Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
and its microbrews. There are free beer tastings and brewery tours daily from 3pm to
5pm.
Information
Visitor Center
( 877-406-2356, 910-341-4030;
www.wilmingtonandbeaches.com
;
505 Nutt St;
8:30am-5pm Mon-Fri, 9am-4pm Sat, 1-4pm Sun)
The visitor center, an 1800s freight ware-
house, has a walking-tour map.
TOP OF CHAPTER
The Triangle
The central Piedmont region is home to the cities of Raleigh, Durham and Chapel Hill,
which form a rough triangle. Three top research universities - Duke, University of North
Carolina and North Carolina State - are located here, as is the 7000-acre computer and
biotech-office campus known as Research Triangle Park. Swarming with egghead com-
puter programmers, bearded peace activists and hip young families, each town has its
own unique personality, despite being only a few miles apart. In March, everyone - we
mean
everyone
- goes crazy for college basketball.
Getting There & Around
hub, is a 25-minute (15 mile) drive northwest of downtown Raleigh.
Greyhound
(
919-834-8275; 314 W Jones St)
serves Raleigh and Durham. The
Triangle Transit Authority
( 919-549-9999;
www.triangletransit.org
;
adult $2)
operates buses linking Raleigh, Durham
and Chapel Hill to each other and the airport. Rte 100 runs from downtown Raleigh to
the airport and the Regional Transit Center in Durham.
Raleigh
Founded in 1792 specifically to serve as the state capital, Raleigh remains a rather staid
government town with major sprawl issues. Still, the handsome downtown has some neat
(and free!) museums and galleries, and the food and music scene is on the upswing.
Sights
