Relocate Triangle - An Insider's Guide About Moving To The Raleigh-Durham-Chapel Hill Area

Satisfying the Triangle’s Sweet Tooth

Oftentimes, the thought of dessert is an inner struggle with your conscience warring between the excess calories, and a small (or not so small) bit of sugary heaven. The trick is finding which delights are worth the calories. We have handpicked some of the Triangle’s best, so you do not have to make that decision alone. Whether your sweet thing of choice is candy, ice cream, or cupcakes, when you try these Triangle eateries, it will be love at first bite.

The Cupcake Shoppe

Black and White, You Mocha Me Crazy, and Pretty in Pink are just some of the made-from-scratch butter cream cupcakes you’ll find at Sara Coleman’s stylish downtown bakery, The Cupcake Shoppe. Each cupcake is topped with a swirl of velvety icing, some with traditional flavors (Black and White), and some more modern. Every week they feature a limited-time new flavor, this week’s being pumpkin with maple butter cream.

Perhaps even more impressive than her cupcakes, Sara Coleman introduced President Barack Obama during a Raleigh town hall about healthcare. When he took the stage, Obama even joked about how Coleman gave him a T-shirt, but no cupcakes. So if even the president is pining for her cupcakes, we are pretty sure you’ll enjoy them too.

Turkish Delights

Right down the street from The Cupcake Shoppe is what many people in Raleigh refer to as “the purple house.” Upon closer inspection though, this purple house is actually a bakery of sorts. Turkish Delights is a bakeshop selling exactly that: Turkish delights. They also have a variety of baked goods including all kinds of Turkish deserts like baklava and bourek. It is hard to say whether people come for the more ethnic deserts or their milkshakes and ice cream; either way, you are picking a winner. Though some may just be interested in the purple paint, we promise you what is inside is even more exciting.

For the chocolate lovers of the Triangle, a Godiva store is located in Durham. Instead of just buying a box of decadence, they have chocolate covered fruit and assorted Godiva truffles sold individually in store. Rocky Mountain Chocolate Factory, located on the Streets of Southpoint, offers a similar fare but more variety. Their fame comes not just from their chocolate, but their caramel apples. Dipped fresh, they can be covered in M&Ms, pecans, snickers, toffee, or apple pie crust.

Sunset Slush

If you’re in the mood for something a little lighter, Sunset Slush off Leesville Road has just the thing. They serve every flavor imaginable of Italian Ice, from fruity to just plain strange. OMG is one of their combination ices containing mango, peach, and orange. On the flip side of fruity, they have flavors like Cry Baby (extra sour) and Iced Coffee. Or if your taste buds are so inclined, you could try their own mish-mash of flavors called Zombie.

So go ahead, try one of the Triangle’s sweet spots, and indulge yourself a little.

Raleigh Book Worms Rejoice

Wake County has provided us with 11 fantastic public libraries, one of which is brand new. The Leesville Community Library in North Raleigh just opened its doors to the public this past month. It has been a long anticipated celebration too, since the project has been approved since May of 2007.

Phase 1 of the construction is complete, but we are still waiting with baited breath for Phase 2. Paved trails, an off-leash dog area, turn lanes and a median on Country Trail (a heavily-trafficked school road), and further expansion of the new Heritage Garden is currently underway and to-be-completed around spring of 2010.

Let’s check out what is there right now. Having a proximity to Leesville Elementary and Middle School, the library is suitable for both young learners and outdoorsman alike with amenities like a playground and picnic facilities. The building itself is actually encompassed by a 55-acre city park. Just because it is nestled in the trees does not mean this library is little though. With more than 8,000 square feet, it holds around 55,000 books with new ones on the way every day. The Leesville location also has 20 new computers available for public use. The Leesville library’s Web site includes more information on hours of operation.

With all those books at Leesville, there should be no qualms about running out of things to read. Just in case, though, Raleigh is giving you even more around the corner. In the wake of opening the Leesville Library, another outdated library close by is not closing, but in fact undergoing a renovation.

The Duraleigh Library is a hidden gem for Raleigh book lovers. It is tucked away in a shopping center off Duraleigh Road, but has been running out of space. The new transformation of the library includes a remodeling of the interior, but the rest is being kept hush-hush. You can visit their Web site as the renovations pick up speed to see photos of the library under construction. This location will be closed Oct. 5-30 while the renovations are underway. The library will have a grand re-opening on Oct. 31 at 10 a.m.

Getting a library card is easy – just show your N.C. driver license, and sign the card. So head to your nearest Wake County library, and get reading!

Green Tip of the Week - 10/30/09

Looking for a new car?

If you buy a used vehicle instead of a new one, you will help save energy as well as over 2,150 pounds of steel. 9% of the energy used by a car over its lifetime is consumed in the manufacturing process. If 100 potential new car buyers chose to purchase a used car instead, the amount of steel saved annually could reconstruct the golden gate bridge – twice a year.

The Green Book By Elizabeth Kendall Rogers, Thomas Kostigen

Art of the Carolinas

If you’ve needed things like gesso, palette knives, and acrylics and you live in the Triangle, chances are you have been to Jerry’s Artaroma off Wake Forest Road. A haven for Raleigh’s painters, Jerry’s Artaroma has an extensive collection of supplies for any need. For those who were thrown off at the word “gesso” and have never picked up a paint brush, don’t be discouraged; Jerry’s has something special planned to give you a leg up before you take the plunge into the paint.

For the ninth year running, Jerry’s has sponsored the Art of The Carolinas trade show and workshops. It is an amazing opportunity for artists of all ages and skill levels to congregate and learn from each other. They offer more than 120 workshops in every medium imaginable, and art professionals from all over the country fly in to teach them. If you want to make your watercolors look like they glow, Art of The Carolinas has you covered. What about painting realistic animals in pastel, or using printed images with acrylics? Check and check. Whatever your interests might be, and whether you are a budding artist or a pro, there is something here for everyone.

The event is taking place at the Hilton in North Raleigh from Friday, Nov. 13 through Sunday, Nov. 15, and a special rate is available for out-of-towners. For those just interested in a little shopping, the trade show resides in the Grand Ballroom. Vendors from your favorite brands set up booths with an over flow of art supplies. You can fire away questions, watch demonstrations, and speak directly with manufacturers all the while hunting for bargain prices.

A rising tradition among AOC goers is to create artist trading cards to swap. The “trading cards” are just miniature paintings on tiny canvases or even paper. So if you want to have any grounds to barter for your favorites, make sure to take some time and create a handful of your own.

Registration for the Art of the Carolinas is $15, which allows you to pick and choose which workshops you would like to take and how many, although the workshops themselves are an added fee. The average price of a workshop is $95 (which usually includes all supplies), but can run upwards of $185. There is also a section devoted to answers to frequently asked questions about registration and times.

So what are you waiting for? Grab your smocks and paint brushes, we cannot wait to see you there!

Green Tip of the Week - 10/23/09

Outdoor Furniture

Look for outdoor patio furniture made from recycled materials instead of from wood or metal. One bench made from recycled materials can prevent the equivalent of 2,000 plastic bottles entering landfills.

The Green Book By Elizabeth Kendall Rogers, Thomas Kostigen http://tinyurl.com/n54tlp

The Best Scares in the Triangle

As Halloween approaches, children and adults alike brainstorm about costumes, stockpile plenty of candy to avoid having eggs thrown at their house, and carve a jack-o-lantern or two.

But if this Halloween you’re in the mood for more of a scare, try going to Clayton’s Fear Farm. The Triangle’s only Haunted Scream Park offers eight attractions, some family friendly, and some much more spooky. There’s a whole “story” behind the Farm on their Web site that tells the basis of their haunts, with characters like Seymour Phear and Sheriff Al Khillya.

For the full creepy effect, the Fear Farm nighttime haunted houses and attractions include a slaughter house, a haunted hayride, and a walk in the cemetery. Another interesting spook is “Seymour’s House of Dreams”. North Carolina’s only 3-D haunted house is kid-friendly during the day, but when the sun goes down, the house is filled with night terrors instead of innocent dreams. Fear Farms challenges visitors with “Are you brave enough to walk through the dreams of a madman?”

The haunted attractions are not recommended for children under 12, but the Farm provided great alternatives for the whole family. There’s a pumpkin patch to rummage around for your perfect pick, and a corn maze to get turned around in. The maze is the largest known in North Carolina with over 10 acres of twists and turns to get lost. Allow plenty of time to make it through though, because the average peregrination takes about and hour and a half to two hours.

So if being scared silly with friends or taking the family for a gambol through the corn maze sounds like a good time, Fear Farm is easily accessible from Raleigh; just take U.S. 70 towards Clayton, and follow the link for the rest of the directions. Ticket prices and more details about the attractions can be found here.

So this year ditch the trick-or-treating, and take a tour … If you dare!

Green Tip of the Week 10-16-09

Cotton Swabs

Choose double-tipped cotton swabs (aka Q-tips) that are connected with spindles made from tightly rolled paper over those made from plastic. Paper board spindles are potentially biodegradable & use renewable resources; where as plastic spindles are made from petroleum and will not biodegrade. Across 10 % of the US households, the petroleum energy saved per year would be equivalent to over 150,000 gallons of gasoline.

The Green Book By Elizabeth Kendall Rogers, Thomas Kostigen http://tinyurl.com/n54tlp

Orange You Glad You Chose an Organic Supermarket?

Summer seems like it’s starting to become a distant memory, but you’re still missing those vine-ripened heirloom tomatoes and succulent peaches. Well when you live in the Triangle, that’s not a problem. As the “green” movement has picked up speed, the trend to be environmentally sound has seeped into the grocery market as well. The Triangle offers an abundance of venues to buy organic or locally grown foods, organic supermarkets being the most common and easily accessible of these by far.

Raleigh and Chapel Hill boast two different locations of the most renowned organic chains, Whole Foods, with another on the way. North Raleigh foodies can rejoice in 2010, because instead of having to drive to the Wade Avenue location, they can hop on over to Northern Six Forks at its intersection with Strickland to the brand new Whole Foods. The current Raleigh location frequently offers in-house classes for a small fee, and includes topics ranging from the cheeses of Spain to edible landscape design.

Another chain worth mentioning is Earth Fare, a company which got its start in Asheville as the city's first and only natural foods store in 1975. Located in the Brierdale Shopping Center off the new Interstate 540, Earth Fare not only carries locally grown fruits and veggies, but often has farmers set up produce stands outside their store like a streamlined version of a farmer’s market.

If you’re looking to support a more grass-roots local store rather than a chain though, the Triangle has just what you need. Harmony Farms off Creedmore prides themselves on having the only 100 percent organic produce store in Raleigh, as well as a huge selection of wheat and gluten-free products. Weaver Street Market serving Chapel Hill and Carrboro is another homegrown (no pun intended) grocer. Weaver Street Market strives to bring the community together, and sponsors over 250 free events a year which provides a great outlet to enjoy good food and visit with neighbors.

So the next time you get a craving for something exotic or organic, the Triangle’s got you covered. Whether it’s fresh herbs, chemical and pesticide free fruit, or simply your average chicken without growth hormones, head on over to an organic grocery to find everything you need and more.

Green Tip of the Week - 10/9/09

Scissors

Try to use recycled stainless steel scissors. If they have plastic handles, make sure it’s at least 30% post consumer plastic. Each year, steel recycling saves energy equivalent of electrically powering about 18 million homes for one year.

The Green Book By Elizabeth Kendall Rogers, Thomas Kostigen http://tinyurl.com/n54tlp

The North Carolina State Fair: A Spectacular Soiree

The 2009 N.C. State Fair is a much anticipated fall festival that many Triangle inhabitants love to attend. The State Fair is held at the N.C. State fairgrounds off Blue Ridge Boulevard in Raleigh from Oct. 15-25. The layout of the fair is simple for the most part; however, in the midst of throngs of people of all ages, shapes and sizes, one can easily become disoriented. To avoid this problem, we would suggest picking a distinctive building or structure to use as a point of direction.

The Fair is separated into Kiddieland Fun Park and Midway Rides and Games. Kiddieland is aptly named for the rides are geared for the younger aged crowds. Midway appeals to the older crowds ranging from older teenagers to adults. Neither park has a minimum or maximum age limit, so if you have a daredevil child, Midway may be for you, and if you do not like the severity of Midway, Kiddland might be your pick.

Other forms of entertainment you can find at the State Fair are The Folk Festival tent, The Grandstand shows, Heritage Circle, Waterfall Stage shows, Dorton Arena shows, and Fireworks. The shows at the Dorton Arena are much grander and feature more popular artists than the Grandstand shows or Waterfall Stage shows, but they also cost you money. The Dorton Arena shows are as follows:

• Thursday, Oct. 15: Jason Michael Carroll - $5
• Friday, Oct. 16: Third Day - $15
• Saturday, Oct. 17: Kellie Pickler - $10
• Sunday, Oct. 18: Nat and Alex Wolff - $10
• Monday, Oct. 19: Jamey Johnson - $5
• Tuesday, Oct. 20: The Temptations featuring Dennis Edwards - $10
• Wednesday, Oct. 21: Julianne Hough - $5
• Thursday, Oct. 22: Anoop Desai, $5
• Friday, Oct. 23: Jeremy Camp/Tenth Avenue North - $10
• Saturday, Oct. 24: Blake Shelton - $10
• Sunday, Oct. 25: Eric Church - $5

The State Fair is also filled with competitions, food, the famous—or infamous—fried foods, and exhibits. Important dates to remember are Senior Citizen’s Day, where fairgoers 65 and over get in free on Tuesday, Oct. 20 and Military Day on Wednesday, Oct. 21, where members or spouses with valid military ID will be admitted free along with four guests.

The fair’s Web site has more information on hours of operation, show details, ticket sales, exhibits, vendors and much more. For fun, it is hard to beat. Have a great time there!