checking out Chapel Hill..where to visit?

We have lived in CH for 7 years and love it here. We did not know many people when we moved here. Please PM me if you have any questions.

Some places that he may want to check out are Weaver St as others have mentioned. While there, cross the street and have some ice cream at the Maple View Farms store. There is also another store west of Carrboro that is open year round. The one in Carrboro will close for the winter and open at the beginning of next summer. Maple View is a local farm that sells milk, ice cream, etc and I have been told it is all hormone and antibiotic free. It is also available to buy in the grocery store. Also he may want to stop an look through Carr Mill Mall(next to Weaver Street). There are some cute shops and a couple of neat restaurants-Panzanella(uses whole foods from Weaver Street) and Elmo's diner(neat diner that kids love).

University Mall is also a somewhere he may want to check out. One of the stores there is A Southern Season which has gormet food, flowers, wine, and chocolate. If nothing else it is a neat place to walk through. They also a restaurant, Weathervane, there which is good. Other restaurants that are good in University Mall are Spice Street and Alfredo's pizza(which IMNSHO is the best pizza in CH aside from Peppers on Franklin St). If he would like to check out parks across estes from University mall is Communty Center park. There are several parks in CH/Carrboro but this is a nice one nearby the mall.

Franklin St would also be a great place to check out. The University opens soon so there may be traffic as students come back to school. The children's musuem, KIdzu, is on E. Franklin. There is an art Museum on the corner of Franklin and Columbia and the planetarium is down E. Franklin. Some restaurants that are good are Peppers pizza, Top of the Hill, Spanky's, Elaine's etc. There are probably ones that I am forgetting but there are a lot of nice restaurants. Pretty much, if there is a type of food you like, there is somewhere that has it. There are also ice cream shops on Franklin st- Ben and Jerry's, Cold Stone Creamery and the Yogurt pump. Sorry for all the ice cream info but my 5 year old LOVES ice cream.

I would also recommend checking out S. Elliott Rd. Whole Foods is there and Harvest bread. Harvest make the bread daily and will offer slices of bread to try when you walk in. It is very good.

One more restaurant- Margaret's Cantina. It is in the Tmberlyne shopping center and has southwest food but is not the typical mexican food.

As for neighborhoods he may want to check out- Lake Forest/ Coker Hills(north of Franklin St either north on Estes or Elliott), Briarcliff/Ridgefield Park(south of 15-501, go south on Ephesus Church), and downtown Carrboro(there are areas where students live so you may need to check carefully).

Hope this helps. Good luck.

coco_w, i've been pondering your question. i really do think weaver st mkt is a definite just 'cause it's such a gathering spot for folks. it's really the heart of carrboro, plus your dh can grab a bite to eat in the deli or something to sip on.

i think it would help me if you could tell me a little more about what you're looking for in the area. i know you said funky neighborhoods and i would definitely recommend checking out the mill houses of carrboro that the previous poster mentioned. http://www.northcarolinatravels.com/ is one of my favorite sites to recommend to newbies to the area. i love chapel hill and carrboro, but coming from NYC might be quite a shock depending on what you're looking for. CH/C are very small towns. everything is on a much more intimate kitchen-table scale. there are some very beautiful buildings on UNC's campus and that's definitely worth a drive around, but everything is smaller and closer to the earth and homier than in a big city. that's not to say we don't have our share of really excellent artists and musicians and other culcha in town, but part of the charm is the small town intimacy so as far as "don't miss sights" they're not necessarily going to empire state bldg AWE inspiring, but more awwwww... well, maybe. check out that site i mentioned and post back his travel dates and your interests and i'll wrack my brain for some can't miss destinations.