Story Ideas 2011

Chapel Hill Offers Family Fun

Touring campuses with a son or daughter doesn’t only have to be touring ivy-covered buildings and viewing countless video presentations. Prospective students like to know what attractions, nightlife; dining and shopping opportunities exist near campus. Not only does sightseeing provide a diversion from the decision-making, but it also makes trips fun for siblings brought along for the ride. College towns provide fun vacation destinations for the whole family. Chapel Hill, NC, is the quintessential college town. Home to the nation’s first state university, the town has numerous free attractions, as well as various reasonably priced activities. Check out the shopping, gardens, museums, planetarium, lakes and more.

UNC is Home to Top-Notch Performing and Visual Arts

Spring 2011 Kicks off with World-class pianist and jazz performer at Memorial Hall
Carolina Performing Arts
During spring of 2011 the Carolina Performing Arts, at Memorial Hall will play host to Mitsuko Uchida, piano (Jan. 21) and Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra with Wynton Marsalis (Jan28-29).

Black Watch- National Theatre of Scotland performs Feb. 9-13. Blues at the Crossroads: The Robert Johnson Centennial Concerts (Feb 16), Eddie Palmieri Latin Jazz (Feb. 18) and the Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater returns (Feb 22-24), Yasmin Levy (Feb. 26) and Nicola Benedetti, violin, with Pei-Yao Wang, piano (Feb. 28) winds out the month.

ID -Cirque Eloize (Mar 1-2) while Leon Fleisher, piano (Mar 3). Other March performances The Andersen Project – Ex Machina (Mar 17-18); Phil Kline’s John the Revelator – ETHEL and Lionheart (Mar 22) and the Nederlands Dans Theater (Mar 29-30)

The final month of the season features Woyzeck on the Highveld – Handspring Puppet Company (Apr 1-2), St. Petersburg Philharmonic with Yuri Temirkanov, conductor, and Alisa Weilerstein, cello – (Apr 5), BeijingDance/LDTX (Apr 12-13); Bach and Beyond – Jennifer Koh, violin (Apr 14); Tony Allen’s Afrobeat Orchestra (Apr 19) and the season ends with Branford Marsalis with the North Carolina Jazz Repertory Orchestra (Apr 21)

Tickets to performances in the Carolina Performing Arts season are on sale now. Website: http://www.carolinaperformingarts.org. For photos of the artists, see http://www.carolinaperformingarts.org/media/

PlayMakers Repertory Company in 35th Year
PlayMakers Repertory Company, currently in its 35th anniversary season, is the Carolinas’ premier, professional, non-profit theatre company. With its dual commitment to engage the greater Triangle community in an ongoing exploration of theatre and nurture succeeding generations of artists and audiences, PlayMakers performs a multi-show season in the Center for Dramatic Art in Chapel Hill.

Ackland Art Museum
The Ackland Art Museum’s permanent collection of over 15,000 objects includes the art of Asia, Africa, Europe and America, with works ranging from ancient times to the 21st century. The Museum holds the most significant collection of Asian art in the state and one of the largest collections of works on paper in the Southeast. Long known for its strength in European painting and sculpture, the Ackland has more recently added additional emphasis to the building of its collection of twentieth-century and contemporary art. New exhibit for 2011 features North Carolina Pottery.

Shoot for the Stars at the Morehead Planetarium & Science Center

Fulldome Digital Video Technology Comes to Chapel Hill’s Morehead Planetarium & Science Center Morehead Planetarium and Science Center

Experience new fulldome digital video technology directly through super-high-definition 4000-by-4000 pixel resolution, a 5.1 channel digital surround sound system and reconfigured seating for better sight lines. Fulldome digital video creates an immersive environment in which each visitor is surrounded by the sights and sounds of the planetarium show. This new technology is the biggest change to the planetarium in 40 years. The conversion places the planetarium on par with those at the National Air and Space Museum, the American Museum of Natural History, Griffith Observatory and other world-class facilities. The historic Star Theater is now the GlaxoSmithKline Fulldome Theater, in honor of the donor who made the new technology possible with a $1.5 million gift. Because fulldome digital video technology is a standard format that many planetariums share, Morehead can lease shows from other planetariums to expand its offerings. The spring schedule for the GlaxoSmithKline Fulldome Theater includes the planetarium shows “Heart of the Sun” produced by Heliograph Productions, “Astronaut” from the National Space Centre in England, “Black Holes: Journey into the Unknown” from Museum Victoria in Australia and “Carolina Skies” in which visitors explore the heavens as they will appear each night above North Carolina. The Morehead is the largest planetarum in the southeast.

Historic Hillsborough (1754): “A Museum Without Walls”

In this historic town, you’ll find an entire downtown district that has been named to the National Register of Historic Places, with more than 100 late 18th and early 19th century structures still standing today. Guided tours of Hillsborough’s historic district are available the second Saturday of the month at 10 am and 2 pm and self-guided tours ongoing . Hillsborough also features the Old Burwell School, a 19th century Presbyterian school for young ladies and the 1815 Ayr Mount Plantation. http://www.visithillsboroughnc.org

Prominent Southern Writers Live Here. Authors Lee Smith, Allan Gurganus, David Payne, Michael Malone and many others call this small, but growing, historical town home. Piedmont Literary Trail makes central North Carolina jump off the page.

Arts Alive!

Orange County in central North Carolina is famous for its creative population. Artists, authors and musicians are found in abundance here. In fact the county, which is nearly 400 square miles in size, is home to an estimated 700–800 artists, both in visual arts and performing arts. Each fall, tour maps guide art lovers to studios located all over Orange County in the Annual Open Studio Tour. See paintings, sculpture, pottery, jewelry, textiles, woodworking, iron, glass and photography. The free annual tour is the first two weekends in November on Saturday from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. and Sunday from noon to 5 p.m. Visitors can plan their own itineraries, choosing among the 70 artists participating. Get an inside look at what it really means to create a work of art from scratch. It’s a great experience for all ages. Check out the area’s NEWEST GALLERYS – FRANK 109 E. Franklin Street, Chapel Hill http://www.frankisart.com and ENO Gallery 100 S. Churton Street, Hillsborough.

Get Outside

Visit Chapel Hill’s North Carolina Botanical Garden, the largest natural Botanical Garden in the Southeast. Don’t forget to see the North Carolina Botanical Garden “Green” Education Center. The 29,656-square-foot North Carolina Botanical Garden Education Center, which was dedicated in October 2009, consists of three major sections connected by covered breezeways. All systems and materials have been designed to minimize environmental impact and support human health. This project sets a new standard for environmentally friendly public buildings in our state and region. NCBG officials are submitting this new project for certification under the LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) rating—a voluntary Green Building Council Rating System. They expect to be the first LEED Platinum public building in North Carolina.

Hillsborough’s Montrose Garden, a mid-19th century collection of gardens, including a rock garden, scree garden, numerous sunny gardens with varied color schemes and several extensive woodland gardens is open for guided tours. Appointments are necessary. The Hillsborough Spring Garden Tour will be Spring 2011 (May 14-15) and the Chapel Hill Spring Garden Tour is Spring 2012

Food and Fine Dining in Orange County

Some people eat to live. A visit to Orange County is for those of us who live to eat. In Chapel Hill, Carrboro and Hillsborough, food isn’t just about eating. The experience touches on the farmers who grow the food. The best ingredients are selected and transformed into a simple meal or a feast. You can sample the flavors of other cultures—without ever needing your passport—or dig into southern specialties. Take a cooking class that introduces you to new foods and sharpens your culinary skills, shop in award-winning food and cooking stores, and learn about the importance of sustainable agriculture and natural foods. We’ve got suggestions where you can get out in nature if you want some fresh air after a true “southern” feast.

If you want to cap off your evening with entertainment, our vibrant arts scene will entice you with an eclectic mix of music, theatre, or gallery hopping. More than 270 restaurants, including many award-winning, can be found in Orange County. Chapel Hill is home to AAA Four Diamond Carolina Crossroads and Il Palio Ristorante. Find southern fare at Mama Dip’s, shrimp and grits at Crooks Corner and hickory-smoked barbecue at Allen & Son. Also home to two microbreweries—Top of the Hill and Carolina Brewery.

In Carrboro, Weaver Street Market is the largest food co-op in the southeast. http://www.weaverstreetmarket.coop.

New Shops and Dining

East 54 —the urban village of luxury condos, shops and dining in Chapel Hill—is brimming with restaurants for the whole family. Saffron Indian Cuisine features authentic delicacies from many different regions of India offered with a large wine list. Piola has cuisine that is rigorously Italian, specializing in thin-crust, brick oven pizza prepared with homemade dough and original combinations of the freshest ingredients. The restaurant also offers a selection of fresh made salads, carpacci and Italian pastas. Archira Thai and Sushi Restaurant brings the taste of the orient to Chapel Hill with their authentic Thai cuisine and fresh, artful sushi. Streets Deli offers really big sandwiches (think corned beef, pastrami, brisket of beef), fresh salads with locally grown ingredients; traditional, old-time fountain beverages, not commonly found anywhere. They only use the finest ingredients (curing their own meat on site) and everything is prepared to order.

East 54 also offers unique shops such as fab’rik which delivers high style without attitude or sticker shock All items are priced under $100 except for the extensive denim collection. Hadley Emerson is a contemporary boutique featuring sophisticated, chic women’s clothing. Many more amenities are at East 54. Just 10 minutes from campus, you’ll want to make East 54 a stop on your Chapel Hill itinerary.

The entire community will be certified by the US Green Building Council’s LEED® program. In the spring to early Fall enjoy the 5:40 pm outdoor concert series on the Outdoor Plaza. Located on Hwy 54 East between Chapel Hill and I-40, next to Finley Golf Course. http://www.east54.com.


Did You Know?

Chapel Hill was named the most Livable City America (under 100,000 population) at the 2009 US Mayors Conference in June.