walked in at ten o’clock at night when a lively weekend evening din made it as lively as could be. It felt unusual perusing bookshelves adjacent to late-night dimly-lit diners, but I was here for it (so is Forbes).
North Carolina Museum of Art. First of all, it’s free. Second of all, the cafe has the coolest wall display you’ll ever see (ever been in a giant bird’s nest? Issa vibe.) Fun fact is my girlfriend’s dad and his construction company built those massive metal arches erected on the property.
Trophy Brewery. Lots of IPAs and very tasty ‘za. Fittingly surrounded by a collection of trophies across the bar perimeter - way to be on brand.
NOFO. Gift shop and cafe in one. After locking down several gifts for upcoming birthdays and such we sat down to a yummy af brekky downstairs. Get their breakfast burrito, their weekly Sunday special (spoiler: it’s tasty).
Morgan Street Food Hall. Holy aroma. It hits you as soon as you walk in. I showed up hungry and I’m weak for tacos so didn’t take me long at all to pick where to hop in line.
Raleigh Raw. A tad pricey? Maybe. But they’ve hooked me on the “investment” mentality of spending more to reap those health benefits of their superfood ingredients. It was here I first learned about bullet coffee, or “crack coffee,” before I started making it on my own - and it was likely here I had my first acai bowl (before learning to make that at home, too.) Their poke bowls are also dope. It’s downtown, close to some of my favorite stores, and you’re guaranteed to get something tasty and uber nutritious no matter what you order.
And new additions are rolling in all the time.
I used to wait tables here. Now it’s my favorite spot to grab a beer with friends (try the beer cheese bc it is ballerrrr).
I love it here so much I visited every few months when I moved down the highway to Winston-Salem (so naturally, I got scolded for waiting to come back until August when my last trip was Christmas time…DC keeps me busy!!)
^Morgan Street Food Hall on Morgan Street
Shown below are Brewery Bhavana’s flower shop, NOFO cafe (built in a former Piggly Wiggly, which I love so much…see the sign from the balcony shot), and snaps from the NC art museum.
