what's fun in charlotte/raleigh?

Gent's,

I will be racing for the 1st time at VIR mid-April and have an extra day in either charlotte or raleigh. What if any must see's, must do's, or must eat's or personal favorites for my wife and I in those cities?

Thanks for the ideas!

Oh...I would love a nice dinner/restaurant recommendation between charlotte airport and VIR. Thanks!

 

What's your pleasure? Second Empire is always good for dinner, and a nice pace for a couple. There's the more fancy area upstairs and the more casual tavern downstairs. You may order off either menu at area. For steak (good en route to track days!) Sullivan's does a good job. For Italian there's Casa San Carlo and Gravy. If you want a good dog, check out Hot Wieners. It is very casual but fufills desire! For sushi, you can't go wrong with Mura. For activities, there's an indoor karting track in Garner (about 15 min south of Raleigh) called Rush Hour Karting. The science museum is rather good. Raleigh is a great town.

 

How about favorite bar be que in either of those two cities?

 

Stop in Lexington for some great barbeque places.

 

if you are going from CLT airport to VIR you are closer to Greensboro than Raleigh.
You are also closer to Durham and Chapel Hill, and Durham is a great restaurant town (not that Raleigh isn't).

 

Thanks for the tip. On my way to Danville to VIR I'll detour to Lexington Bar-Be-Que. They get high marks for one of the best.

 

I missed this thread! Did you like VIR? I visit all the time, really hate I didn't make to the event you were in.

 

There's a lot more restaurants in Charlotte, but they're usually more high end steakhouses than bbq places. Check out The Pit (right near the Raleigh train station) if you come to Raleigh.

 

FBB...I was there last Fall and got some great recommendations from F-chatters. These were the BBQ specific ones, I was able to get to using my 3+ days there, and they were all good.

Allen & Sons - Chapel Hill - try the Brunswick Stew, if you've never tried that before
The Pit - Raleigh - kind of fancy for a BBQ "joint", but eclectic mix of BBQ styles
Hillsborough BBQ - ribs great, brisket good
Mitch's Tavern - near NCSU campus - good BBQ sammie

Wife and I even drove out to Lexington to go to famous place there. Packed. But, worth a nice drive in the country to get there, if you have time.

Safe travels…T