Hey Research Triangle Hokies! My sister and bro-in-law are relocating from USA's armpit to Raleigh, more specifically, Holly Springs/Apex area before football season this year. My BIL and I are Hokie Fans, beer drinkers and wanna be golfers.
I was hoping some local Raleigh Hokies could share some insight into some of the hidden treasures that you have amassed over the years. Where can we find some fellow Hokies watching games, Miller Lite pints, and maybe some wings? In addition, any public golf courses that have somewhat affordable greens fees.
Thanks for any help. In the meantime I'll work on my pronunciation of the city.
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Leesville Tap Room is the normal meetup spot but this may adjust next year as we're outgrowing it for football games and trying to have a few different options around the Triangle. Follow the facebook page- https://www.facebook.com/trianglehokies
That's awesome you all such a good following. Thanks for the link.
I'm not 100% sure we are definitely moving. We explored options before last season but Charlie treats us VERY well at the LTR when nobody else in the city would give us the time of day. If we do expand, it'll likely be in addition to the LTR and not replacing it, at least from the last I heard.
Regarding beers, Big Boss Brewing and Lonerider are extremely Hokie friendly from past relationships with the Chapter. We try to do things there whenever we can.
As regarding the OP question for the pronunciation. Rahl-EE. And it's just Raleigh. Not Raleigh-Durham.
As for golf. Knights Play is a fun Party 3. Not really sure about Any other publics. Been a very long time since I played all the locals when I was on the golf team in high school. Though, every spring the Hokie Club has a tournament at Raleigh Country Club which is always a good time. In the fall they do one as well, generally ay Lochmere in Cary. Still fun, but the beer isn't free....
I thought it was pronounced "Kev-in".
You went to high school in Raleigh? I did too...Broughton. What school were you at?
EDIT: for the OP. I got nothing. I live here but with two young kids, a wife who is alum, father who is alum, we usually just get together and watch the games. LTR is literally 10 minutes away and I don't think I have ever been for a game. Not that I don't want to, I just can't at the moment. And golf---I suck at golf. Disc golf though? Cedar Hills, Kentwood, UNCDG, Buckhorn...
always a leg for disc golf
I've sadly gotten away from it more than I would like to. in VA there was a course in my back yard that I played weekly. When the weather is nice I go once a week since there is course 5 minutes from where I work, so I go during lunch.
Second that. I miss the mountain disc golf from the courses near Blacksburg.
The butchered golden hillls, IMO. I loved it as a standard 18 hole course and went back to play after graduating and now there are two courses and the signage is terrible and I got lost and spend about two hours hiking through the woods trying to find my way back out. Maybe if I knew the course better, and didn't get lost, I would appreciate it more.
I know those two courses like the back of my hand. Spent many afternoons putting off school work to play a round. There is a line on most of the holes. I would have liked to see just one longer course it could have been pretty cool. The other courses in the area, Randolph Park in Dublin, Mountain Lake (apparently being taken down), Greenfield DGC in Troutville, are all very good courses.
I've played at all five (if you count golden hills twice), but never played the OG golden hills. The Troutville course is nice. The course at Randolph park in Dublin is nice too, decent mix of wooded and open, good use of the park. I couldn't stand Mountain Lakes the few times I played. Incredibly long course and if the Golden Hills signage is bad, Mountain Lakes is atrocious.
It's unfortunate that i only really got in to the sport after I left tech and had a ton of time to kill during a deomcpression/job search period of life. They were supposed to put a 9 hole course at the CRC but I'm not sure if that ever happened.
I didn't have too much trouble with Mountain Lake signage but I was shown around by someone who already played there before. The length of the course can really beat you down. Playing whites versus blues is a huge difference. I think they have added some blue and white arrows to point you to the next tee box. Definitely can find some solitude playing a round up there though.
CRC course is up. It is kinda boring and you can hit building with errant throws.
Last time I played Mountain Lakes, the "signage" consisted of two rungs of the basket spray painted blue to point the general direction towards the next tee box. nothing at any tee boxes that at all indicated where the hole was.... we did a whole lot of wandering around haha
Oh I forgot to mention the first time I went there, we stopped at the little shop and they had a course map. With how long those holes are definitely tough to know how far you are going. The first time my buddies and I played at Randolph Park, we didn't find the open holes on the back nine. So I've been there haha. If you haven't gotten on it, dgcoursereview.com is awesome for finding courses and the forums have everything you want to know.
It's very unlikely that we will be moving next year. What is likely is that we will look at adding one or more additional locations, info about this will be spread via facebook and also our website http://trianglehokies.org/.
There is also a link on our website where you can sign up of our listserv, we try to send a monthly email out or before important events.
For general suggestions, Apex is a really cool small town with a good amount of bars and restaurants on its main street. Brueprint is a great brewery in Apex, and also Knight's Play is a par 3 course open until midnight just a couple of minutes away. The other affordable course I go to is Raleigh Golf Association, right off of I-40. Not a stellar course but for $25-30 it's great for me.
For watching Hokie games, there are plenty of Carolina Ale House's around, and I know Leesville Taproom has been the spot for the alumni group but I've started going to Lynnwood Grill up on Glennwood Avenue.
I live right by Crabtree mall, holla if you want to grab a beer for a game! I don't drink Millertime tho sry
Thanks for the info man. Raleigh Golf Association pics look pretty good. Definitely a good option and the Par 3 under the lights sounds like fun. I'm all about Carolina Ale Houses, but have only been to one in Wilmington NC.
I also live right by Crabtree Mall! I never realized how many TKPers live in Raleigh haha
Define close....
One of the newer apartment complexes on Blue Ridge behind the mall.
That is legitimately close 😂 you could make the argument that I am also close to Crabtree, but really I'm just off the Capital Boulevard exit on 440. Big Boss is what I am close to, and in fact drive past it every day on the way to work. Now that their run club is on Tuesday nights again, I may become a frequent visitor.
Hah you would have loved our old game watching location at the original, now abandoned Carolina Ale House on Creekside.
Indeed I would have.
Everyone I know is moving out to the boonies(Clayton), Holly Springs, Fuquay, or Apex, etc. I am stubbornly clinging to as close to the city center as my salary will allow. Grew up in the boonies, have no desire to return to there.
Marshall Park?
The Marq at Crabtree
ahh well we are neighbors then! Moving to a house in 5 points next month but a great area overall.
5 points?
That said, it would be nice to live near Nickelpoint Brewery. Very good beers in that place.
Just checked, Nickelpoint is .25 miles from the new house so will look at that as my regular spot.
Definitely try Neuse River as well, it's right next door to Nickelpoint
Yeah, I saw both when driving around the neighborhood. I've only been in Raleigh a year and had no clue they were both back there!
I second this. Neuse River has some great beer and a cool atmosphere. Definitely check out Big Boss and Lynnwood Brewing Concern in that same neighborhood. Also, Mami Noras has the best Peruvian chicken in Raleigh.
Five Points is my dream. I'm in a neighborhood at Blue Ridge and Glen Eden right now just renting, but I'd love to live close to Lynnwood and Neuse River Brewing.
You ever play basketball at the courts at Glen Eden park? I'm down there a ton when the weather is nice!
Will the weather ever be nice again? I'm beginning to thing the answer is no...
Dude I've been down there a ton lately! That's right at the end of my street, would be awesome to run into you and ball out some time haha
Former resident, off Lead Mine Rd.
Don't miss the rush hour traffic. Do miss how much there is to do around there, and cheap uber rides into the city!
High Craft beer market is just up the road from Apex and usually has a pretty good selection as far as six packs to bring home. Also has a small bar with a few taps and several TVs. Nice little spot for a quick drink. Oh and my cousin owns it.
Looks like a good spot. Half priced drafts on Mondays sounds like a winner. Thanks for the recommendation.
Yeah and Matt knows his shit too. Basically all self taught just has a passion for beer. He's started brewing his own stuff which is great but he's not at the point of selling it yet.
I'll be hitting that up asap
Why is it on the opposite side of town from me, whyyyy 😭😭😭
Graduated from Apex High & Middle School, currently live in Jacksonville/St. Augustine Florida area: Apex Wings right across the highway 55 from Apex Middle School is a good spot for wings (request "Lil Bit", aka Brittany for a waitress). J&S pizza has locations in both Apex and Fuquay if you want great pizza; owners are Italian-born and great people; they know my mom by name and give her canolies on her birthday. Carolina Brewing Company is a long-standing establishment in the general area as well which, "back in the day" used to give free brewery tours/tastings on Saturdays.
$1.95 beers, nachos, and wings. This place looks awesome. Thanks!
One of my favorite places to go is Spirits, in Cary. BEST Mac and cheese that wasn't made by my mom. I'm also a big fan of The Station, which is downtown on Person St. It might be tainted though, I watched the ND game there...Also really like The Oak on Lake Boone Tr, it's a bourbon bar. Need I say more?
I cannot advise on golf because I am not a golfer. But If you like the outdoors, Umstead State Park is a freaking gem, right in between Raleigh and RTP. I like to ride my mountain bike in from the art museum, kill myself on the Turkey Creek trail, then limp home.
The Oak is pretty good but omg The Station: $5 double burgers on Mondays. And the best burger in Raleigh btw.
I love The Station. I can routinely be found there in winter, parked in front of one of the fireplaces on the patio. Or parked on the patio in general year-round. Their burgers are indeed spot on, but the grilled beer cheese sandwich is also pretty freaking amazing. We should definitely make it a Hokie hangout.
Thanks for the Info. I like the look of Spirits based on the interwebs photos.
Don't play Lochmere after a heavy rain.
That back 9 gets fun, huh?
You should check out the Raleigh Beer Garden at some point. Their beer selection is massive and their food is great for upscale bar food.
Looks like something you would find on the beach. Awesome.
AND it's on Glenwood South, so it's great for a Friday/Saturday night if you decide to go on a bender and want to bar hop. Speaking of that area, one of my friend's manages Pho Pho Pho, which is amazing. I've taken out-of-town friends there and they've told me the pho ruined them for pho anywhere else.
Plus there's about 12 Moe's and 3 Qdoba's for any Hokie craving real, tasty and healthy Mexican fast food.
Glory Days in Apex is a Hokie Owned sports bar that opened recently
Piling on to some good responses already. The Triangle is where a lot of Hokies end up when they realize they don't have to go to or stay in Nova for a job.
At last count, there were 4500 Hokies in the Raleigh area, second outside of the state of Virginia only to Baltimore. Being in the unique position we're in surrounded by 3 ACC schools, another just down the way in Winston Salem, plus that pirate school to the east we're a pretty proud and obnoxious bunch who rep VT hard. Wear your Hokie swag and you'll find friends everywhere, I promise you this.
To jump start (see what I did there?) your Hokie connections come out to some of the Alumni chapter events as someone pointed out above. Bonus: This year we have both the UNC and Duke games down here. See you when you get here!
When you get to a reasonable (breaking 100) level, head on down to Tobacco Road in Sanford. It is a really cool course unlike any other you'll play. Mike Stantz was a wacky dude.
Awesome. Im about a 12-14 handicap. I'll have to check it out.
Get the range book and hit to your targets and its really fun.
Public Golf stinks in Raleigh as there should be more budget friendly options, but there aren't. You can look on line from time to time and find discounts for some ok courses, ie Lochmere, The Crossings, Falls Village, RGA & River Ridge
If you want better budget consciousoptions, you gotta go to JoCo (the Nuese, Riverwood), Franklin County (Old Liberty) Durham (Hillandale, Umstead Pines, Lakeshore) and Orange Co. (Occoneechee).
My current rotation is Occoneechee, umstead Pines, and Hillandale. All three are pretty interesting courses with neat layouts and history.
Also, find a friend who is a Wolfpack Club Member, they get discounts to play Lonnie Poole.
If you want to pay a little more, Duke and UNC courses are super nice.
And since everyone seems to keep wanting to send you to Glenwood South, you'll meet some trust fund babies, maybe you can get an invite into a country club or two.
Anything past Apex is a commuting nightmare if you work in Raleigh, Durham, or the RTP. Downtown Cary is starting to pop with breweries and Restaurants and is a fun place to live.
Don't ever eat at a chain restaurant, there's too many good local places to eat in the area. And don't be afraid of Durham, it's not as bad as people will tell you it is. It's not late 90s Durham anymore.
This one made me lmao because it's true.
i have heard rumblings that top golf is trying to find their way into the Triangle. Their competitor, drive shack, has purchased land close to PNC Arena for a very similar entertainment-golf experience.
EDIT: and yeah durham has changed a lot if you are around DPAC, Durham Bulls, but if you go North it is very much a similar Durham to the 90's.
I mean the guy who owns TopGolf just bought the Carolina Hurricanes, so yeah... I would think he's looking to bring the venture to the Triangle
Have to have something for the players to do in the summer
I work right by PNC Arena and can confirm the Drive Shack site has broken ground in the last month or so.
Yesss! I work on the other side of Chapel Hill Rd. but haven't driven by the worksite in a long time.
Hedingham and Wilmar are ok courses but are a bit of a trip from Apex. My BIL uses Groupgolfer a lot to get us discounts on local courses. I've been down here for 12 years now and love it. Our friends have had great things to say about Mason jar tavern.
So I'm the only one who would prefer we move on from LTR...?
It's not that easy.
When we looked back a few years ago LTR was the only venue that was willing to work with setting a space aside for us for every game. We looked everywhere, like the downtown Ale House, Tobacco Road, Tribeca Tavern in Morrisville, pretty much every bar at North Hills and Crabtree, and of the whole lot, LTR was the only location that didn't outright say we would have to fight for seats prior to kickoff. And everyone said we would always be second fiddle to local teams if it ever came to it, to the point where some said they wouldn't be able to host us.
So, no... We aren't moving from LTR if we can avoid it. That relationship is too good to pass up for the chapter. If you want to help set up and secure a secondary venue, by all means go for it. There are a few officers from the chapter who have already posted in this thread that would love the assistance.
And I'll add I think LTR is a perfectly fine sports bar. It 's not my favorite sports bar, but it's got good bar food and a good beer rotation. The only thing I personally don't like about it is it's not particular close to anything besides maybe Brier Creek.
Did you ever look into Taco Mac? They're awesome, and when I went there for the WVU game they were empty, so they might be open to having some business.
It was chosen because it was midway between Raleigh and Durham, which are the two areas that the majority of our more active chapter members live. The only areas that might work better and get more people to the games are downtown proper, but with the city now charging for parking on weekends and the issues we ran into at bar after bar with venues telling us that NCSU and UNC would always get priority, we were confident that LTR was and remains the best possible location for the chapter. I just wish they could better accommodate large crowds. Once that side room fills up, they struggle with us.
So should we have a Raleigh TKP meetup or should we have a Raleigh TKP meetup
Those are both great, but I think we should go ahead and have a Raleigh TKP meetup+drinkup.
I second this.
We should all get together at Lynnwood or Big Boss once the weather is permanently warm
I'm down
The local Hokie club is doing something at Big Boss on the 15th. But it's the day after the spring game, so there is that. I was planning to go unless I make my way to Blacksburg for the weekend.
Yes, that
What about May 12 weekend
That's my b-day weekend! Who wants to buy my 1st round?? 😎🍻🍺🍺🍺
Should be free that weekend.
Works for me
Sign me up
Ok so what do we say, Big Boss on May 12? 4 pm? Idk just tossing out options I'm no event planner
I'll confirm for that. I will wear a pink shirt and have a red rose.
Oh, so we're not all going to wear our quit cussin' shirts? Good to know.
I'll add my 2 cents. Honest Abe Brewing just opened a location right next to my apartment. They have some pretty solid NY style pizza, about 10-15 different beers on tap, and about 10 tvs. I plan on frequenting there for this upcoming season, though I am a bit biased as it is literally a 2 minute walk from my front door.
Dude, this place is right next to my office. We've been there a few times for drinks and pizza. Definitely a solid spot for catching games.
Honest Abe's is a great spot. I used to live off Trinity Road not too far from there. Really hope they keep building up that Wade Park area
^Me after realizing how many of you guys live in West Raleigh/Cary.
So I gotta ask, where is USA's armpit? Maryland?
So if NJ is USA's armpit, i guess maryland, Nova, and NC are the crotch?
Nah that's Florida... just look at a map.
I like how you skipped 90% of the state of Virginia. To be fair to NJ, it's only certain parts of the state. And if I'm being really honest, Delaware really should take the label.
True about only some parts of NJ ane not the best. Same for delaware...the southern two thirds is beautiful.
True, but:
So would that make Cali the arse and the back??
It's obviously the elbow.
Found the jersey native
I didn't ask because I knew this was the answer