Located in the museum park, off one of the trails and in a corner where you're probably not going…read moreto just stumble upon it is this extremely interesting artwork. It took me about 90 minutes of walking and wandering until I finally found it. Difficult because it's not on one of the paved trails and some of the woods trails are marked off. But I did eventually get there. The Cloud Chamber is a "camera obscura" that uses a pinhole in the roof to project a mirror image of the lit area onto the walls. After you step inside and close the door, once your eyes adjust, you'll see trees and clouds and blue sky projected across the white cement walls. It's very clever! Thank you to artist Chris Drury who installed this stone, wood and turf structure in 2003. And thank you as well to Atlas Obscura for the entry: https://www.atlasobscura.com/places/cloud-chamber-for-the-trees-and-sky GPS coordinates: 35.805927805555555, -78.69912752777778 [Review 11689 overall, 1471 of 2019.]

This park has such beautiful, well-kept grounds with nice walking trails and plenty of outdoor…read moreart/sculptures to keep you entertained and amazed. There is also a flower garden, a mini lake, a picnic area, and plenty of parking available. We came on a Monday afternoon with the intention of going to the museum that is within the park, however, since it was closed we decided to walk around the park instead. We thought it would be 30 minutes and we would have walked the entire thing. We were wrong. The place is huge! We tried to say within the shaded spots but ended up walking through the parts without shade. There were so cute things like a little hut I dubbed the hobbit house because it kind of looked like one. There was an interactive art installation area with musical swings (apologies if these aren't the correct terminology) but you swing yourself and it triggers some musical notes. Way cool! Another installation were these bars you pull or push around which also triggers musical notes. We had a great time checking out some outdoor arts and taking in the scenery during our stroll. This park had so many interesting things to look at or in my case, take photos at with my long lost sister. Next time I am in the area, I am definitely coming here again. What a beautiful place!

I love this park. We typically come during the day to enjoy the paths but we came today early in…read morethe morning with our run club. The trails within the park were closed (not sure why), so we went running around the park. It's especially hilly in this area and connects to the greenway. It's great for endurance training. We also love to come here for picnics, photo shoots, and bike rides.

Amongst my favorite places and local businesses. Just an absolute gem of an establishment. The…read morechocolates are not only delightfully tasty, they look absolutely stunning, making for great gifts or even treats for yourself. I just love that they are truly bean to bar (you can literally watch them sit and sort the beans, grind them, make the chocolate and all other steps of the process). The staff is incredibly friendly, knowledgeable, and efficient -- and while prices are a tad higher than your basic chocolates, they are reasonable for the high quality of premium treats you are going to get Just an additional thing I did not mention in my previous review: Their packaging is also great. Not only do they print off the individual names of chocolates you got if you make a box, there is a QR code which when you scan, takes you to the visual and descriptive online guide of all their flavors. Highly, highly recommend, and cannot see any reason why I would not make efforts to continue returning!

Had the vanilla coconut with chocolate coconut ice cream in a coconut waffle cone and it was…read moreamazing. Wanted to go back for another it was so good but I got a coconut caramel latte instead and was just as amazed.

I remember my first handful of visits to Raleigh as a teenager and seeing the Cree Shimmer Wall as…read moreI drove down S. McDowell St. as we passed the Raleigh Convention Center and Red Hat Amphitheater. At the time, I had no idea what it was but thought the way it shimmered in the light was beautiful. I've been a Raleigh resident for several years now and I can confidently say that even to this day, I have to stop and admire the wall whenever I'm nearby. "Shimmer Wall is a 9,284-square-foot piece of art adorning the west side of the Raleigh Convention Center. This spectacular piece is made up of 79,464 light and dark aluminum square pixels that change shape and disappear as the squares flap in the wind. The design team, including artistic inventor Ned Kahn, worked to put the thousands of 4-inch by 4-inch aluminum pixels hinged on louvers to allow for free motion on 4-foot by 4-foot grids. To aid nighttime "shimmering," the design team chose to backlight the wall with 56 LED fixtures from Cree, which have a lifespan of 15 years. The LED colors vary depending on the season or celebration. The wall depicts an image of an oak tree and has become a symbol for Raleigh, the City of Oaks." - LocalWiki How cool!!! I have heard that you can get a good nighttime glimpse of the Cree Shimmer Wall at night from the bridge on Boylan Street. I've never stopped to check it out there but that is also a great spot to take a snapshot of the city at night. I love this city.

Mad. Cool. (Of course they were setting Red Hat Amphitheater…read morefor Shinedown concert the day I went to see the wall, so whole downtown Raleigh gone mad hatter, but consider it as part of experience) Over 9,000 sq ft wall designed by Clearscapes with LED lights donated by Cree. It made with 80,000 metal panels, moving in the wind and creating rippling effect. Some panels are fixed, and paint a picture of old Oak Tree, to commemorate Raleigh nickname, City of Oaks. Like a reflection of Oak Tree in the water, rippling and changing, it representing the city that stands for it's past and changing for the future. This is grand.

This is a long over due review to Brodeto. (Pictures are…read morefrom Oct/Nov 2025) Date night? Celebrating? Looking for a place in town? This is the spot. We've been here a total of 3-4 times as of 6/25/26. This last time we had the Amberjack, gnocchi, little gem hearts, and peka, side of focaccia and 2 different bottles of wine. Everything this place has to office is other worldly truly. If you're not picking up the bowl of peka to drink the stew you're not doing it right. Everything about the dishes to the staff is perfect. The teamwork and the perfection that goes into these dishes is astonishing. I recommend doing a bunch of small plates to get a taste of everything. Something to definitely get is their grilled ribeye. 1000% worth it. We had Truman as our server she's was lovely, knowledgeable on proper wine service; she took great care of my husband and I. We are grateful for the food and service we received. Thank you Brodeto team, love you guys!

Objectively probably a 4.5/5 but need to round down since they aren't a 5…read more Incredible service. Beautiful restaurant. Focused menu. Definitely get the crispy potatoes as a side. Family style entrees and starters. Definitely a worth checking out

I love cats! Obviously it was required to visit this giant mural while in town. It is fun it is…read morefunky and while strolling along easy to get to and snap a photo of. It was purrrrr-fect!

This was a super fun and delicious experience. Our tour guide Caroline was so easy to spend time…read morewith and very knowledgeable about the area in Durham. The restaurants and cocktail bars were out of this world, and we appreciated the personal touch at each establishment. We will be doing another tour when our out-of-town family visits this summer.

Absolutely great tour! Just moved to Raleigh and it was a fun way to get to know the city: Great…read morefood and Sam was a great guide. Highly recommend.

Hooray for the fifth annual Raleigh Typhoon Scavenger Hunt! It was a lot of fun, a lot of food and…read morejust a wee bit of drinking. A great chance to explore the City of Oaks and get silly with 500 other scavenger hunters criss-crossing through the downtown area. But as Christina mentioned, the end was not quite what we hoped for in terms of prizes and how it was handled, bummer. We played leap-frog, passed a hula hoop, did word jumbles, hop scotched, counted crosses, rocked and scissored it out and more. Along the way we got to check out Ripple City, the Big Easy, Woody's, The Oxford, Hibernian, Armadillo Grill, Noir, Jules and a slew of other sponsors. And yes, we drank some beer! But given the amount of ground we covered, we had to hydrate! ;-) All-in-all a fun event that could use a little better organization. Just know that Team Yelp was in it to win it. Puzzles: Finished. Drinking: Complete. Eating: Done. Next year we're bringing home a big prize! And only 3 sombrero's were sacrificed during the evening. Nice job peoples!

Honestly, I'm really glad I competed in this year's Raleigh Typhoon, but I'm not sure I'd do it…read moreagain, or if I did I'd focus more on enjoying the drinks and games instead of trying to get it all done, because at the end of the day...it was about the journey, not the reward (because there was none). Seriously, the deck was stacked against participants in the first place. After registering, we received a white sheet with clues on where we could find 'challenges' that would earn us blue puzzle pieces. Challenges ranged from a good ol' crossword, to origami crawfish to more physical challenges like a team vs. team leap frog race. Once we had the blue puzzle assembled (before any other team we saw) we had an entire new list of 17 items we needed to find and paste to a 24x24 posterboard to get the $400 prize. The $600 prize puzzle was a 'letters missing' puzzle and the $1000 prize was a pictogram to find a key that would open a safe. So yeah, not easy. Things that need work: 1. Attention to detail: Our blue puzzle, once assembled, was cut from different stacks so we had whole words missing (effectively eliminating us from being able to even compete for the 'letters missing' $600 prize). 2. Closing/Prize Ceremony: I don't know about you, but after I've been running around in costume for 9 hours in the heat, not stopping for food, but stopping for lots of drink, I want to pay for MORE beer and listen to LOUD Katy Perry/Gaga pumping out of the same mic used to announce rules for submission of posters / prizes. It took them 3 hours to even announce the winners. Tighten that shiz up! Then, we'll party. AND...when it came time to submit the posters for the $400 prize, they chose the winner based on the first one they liked out of only 20 submissions. Our poster was complete, along with our other items at 7:30, when some people were still making theirs at 8:30. I know it's not a race, this just seems unfair. 3. Confusion: We understood that we were supposed to get photos at every stop, save receipts and other such requirements, so we did it all. At no point in the prize ceremony were these items mentioned or considered, enhancing the feeling that we busted our butts for nothing. GoodTimes: 1. Meeting other teams! There were some playing dirty (grab all the matchbooks...you know who you are...) but most people were happy and having a wild-eyed good time. 2. Getting to see Raleigh! Businesses I'd never been to like The Union and Gypsy Jule made a great impression. Others were less welcoming (and that's pretty interesting too). 3. Bonding with my own team! Raleigh Typhoon is a great way for a group of people to see many sides of each other, working together, keeping each other pumped and sacrificing your own comfort (feet & heat) with your eyes on the prize.

Summary: 4.0 - Free and art go hand-in-hand here. If you like both, NC MoA is worth your time…read more Free admission to the NCMA to see art and history is a gift. If one doesn't mind the West Building (although new, it felt old to me), the different galleries containing historical art pieces (new and old, and very old) organized by continents are educational and surprisingly full of variety. The East Building (original one) hosts both permanent and limited-time collections. I've enjoyed a car exhibit, but my favorite limited-time exhibit featured Academy Award winner Ruth E. Carter's costumes for the movies "Black Panther", "Selma", "Amistad", and others. Her showcase exhibit was well worth the price of admission. A huge museum park provides miles of trails and places for picnics. If one plans accordingly, a series of trails connects all the way from the museum to downtown Raleigh! MISC Opened in 1956. Has pieces that originate from about 5,000 years ago (but thankfully it doesn't take that long to go through the museum). The museum is accessibility-friendly. A museum store and café are onsite. Tours are available. Outdoor concerts are on hiatus at the time of this review for "facility improvements." Be sure to check the museum's website for updates.

The North Carolina Museum of Art is free to visit, although special exhibits may have a fee. The…read moremuseum is divided into two buildings. The East Building is the original museum, and the West Building is the newer building. There are galleries in both that you can view. The East Building is on multiple levels and there is a glass elevator available with views to the letters outside that spell a message. I like that the museum has a variety of artwork to view, so you can see your favorites or explore and discover new pieces. With the redesigned building, some of the exhibits were made more interactive. I am still learning where my favorite pieces were moved, but I do enjoy finding new favorites as they try to showcase more of the collection.

We had so much fun on our food tour today. Bob, our guide, was perfect balancing his job…read morebetween guide, historian and all around great host. Each and every place had its own charm and great food. The food??? I may not eat for a week. Look forward to going on about her tour.

What a wonderful walking food tour with a great tour guide. She curated a good list of different…read moreplaces to check out. I don't want to give away too many pictures of what you will see so you can enjoy the sites and scenery when you go. Highly recommend travelers and locals alike to go!