RALEIGH, NC
AREA ATTRACTIONS

  If it is your intention to visit the N.C. State Fairgrounds, take exit 289 and then make the first or second exit off the Wade Ave freeway. The fairgrounds are to your right. Raleigh is the only North Carolina city having a beltway which goes completely around the city. Except during rush hours, traffic flows very smoothly. Leave the beltway and cruise down the city streets and you’ll probably find a hundred ways to get lost. It looks so simple on the maps. Raleigh is the state capital so one would expect to see a lot of (obviously) government buildings – and you won’t be disappointed. If you do get disoriented, just follow any four-lane street to the belt way and take the on-ramp for the clock-wise direction. Eventually, you’ll wind up at I-40.

Visitors' Center - From I-40 take exit 298-B and follow US-70/401 toward downtown Raleigh. Note that, at the Interstate, US-70 is Saunders Street - but - it bends to the east a bit and becomes McDowell Street which is one-way (your way). After you find yourself on McDowell Street and 3 blocks after you cross South Street (US-64) you'll be at Davie Street. Turn right and the Greater Raleigh Convention & Visitors Bureau is at 421 Fayetteville Street Mall (about 3 blocks).
  For more information phone 1-800-849-8499 (toll free). Web site: GRCVB.

• Ellen Mordecai Garden

• Exploris

• J C Raulston Arboretum

• Martin Luther King Jr. Memorial Gardens

• North Carolina Executive Mansion

• North Carolina Museum of Art

• North Carolina Museum of History

• North Carolina Museum of Natural Sciences

• North Carolina Sports Hall of Fame

• North Carolina State Capitol

• Raleigh City Museum

Raleigh City Museum - After 200 years of North Carolina's capital city having no repository for its cultural artifacts, no place to preserve its past, and no institution to educate its citizens and visitors about the city's rich heritage, the city finally opened its first exhibit in 1993. Since then, the Raleigh City Museum has dedicated itself to helping people understand the city's present through knowledge of its past by collecting, preserving and interpreting materials pertaining to Raleigh's history and culture.
  Hours vary; call for details. Admission is FREE.
  For more information phone 1-919-832-3775 or visit their web site: RCM.
  Located at Historic Briggs Hardware Building (1874) very near the Greater Raleigh Convention & Visitors Bureau in downtown Raleigh. (see directions to Visitors' Center)

North Carolina Museum of Art - This museum houses 5,000 years of artistic heritage, from ancient Egypt to the present. The collection of Renaissance and Baroque paintings, with works by Van Dyck, Jan Brueghel and Raphael, is internationally recognized. Significant American paintings include works by John Singleton Copley, Winslow Homer, and Georgia O'Keeffe. Also represented are collections of African, Oceanic, New World art, Egyptian, Greek and Roman art, 20th-century art, and Jewish ceremonial art.
  Open every day except Mondays. Admission to the museum and the permanent collection is FREE. There is a charge for some special exhibitions.
  For more information phone 1-919-839-6262 or visit their web site: NCMA.

North Carolina Museum of History - Short- and long- term exhibits describe how North Carolinians have lived from first settlements to the present. The long-term exhibits are focused on folk life, healing systems and the struggles during the Civil War.
  The North Carolina Sports Hall of Fame is also housed in this facility. Gift shop. Parking is available under the museum.
  Open Tuesday through Saturday from 9a to 5p; Sundays Noon to 5p. Free admission. 5 E.
  For more information phone 1-919-715-0200. Web site: NCMH.
  From the Visitors' Center, go east 1 block on Davie Street to Wilmington Street and turn left (Note: these are one-way streets). Drive north on Wilmington to Edenton Street and turn left. Both the NC Museum of History and the NC Museum of Natural Sciences will be on your right in Bicentennial Plaza. Limited parking is available in a parking garage under the Museum. Address: 5 East Edenton Street.

North Carolina Sports Hall of Fame - Located in the North Carolina Museum of History (see above), the North Carolina Sports Hall of Fame exhibits personal items donated by many of the 200 inductees. Inductees include Arnold Palmer, Dean Smith and Richard Petty. The Museum displays the state's heritage and the role that sports have played in North Carolina's history. From Richard Petty's '#43' racecar to Charlie 'Choo Choo' and Justice's '#22' football jersey, this exhibit is a treat for all sports fans.
  Open Tuesday through Saturday from 9a to 5p; Sundays, Noon to 5p. Free admission.
  For more information phone 1-919-715-0200 or visit their web site: NCSHF.
  Housed in the NC Museum of History. Parking is available under the North Carolina Museum of History (see above).

North Carolina Museum of Natural Sciences - The North Carolina Museum of Natural Sciences includes 70,000 square feet of walk-through environments. Four floors of exhibits feature four great whales, the world's only Acrocanthosaurus -- better known as the "Terror of the South" -- and Willo, the dinosaur with a heart! Using a cutting-edge exhibit technique, live animals are included in exhibits throughout the museum. Exhibits look at the natural world through the distinct lens of North Carolina's diverse geography, geology, plants and animals. Click here to see upcoming exhibitions listed in our online event calendar.
  Open Monday through Saturday from 9a to 5p; Sundays from noon to 5p. Admission to the museum and the permanent exhibits is free. There is a charge for some special exhibitions.
  For more information phone 1-919-733-7450 or visit their web site: NCMNS.
  From the Visitors' Center, go east 1 block on Davie Street to Wilmington Street and turn left (Note: these are one-way streets). Drive north on Wilmington to Edenton Street and turn left. Both the NC Museum of History and the NC Museum of Natural Sciences will be on your right behind the Museum of History in Bicentennial Plaza. Limited parking is available in a parking garage under the Museum of History. The Museum is located on Bicentennial Plaza in downtown Raleigh between the Capitol and the Legislature Building, at the corner of Jones and Salisbury streets.

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North Carolina State Capitol - Built between 1833 and 1840, this National Historic Landmark is one of the best-preserved examples of a civic building in the Greek Revival style of architecture. It originally housed the governor's office, cabinet offices, legislative chambers, state library and state geologist's office.
  Open Monday through Saturday from 9a to 5p; Sundays from 1 to 5p. Plan of taking at least 30 minutes for your tour. ( Guided tours are available with advance notice through the Capital Area Visitor Center.) Admission is FREE.
  For more information phone 1-919-733-4994 or visit their web site: NCCapitol.
  From the Greater Raleigh Convention & Visitors Bureau at 421 Fayetteville Street Mall, go east 1 block on Davie Street to Wilmington Street and turn left (Note: these are one-way streets). Drive north on Wilmington to Edenton Street and turn left. The Capitol, itself, is obvious; parking is not. There are a number of parking garages in the downtown area. The nearest we found (to Capitol Square) coming up Wilmington from the Visitors' Center is on the right just before Morgan Street (which is on the south or near side of Capitol Square). Official address of the Capitol Building is 1 East Edenton Street.
  Important Note: If you wish to enter the Capitol building, check with the Capital Area Visitor Services which is 1 block east at 301 North Blount Street (corner of East Lane Street). Phone: 1-919-733-3456.

North Carolina Executive Mansion - Home to North Carolina's governors since 1891, this grand, Victorian-style mansion should be at the top of your tour itinerary. And, if you happen to be in Raleigh during the Holidays, the mansion is decked out in a grandiose display of lights and decorations.
  President Franklin D. Roosevelt, when describing the interior of the NC Executive Mansion, called it "...the most beautiful governor's residence interior in America."
  Phone the Capital Area Visitor Services in advance to make reservations for guided tours: 1-919-733-3456.
  The Executive Mansion is at 200 North Blount Street - 1 block south of the Capital Area Visitor Services.

Martin Luther King Jr. Memorial Gardens - Encircled by flowering trees, shrubs and plants, life-sized, bronze statue of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. stands as a reminder of the sacrifices made by the civil rights movement. This is the only public park in the U.S. solely dedicated to the memory of Dr. King. Other notables of the civil rights movement are honored by a 12-ton granite water monument.
  Open daily from sunrise to sunset. Admission: FREE.
  For more information phone 1-919-834-6264 or visit their web page: MLKingGardens.
  From I-40 eastbound take exit 300 and turn left on Rock Quarry Road. From I-40 westbound, take exit 300-B and turn right on Rock Quarry Road. Follow Rock Quarry Road northbound (toward Raleigh) to the intersection of Martin Luther King Blvd.

Ellen Mordecai Garden - Recreated from first-hand descriptions of the 1830s Mordecai kitchen garden, vegetables, herbs and flowers, arranged in raised beds serve to present the visitor with an image of what these pioneer gardens were like and how well they served. 
  Open daily from sunrise to sunset. Admission: FREE.
  For more information phone 1-919-834-4844.
  From I-40 take exit 299. If eastbound, turn left; if westbound, turn right. Follow Hammond Road northbound toward downtown Raleigh. Right after you cross the tracks there is a fork and Hammond Road goes left. The right fork is Person Street. Follow Person, continuing northbound, to another split in the 800 block of North Person (right after Franklin Street) and bear left on Mordecai Drive. The first street on your right in Mimosa Street - the location of the Division of Parks offices and the restored Ellen Mordecai Garden. Address: 1 Mimosa Street.

J C Raulston Arboretum at N.C. State University - Although only 8 acres in size, this is a veritable showplace for botany international. Some 45 countries' flora are represented (over 6000 plants).
  "The Arboretum is also home to the world's only collection of Dwarf Loblolly Pines; and the Nandina Collection, imported from Japan, is one of the most extensive compilations of the broad-leaved evergreen shrub in the nation."
  Open daily from 8a to 8p. Every Sunday from April through October, inclusive, master gardeners are present to conduct tours at 2p.
  For more information phone 1-919-515-3132 or visit their web site: RaulstonArboretum.
  From I-40 eastbound, take exit 289 and follow the Wade Avenue Freeway to the I-440 southbound exit. Stay in the right lane when you merge with I-440 because you will take the first exit (#3). At the end of the exit ramp turn left onto Hillsborough Street and, on the other side of the freeway, take the first right on Beryl Road. Now you will reverse direction, cross the freeway again and the Arboretum is on your left at 4415 Beryl Road.

Exploris - This state-of-the-art interactive global learning center has a unique mission: to encourage visitors to make connections with the people of all cultures. Through hands-on exhibits and thought provoking programs for families, guests have the opportunity to see how the world works, and the part each human can play in it. In the TradeWorks exhibit, visitors investigate the contents of four closets to learn how everyday things - like compact discs or basketball - link guests to international systems of trade. Many Voices encourages visitors to discover world voices by paging through unfiltered news from more than 40 countries and expressing personal thoughts by building a personal website. The new IMAX Theatre at Exploris that opened in Fall 2001 provides yet another innovative medium to introduce new places, new people and new ideas to visitors of all ages. Phone 1-919-834-4040 for current ticket prices and hours of operation or visit the Exploris web site: Exploris.
  IMAX Theatre at Exploris - The IMAX® Theatre at Exploris is a giant sight and sound film experience with a screen seven stories high and a 12,000-watt surround sound system.
  » Click here « for current shows listed in their online calendar. For current ticket prices and show times visit their website: IMAX.  The IMAX Theatre is located at the Exploris Museum in downtown Raleigh.

(courtesy of Greater Raleigh CVB)

From I-40 take exit 299. If eastbound, turn left; if westbound, turn right. Follow Hammond Road northbound toward downtown Raleigh. Right after you cross the tracks there is a fork and Hammond Road goes left. The right fork is Person Street. Follow Person, continuing northbound, to Hargett Street. Turn left and Exploris is at 201 East Hargett Street (corner of Blount Street)..

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