April 26, 2012 · 8:48 am

Museum of Life & Science “Magic Wings Festival” – May 5th, 2012

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Looking for something different to do with the family this Cinco de Mayo? Check out the “Magic Wings Festival” at the Museum of Life & Science in Durham! See below for festival details and your chance to win a free pass for four people to the event.

Magic Wings Festival – May 5, 2012
The Museum of Life and Science is celebrating the residents of its Magic Wings Butterfly House, with a fiesta style celebration on Saturday, May 5 from 10 a.m. – 5 p.m. There will be dancing, arts, gardening, entomology, live music, a bug safari hunt, butterfly crafts and more. Those who are eager to taste something different should make a stop at the Dare Café to sample a variety of stir fried insects.

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Photo Courtesy of NCMLS

“We have several fun and exciting events for our visitors at this year’s Magic Wings event. Visitors  can live life as a Leafcutter Ant and carry leaves on their back to the colony, explore the woodlands with entomologists to see where  bugs hideout, listen to music from around the globe, or celebrate Cinco de Mayo by making traditional paper flowers,” says Nancy Dragotta-Muhl, event coordinator with the Museum.

Durham County Master Gardeners, NC State Entomology, Orange County Beekeepers Association, BASF, Play House Toy Store, Kids Are Music, and others are also attending this year’s event. For a complete schedule of activities, visit the Museum’s website at www.lifeandscience.org.

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Photo Courtesy of NCMLS

About the Museum of Life & Science
The Museum of Life and Science is an 84-acre indoor/outdoor science park and home to Magic Wings Butterfly House, one of the largest tropical butterfly house conservatories in the southeast. The conservatory offers visitors a chance to come into intimate contact with exotic butterfly species and over 250 species of tropical plants from around the world. The conservatory is 80 degrees year-round.

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Photo Courtesy of NCMLS

Free Pass for Four Giveaway!
The generous people at the Museum of Life and Science have provided me with a a FREE pass for four people to attend the Magic Wings Festival to give away to a lucky a Triangle Explorer follower! To enter to win just leave a comment below before noon on May 3rd. The winner will be drawn at random and emailed with instructions on how to pick up the free pass.

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April 18, 2012 · 12:30 pm

Explore the Upper Neuse Greenway Trail in Raleigh!

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Entrance To The Greenway From The Bedford Community

The Upper Neuse Greenway Trail has been open for about 6 months now and is one of my favorite places to go for a jog. It is a real hidden gem for outdoor enthusiast in North Raleigh and a great addition to the Capital Area Greenway System. The next time you get the urge for a stroll outside I strongly encourage you to check out this trail! It is very scenic and offers nice vies of the river.

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One Of The Wooden Bridges On The Greenway

Work on the Upper Neuse Greenway began January 18, 2010 with the trail officially opening back on November 9, 2011. This latest portion of the Raleigh greenway system begins at Falls Dam and run along the Neuse River for approximately 8.0 miles, ending at the WRAL Soccer Complex off Perry Creek Road.

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Biking And Jogging Is Allowed On The Greenway

The Surface of the greenway is 10’ wide asphalt path with 10’ wide raised boardwalks in sensitive areas like wetlands. The main entrance area to the greenway, complete with public parking, is located off Falls of Neuse Road just south of the Falls Dam. There are also trial connections located in both Bedford and Falls River neighborhoods providing easy access to the trial.

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CSX Railroad Underpass

There are seven bridges and seven boardwalk sections along the this portion of the trail. In addition, the trail passes under Falls of Neuse Road, New Falls of Neuse Road, and Capital Boulevard, resulting in no road conflicts along route. The trail is fairly flat with only a few slight inclines along the route making it great for running and as you can see from the pictures it is quite sceneic. Check it out.

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View Of Neuse River From The Greenway Trail

More Info on the Captial Area Greenway System (with maps): http://www.raleighnc.gov/arts/content/PRecDesignDevelop/Articles/CapitalAreaGreenwayTrailSystem.html

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April 11, 2012 · 11:41 am

Picture of the Week – 42nd Street Oyster Bar at RDU Airport

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42nd Street Oyster Bar at RDU Airport

I was headed out of town to visit family for the Easter holiday last week and made my very first visit to new Terminal 2 at RDU Airport to catch a flight. The new terminal is very bright and slick looking.  I snapped the picture above as I made my way to my flight’s departure gate. I had no idea that the 42nd Street Oyster Bar had a second location in Raleigh. Until last week I was only aware of their location in downtown on West Jones Street. It is interesting to see them branch out and open a second restaurant out at the airport. I was pressed for time and couldn’t stop to eat, but I hope to try out the food at this location on a future visit. Two thumbs up overall for the new Terminal 2 out at RDU!

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April 4, 2012 · 2:14 am

4th Annual Cuegrass Festival Returns to The Pit BBQ – April 21, 2012

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Pit Master Ed Mitchell checks on the smoker at Cuefest!

For some reason there hasn’t been much buzz about this as in previous years, but I want to make sure word gets out this fun event.  The 4th Annual ‘Cuegrass Festival is set to return to the The Pit BBQ in Raleigh on Saturday April 21st from 12-6pm. The action will take place along Davie street in front of restaurant with a jam-packed day full of great ‘cue, local brews and toe-tappin’ bluegrass music! The folks at The Pit will have the pig cookers fired up to serve plenty of their famous Eastern North Carolina-style barbecue and offer a selection of local brews.

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Ed Show's The Musicians hot it's done ~ 'Cuefest 2010

Musical acts planned for this year’s event are Mandolin Orange, Delta Rae, Old Habits, and American Aquarium.

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The crowd settles in for some great music ~ 'Cuefest 2010

Make sure you bring your lawn chairs and blankets for a day filled of relaxing with great food and music. Proceeds from the $5 gate donation go to the North Carolina 4-H Youth Development.

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March 31, 2012 · 5:35 am

What is a Locopop?

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Enjoying my first Locopop outide of Fullsteam in Durham

Locopops are special frozen treats known as “paletas” (Mexican popsicles) made right here in the Triangle by a local business started in Durham by Summer Bicknell back in June 2005.  The frozen pops come in both traditional Mexican flavors, such as mango-chile and tamarind, and quirky ones like honeydew-lavender and chocolate-rosemary. Locopops can be broken down into two groups: dairy based or non-dairy based. In addition to their regular flavors they are constantly introducing weekly “guest stars” (like blueberry buttermilk) available for a limited time only based on the availability of their seasnonal ingredients.

I had my first Locopop last year while attending the a street festival in Durham. I was lucky enough to stumble upon the Locopop street cart set up along Rigsbee Avenue outside of the Fullsteam Brewery. The first pop I had was one of their more traditional falvors (Pomegranate Tangerine). More recently I had a strawberry coconut flovred locopop which was equally fantastic. Locopops are typically sold for around $2 each and the number of places you can buy them continues to grow.

What started out as one small storefront in Durham seven years ago has now grown to three Locopops locations throughout the Triangle. Locopops are also now sold by over two dozen area merchants in Raleigh, Durham, Chapel Hill, and can even be found in Pittsboro, Cary, & Greensboro! (full list here)

Locopops Locations:

2604A Hillsborough Road
Durham, NC 27705
Open daily from 1-7

231 S. Elliott Road
Chapel Hill, NC 27514
Open daily from 1-7

1908 Hillsborough Street
Raleigh, NC 27607
Open daily from M-Th 3-7; Fr-Su 1-7

Locopos Website: http://www.ilovelocopops.com/

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Pomegranate Tangerine Locopop

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