Anybody have any interesting day trip ideas from Raleigh? I am looking for something fun/interesting to do during the day tomorrow... and preferably something unique (i.e. not a beach bc I have been a thousand times ).

Any ideas?

1/1/2010 9:44:12 PM

pilot mountain/mt. airy area is cool, especially if you like andy griffith..

you could go up to VA on a daytrip....williamsburg area, blacksburg area....just leave real early and come home real late...

duplin winery is cool, down highway 40

[Edited on January 1, 2010 at 10:01 PM. Reason : yea]

1/1/2010 10:01:04 PM

Busch Gardens

1/1/2010 10:13:59 PM

kings dominion is better imo

1/1/2010 10:23:34 PM

Oh I definitely want to hit up an amusement park as soon as it gets warm. I like Busch Gardens in VA because I like to tool around Williamsburg too

Pilot Mtn is an idea! Any neat spots to hit up on the way? I heard of a Shell gas station in Winston Salem that is actually shaped like a shell?

I'm just looking for random ideas...

1/1/2010 10:27:20 PM

Last time I went to Kings Dominion it was covered in garbage and trashy people. Granted this was 7 years ago, but I haven't had an urge to go back since

1/1/2010 10:28:11 PM

go to the outer banks and check out the lighthouses and kitty hawk. you could have a picnic at one of them.

[Edited on January 1, 2010 at 10:32 PM. Reason : .]

1/1/2010 10:32:05 PM

You're picking the coldest day of the year (rofl) to do anything outside.

1/1/2010 10:32:32 PM

West Virginia has some good skiing and great white water rafting.

1/1/2010 10:36:55 PM

^^ yeah that just dawned on me That will limit things substantially...

I just want to find something fun to do before I start work again on Monday.

^I'll be in Snowshoe next weekend!

[Edited on January 1, 2010 at 11:12 PM. Reason : ...]

1/1/2010 11:11:34 PM

Drive to DC, get a hotel as cheap as possible on the metro, party for a night and come back tomorrow afternoon. There is really no good reason not to do this.

1/1/2010 11:47:41 PM

transportation museum in spencer, nc

1/2/2010 12:57:07 AM

If you're into hiking, Umstead Park has a crapload of good trails; a couple days worth at least.

To get a little further away....

- Length of NC 12 (from US 70 by Havlock) all the way up to Duck?. 2 Ferry trips and plenty of beach/nature to see.
- Blue Ridge Parkway. Its ~4 hour drive to get out there, but its a nice drive once you get there. Plenty of stuff to do/see along the parkway
- (While in the mountains) Great Smoky Mountains NP

Depends on if you're wanting to mainly stay in the car and drive, (if so, get off the interstate and head a direction) stay outside (park?) or stay inside (museum?). And yeah I just realized my suggestions were driving intensive

1/2/2010 2:04:02 AM

Heading to Wintergreen VA now for a day trip. Whenever I hear the words 'day trip' I immediately think it's ski related.

1/2/2010 3:40:48 AM

i want to take a day trip down to wilmington.... i've heard there are some nice dog-friendly beaches around there

1/2/2010 4:39:22 PM

Most beaches are dog friendly this time of the year. I was out Friday here in EI and saw maybe 20 people in a mile strip of beach. Several of them had their dogs off leashes but leashed them when I ran by with my dogs.

1/2/2010 5:44:32 PM

Yeah I think they couldn't care less about your dog during the off season.

1/2/2010 9:08:03 PM

FykalJpn and i went to new jersey on a daytrip once



http://cpmc.coriell.org/

1/2/2010 10:27:33 PM

Holy crap Was it southern NJ at least?

1/2/2010 10:40:24 PM

south central nj? across the river from philadelphia

1/2/2010 10:47:57 PM

Damn that's a long way to go for a day trip.

1/2/2010 11:01:00 PM

one time i left work at 2am friday morning and drove to utica ny for a wedding, then turned around and came back sunday afternoon--that sucked a lot more

[Edited on January 2, 2010 at 11:23 PM. Reason : rehearsal was fri, wedding was sat]

1/2/2010 11:16:44 PM

Savannah?

1/3/2010 2:59:18 AM

deemarie and I enjoyed sylvan heights waterfowl park. it's in scotland neck. you can spend a few hours in there looking at some pretty cool ducks, geese, etc. there's some nice scenery up around that way too if you take backroads.

http://www.shwpark.com/index.php

1/3/2010 3:05:02 AM

Some part of me wants to return to Old Salem as an adult. You all went there on field trips as kids amirite?

1/3/2010 3:08:18 AM

I went back as an adult and it sucked. Don't ruin your childhood memory.

1/3/2010 3:09:50 AM

I just like Moravian cookies...

oh and witches....or burning witches...

[Edited on January 3, 2010 at 3:18 AM. Reason : .]

1/3/2010 3:11:48 AM

Virginia International Raceway (VIR) is up in Danville, VA which is less than 2 hours away. They have car races there all the time, both professional and amateur. The cost to watch is quite minimal, and you're free to roam the paddock most of the time.

1/3/2010 1:08:14 PM

Quote :

"and you're free to roam the paddock most of the time."

Paddock? Is that really what they call it?

Are there Velociraptors?

1/3/2010 1:14:33 PM

lol

But indeed it is. As per Wiki:

Quote :

"The term paddock may refer to * the name for an enclosure where horses are kept in British English. * in Australian and New Zealand English, the term can mean any field in the agricultural sense (as opposed to a playing field) * the enclosed area at a race track where horses are paraded and mounted before a race, and unsaddled after a race.[1] * the area at a Greyhound racing track where Greyhounds are housed and inspected before a race * an enclosure at a Motor racing track used by team support personnel and vehicles, and other officials and VIPs * a toad mentioned by the witches in the first act of William Shakespeare's play Macbeth. Paddock is an archaic English word for "toad" * a frog, as mentioned in the 1382 edition of the Wycliffe [middle] English Bible: Exodus 8:2-13 * Paddock (war rooms), a two-level concrete citadel in Dollis Hill serving as war rooms for Winston Churchill during World War II "

[Edited on January 3, 2010 at 1:22 PM. Reason : k]

1/3/2010 1:21:26 PM

If you've never been to the NC Zoo (and I'm perpetually amazed by the number of people who haven't), it's a pretty awesome place that's only a couple of hours away. This time of year the North American exhibit animals are probably going apeshit.

1/3/2010 2:05:39 PM

Welp I decided on a last minute trip to Wilmington last night. Not anything 'new' but at least I got out of Raleigh for a bit

I am sure there are tons of stuff to see in NC... and I like exploring.

I remember going to this island as a kid fairly often. It was gorgeous and you could only get to it via very. I also remember HUMONGOUS sand dunes.... and horse flies... but it was pretty awesome minus the horse flies. Does this ring a bell to anybody?

1/3/2010 8:32:38 PM

I drove to Albuquerque, NM from raleigh one day without stopping, but it turned into more than a day trip.

1/3/2010 8:55:32 PM

hahaha yeah don't think I can make it there and back in a day. How long did it take you to get there?


Oh and Savannah is also more than a day trip Rockstar...

[Edited on January 3, 2010 at 9:07 PM. Reason : ...]

1/3/2010 9:05:05 PM

Quote :

"I remember going to this island as a kid fairly often. It was gorgeous and you could only get to it via very. I also remember HUMONGOUS sand dunes.... and horse flies... but it was pretty awesome minus the horse flies. Does this ring a bell to anybody?"

portsmouth island?

1/3/2010 9:22:30 PM

Britt and i have planned 2 day/weekend trips for the next few months...Charleston, and Richmond (weekend, and day, respectively). Probably Boone, too.

1/3/2010 10:32:46 PM

^^^ i know, i was just making suggestions. i feel bad i brought it up and didn't capitalize.

a weekend in the near future??@!

1/3/2010 11:51:53 PM

Quote :

"If you've never been to the NC Zoo (and I'm perpetually amazed by the number of people who haven't), it's a pretty awesome place that's only a couple of hours away. This time of year the North American exhibit animals are probably going apeshit."

So true! Asheboro's zoo is one of the best in the country. It's a shame more people don't visit it.

Quote :

"I just like Moravian cookies..."

Save yourself some time and go to Whole Foods or A Southern Season to get some

1/4/2010 2:16:07 AM

While I'm on the subject, I'll say that the Greensboro Natural Science Center has a pretty decent zoo/animal collection, too. Probably not worth making a trip just for that, but if you're ever in the area, they've got fucking tigers. And weird-ass wolves and monkeys and shit. And the monkeys are hilarious during feeding time.

Also I volunteered there for years and am sentimental, though when I worked there it did not have tigers and monkeys and shit.

1/4/2010 2:24:49 AM

I forgot about the zoo. We go there every year.

It is one of the best, if not the best, bargains around. $8.00 for students...$10.00 without student ID. Kids get in for $6.00

You can get there early, walk around half of it, eat a picnic lunch, then explore the 2nd half. You can't beat it for the price..

1/4/2010 7:47:57 PM