2 nights/3 days in Raleigh, North Carolina: Review of North Carolina Museum of Natural Sciences and Vic’s Italian Restaurant & Pizzeria
It had been over 5 years since my wife and I moved down south to North Carolina, but in all honesty, we barely got to see the downtown area of one of the biggest cities in the South, Raleigh. One of the main reasons for this is because we were more interested in exploring the wide open spaces out in nature, focusing on national parks, state parks, and local parks.
It made sense to go out to nature after spending many years working, living in the rat race, trying to pay our stupendous bills each month, and trying very hard to live our version of the American dream. As tired as doing that was, we were frankly more tired of dealing with ever demanding people most of all.
And to that end, we found true peace, solitude, and rejuvenation in nature after retiring early in August 2020. Sure, we did explore cities like Savannah, Jacksonville, Albuquerque, Las Vegas, and more during our cross country road trips out to the west coast and the south, but it’s funny how we overlooked our closest big city, Raleigh, all these years.
We felt it was time to finally enjoy this city, to explore some of the best things about visiting any great city in the first place, like cool museums and delicious foods. In the cold of the winter (January), we booked a 2 night stay at the Hyatt Place Raleigh/Cary.
We were wrapping up our trip in North Myrtle Beach by early January, and we were ready to move on to our next destination. This is one of the changes we noticed in us, in that this nomadic lifestyle is suiting us more and more.
We like the constant change (mostly good, sometimes challenging) of moving around, to adapting to new environments, and exploring new places. We feel a little tingle in our being, telling us it’s time to pack up and move as a trip is coming to an end.
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| Sunrise on New Year’s Day |
After witnessing an amazing sunrise on January 1st (see above), we were getting a bit antsy, really looking forward to our next destination. So, on the 6th of January, we headed northwest towards Raleigh, leaving our month long Airbnb rental behind.
The drive would take roughly 3 hours, and we arrived at our hotel which would be our home for the next 2 nights. We checked in to the hotel without a delay, and we opened the door to our room. We were pleasantly surprised!
The best part about the Hyatt Place hotel is the separate sleeping & living areas. We liked the spaciousness of the hotel room and the modern, upscale furnishings.
We had picked up some delicious burrito bowls from Moe’s Southwest Grill on the way to the hotel, and we stuffed ourselves after settling into our room. What’s better than having a home (even if it’s a temporary home) with some delicious foods to make it even better?
Life can be a joy as long as you enjoy the little things like a warm, clean hotel room and delicious Mexican food. Early retirement isn’t always fun and games with constant, exciting traveling. Usually, it’s the slow, mundane things that make up a typical day like lounging inside, enjoying a meal, watching YouTube, and taking afternoon naps.
This lifestyle fits us perfectly. When we travel, we try to enjoy our new surroundings by exploring new places to hike/visit/eat, but when we’re not, we enjoy the little things at home (Airbnb, hotel), like enjoying each other’s company, eating delicious foods together, and enjoying the slower pace of early retirement life…
After our hearty meal, we rested in our room, enjoying a cup of hot decaf coffee to relax. Like I said, life can be enjoyable if you enjoy the simple pleasures…
After getting a good night’s sleep, we woke up then kept to our usual schedule of working out by doing 400 mountain climbers, 100 push ups, and stretching, followed by free breakfast at the hotel. Afterwards, we got ready to explore Raleigh’s downtown area:
- North Carolina Museum of Natural Sciences
North Carolina Museum of Natural Sciences is the largest natural history museum in the southeast with multiple facilities across the state, including the main Nature Exploration Center and the Nature Research Center. Offering free general admission, how could we possibly pass this place up?
We left our hotel on a chilly January morning in Raleigh, drove roughly 15 minutes to arrive at the museum. We parked about a block away at 101 N Wilmington Street, along E. Jones Street and Wilmington Street. *I think we paid like $4 for under 2 hours of parking, which is very reasonable.
We enjoyed walking the area, which reminded us of Washington D.C., with its imposing granite buildings everywhere you look. Streets were clean, fairly empty on a Tuesday morning, devoid of the usual traffic near any downtown USA.
We walked into the beautiful museum’s main entrance, bypassed the admission desk (yeah, free admission!), then started our tour of the museum. We started right at the lobby area from the Nature Exploration Center (there also is the Nature Research Center) with Coastal North Carolina, followed by NC’s Natural Treasures.
We moved on to the next level up (First Floor) to visit the Mountains to the Sea, Nature’s Explorers, and Whales of North Carolina. We particularly liked the gigantic whale bone display hung up on the ceiling.
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| Whale! |
To cover the gigantic museum with two separate areas, we moved along at a brisk pace, selecting the areas we wanted to explore, while bypassing lesser interesting areas. To that end, we climbed one more level to the Second Floor, with displays like the Science Atrium, Mountain Cove, and Prehistoric North Carolina.
On the Third Floor, we checked out the Anthropod Zoo and RACE: Are we so different? exhibits.
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| Nice views of downtown Raleigh |
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| Dinosaur sighting! |
At the Nature Research Center, we moved at a similar brisk pace to see as many topics on display like the popular Dueling Dinosaurs, Our Changing Ocean, and Protecting Fresh Water. We proceeded to the First Floor of the NRC, to check out the Diversity of Life, One Planet, One Health, and Our Changing Climate exhibits.
By the time we finished with these exhibits, we were getting hungry, so we went upstairs to the Second Floor, to wrap up our visit with exhibits Ancient Fossils, New Discoveries, Beyond Our Planet, and Planet Micro Gallery exhibits.
Our favorite exhibits were the dinosaur and the space exhibits. We had absolutely underestimated this museum, but this is an excellent science museum, on par with some of the best museums we’ve visited in our lifetime.
- Vic’s Italian Restaurant & Pizzeria
Italian food is by far one of our favorite foods. We actively seek out good restaurants but here’s a caveat: it has to taste good and be reasonably priced. There are many Italian restaurants that offer tasty foods. The hard part is offering that at a reasonable price point.
What’s reasonable, you ask? For lunch, it should have a lunch special menu with main entrees ranging from $10 to $20 range. After doing some extensive research on good Italian restaurants in Raleigh, I came upon this fine restaurant right in the heart of the city at 331 Blake Street.
After visiting the Science Museum, we drove roughly 5 minutes to arrive at this restaurant. The area felt even more tightly packed with shops/restaurants and office buildings.
We had to circle the street for few minutes, but we luckily found a parking spot just half block away from the restaurant. After parking, we walked over to the restaurant
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The restaurant, located within a brick building that looked both authentic and historic, had a very distinctive and charming style. It was what an Italian restaurant would have looked like maybe 100 years ago in lower Manhattan, New York.
We opened the door to the restaurant and were seated right by the nice sized restaurant window. The waiter, was Italian, and he spoke with an Italian accent, which is hard to come by this day and age.
When I was growing up in New York City, I heard Italian accents at Italian restaurants and pizzerias much more often. This, unfortunately, is no longer the case.
It was both nostalgic and very comforting to hear the waiter speak that way…
We browsed the menu and ordered from the lunch special menu: chicken parmigiana with pasta for me, and eggplant parmigiana with pasta for my wife. Prices were really reasonable at around $13 each, which we found to be almost unreal!
How did it taste? Well, it was even better than I anticipated.
Breads were delicious: flaky on the outside and soft on the inside. It’s what makes a good Italian restaurant good.
The entrees were even better. My chicken parmigiana was delicious: chicken patty was cooked just right, with perfect blend of breading. The sauce was just about perfect with nice blend of herbs & spices without it being overly sweet.
My wife’s eggplant parmigiana was just as good: flaky eggplant that tasted almost like meat, and with that delicious sauce making things taste good no matter what it covers. We gulped down both of our entrees, even though the portions were big. We were hungry but the way the food tasted had something to do with it as well.
We were very happy we found a really good Italian place in downtown Raleigh! It’s so interesting how we rarely venture out to visit places that are close by us.
Well, better late than never!
In conclusion:
It may have taken us almost 5 years to properly explore our closest big city in North Carolina, but we’re glad we finally got to experience the city of Raleigh. Just within the last 5 years the city has undergone noticeable changes, thanks to major influx of people coming to the South, including us.
There are so many construction and new developments everywhere in the city. Just like how we felt exploring the deep American South, we found this Southern city to be vibrant, inviting, and very cosmopolitan.
We couldn’t tell if we were in Philadelphia or Raleigh, as the city has grown so much and expanding outward every year. North Carolina used to be one of the poorest states in the country, but that is no longer the case. Many retirees call the state home, along with many families that decided to move to the state thanks to much lower cost of living.
We feel fortunate we moved there as well, as the state offers so much: big cities that rival anything in the North, new buildings with plenty of options for food/entertainment/shopping, and that attractive low cost of living. We’re certainly sold on these things.
Even if we just had 2 nights in the city, it was still fun. We got to walk around the downtown area, see a beautiful museum, and eat some delicious Italian cuisine. What more can a humble early retiree want?
We had a great time and we think you will as well. Thank you for reading and happy trails!
Jake
Wandering Money Pig
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