City: Raleigh, NC
Category: Tours & Attractions
Address: 200 N. Blount St.
City: Raleigh, NC
Category: Tours & Attractions
Address: 4415 Beryl Rd.
33. Marbles Kids Museum
City: Raleigh, NC
Category: Tours & Attractions
Telephone: (919) 834-4040
Address: 201 E. Hargett St.
Description: A temple to children’s creativity, Marbles has just about everything kids 12 and under could want. It’s not really a museum but more like a two-story, 84,000-square-foot playroom. The museum and adjacent IMAX Theater occupy most of a city block. The best thing for kids is the sense of freedom and exploration they have as they run from one activity to another. The best thing for parents to do is to find a bench and watch them go. For more on the Marble Kids Museum, see our Kidstuff chapter.
34. North Carolina Botanical Garden
City: Raleigh, NC
Category: Tours & Attractions
Telephone: (919) 962-0522
Description: The Botanical Garden is the University of North Carolina’s center for native plant conservation. Native southeastern plants decorate the landscaped areas surrounding the Totten Education Center offering ideas for gardeners who want to make the most of the climate’s attributes and work within its limitations. Display gardens include a native plant border, water gardens, carnivorous plants, an herb garden, a fern collection, and a horticultural therapy garden. Every fall, a new set of outdoor sculptures is installed throughout the garden for a two-month exhibition. The garden offers lectures on botany and horticulture and children’s programs. Admission is free.
City: Raleigh, NC
Category: Tours & Attractions
Address: 2110 Blue Ridge Rd.
City: Raleigh, NC
Category: Tours & Attractions
Address: 5 E. Edenton St.
City: Raleigh, NC
Category: Tours & Attractions
Address: 11 W. Jones St.
38. Oakwood Historic District
City: Raleigh, NC
Category: Tours & Attractions
City: Raleigh, NC
Category: Tours & Attractions
Address: 701 Oakwood Ave.
City: Raleigh, NC
Category: Tours & Attractions
Address: 1 E. Edenton St.
41. State Farmers’ Market
City: Raleigh, NC
Category: Tours & Attractions
Telephone: (919) 733-7417
Address: 1201 Agriculture St.
Description: At the State Farmers’ Market you can buy everything from wine to sod, but most people come for the produce. Saturday mornings in the spring and summer are the market’s liveliest days, when thousands show up to buy fresh tomatoes and peppers or live herbs and bedding plants from scores of vendors in the long outdoor shed. At the indoor stalls, you’ll find local honey, locally raised meats and cheese, crafts, and candy. A seafood restaurant sells fried North Carolina shrimp and oysters, and the Famers’ Market Restaurant is known for its down-home specialties like fried okra and sweet potato pie. Most vendors take cash or checks only. There’s an ATM machine between the two sheds. The market is off Lake Wheeler Road. Just follow the signs.
42. Adventure Landing
City: Raleigh, NC
Category: Tours & Attractions
Telephone: (919) 872-1688
Address: 3311 Capital Blvd.
Description: Three 18-hole miniature gold courses, laser tag for beginners and advanced players, a 100-game arcade, a quarter-mile go-kart track, and nine batting cages should keep the kids busy for a while. Adventure Landing offers frequent specials, like family night deals that include a pizza with admission, and special events including overnight lock-ins.
43. Frankie’S Fun Park & Restaurant
City: Raleigh, NC
Category: Tours & Attractions
Telephone: (919) 433-7888
Address: 11190 Fun Park Dr.
Description: Off Southern Parkway in northwest Raleigh, Frankie’s is near the Brier Creek shopping district and I-540. On site are three go-karts tracks, including one for the younger set, three 18-hole miniature golf courses, bumper boats, a laser tag arcade with a viewing area, two climbable fun houses, batting cages, a plummet ride, and an arcade. A full-service restaurant serves a menu of burgers, wrap sandwiches, pizza, and entrees like chicken marsala and grilled salmon. Package prices are available for groups of 10 or more.
44. Putt-Putt Of Raleigh
City: Raleigh, NC
Category: Tours & Attractions
Telephone: (919) 832-2228
Address: 4020 Tryon Rd.
Description: The original miniature golf course, Putt Putt’s branch in Raleigh offers 18 holes, a go-kart track, a climbable fun house, a batting cage, miniature rides for younger kids, an arcade, and a stuff-your-own bear station. On the edge of Raleigh, it is convenient to Cary as well.
45. Silver Lake
City: Raleigh, NC
Category: Tours & Attractions
Telephone: (919) 851-1683
Address: 5300 Tryon Rd.
Description: A five-story waterslide, nicknamed “the Beast,” is the highlight of this man-made lake park. Silver Lake also has a shallow kiddie area, bumper boats, floating-walk obstacle paths, several smaller waterslides, a playground, pedal boats, volleyball courts, horseshoe pits, and a shaded picnic area. Because it is a lake, and not a cement-bottomed pool, Silver Lake has a more rustic feel than the mega-water parks found in most metro areas. Concessions are available on site or you can bring your own food. Picnic areas have charcoal grills.