Tag Archives: Cary

Cary Downtown Farmers Market Opens Saturday April 6th!

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The Cary Downtown Farmers’ Market will open Saturday, April 6 2013, offering Cary and surrounding areas fresh, local food, artisan goods, and a blossoming sense of community.

The Cary Downtown Farmers Market and residents of Cary are excited for the 22nd opening of their beloved Farmers Market this Saturday, April 6th.  Visitors to the market can expect to see many of the same vendors they have come to depend on at the market. Vendors will be selling locally grown vegetables and fruit, pasture-raised meats, eggs, honey, seafood, crafts, and baked goods. The market is located at 301 S. Academy Street, Cary, across from the downtown Cary library.

Opening day at the market will include an exciting scavenger hunt based on the fresh foods offered at the market this week; live kid-friendly music from the Motley Tones, a jolly band of singing pirates; and a cooking demonstration, by Alyssa Campo, using fresh, local vegetables from market vendors. Children that plan to participate in the scavenger hunt should stop by the information desk to pick up a map when they arrive.

Cary Downtown Farmers Market will also be introducing their new Market Manager, Karmen Paterson. Karmen is an Agricultural Business and Environmental Science student at NC State expected to graduate in May.  Karmen, having grown up around chefs, has a passion for food and eating. She believes in sustainable agricultural and buying locally for healthy citizens and the economic growth of downtown Cary. Stop by the information desk to meet Karmen and welcome her to the market.

A strong community has developed at the market over the past 22 years. Consumers are able to get to know and trust the farmers who make their food while sampling produce, learning about where and how the food is grown, and talking about recipes with other shoppers. The market runs from April through November on Tuesdays from 2-6, and Saturdays from 8-12:30. November through March, the market is open on Saturdays from 8-12:30. The market is always open, rain or shine!

“We are excited about both our new and returning vendors this year, and our ability to bring more Cary residents to the market. We want people to know our market is a destination spot, in the revitalizing downtown Cary, for people to buy fresh, local produce, socialize with other foodies, and just enjoy themselves,” says Karmen Paterson, Market Manager.”

About Cary Downtown Farmers Market
The market’s mission is to be a cozy place for people to shop for goods they can feel great about, and to build bonds between Cary residents and their local farmers, which will ultimately strengthen the area’s sense of community. The market is a growers-only market, with only handcrafted goods for sale, no re-selling is allowed. The market features items grown or crafted by the vendors, who have traveled less than a 100-mile radius of downtown Cary. The market is always open, rain or shine!

For more information, please visit their website at caryfarmersmarket.com or the Cary Downtown Farmers Market facebook and twitter page.

You can also see some great pics of the 2012 Market in a great post by Triangle Localista here.

 

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Christmas Parades, Tree Lightings, & Holiday Concerts in the Triangle ~ 2012

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Christmas Tree in Raleigh’s City Plaza

I know it is still November, but Christmas events like the Raleigh Christmas Parade and the North Hills Tree lighting are set to kick off this Saturday (Nov. 17th). With that in mind I thought now would be a good time to share a comprehensive list of events scheduled in the Triangle this holiday season. If I missed anything please leave me a comment and I will add it to the list. Thanks!

Parades
Raleigh Christmas Parade – November 17th 9:40am

Apex Christmas Parade – December 1st

Garner Christmas Parade – December 1st

Hillsborough Holiday Parade – December 1st

Fuquay-Varina Christmas Parade – December 2nd 3:00pm

Cary Christmas Parade – December 8th 2:00pm

Chapel Hill / Carrboro Holiday Parade – December 8th 10am-12pm

Wake Forest Christmas Parade – December 8th 1:00pm

Holly Springs Christmas Parade – December 8th 11:00am

Clayton Christmas Parade – December 8th 2:00pm

Tree Lightings
North Hills Tree Lighting – November 17th 4:00 – 9:00pm

Chapel Hill Community Tree Lighting – Novermber 25th 7:00pm

Seaboard Station Tree Lighting – November 29th

Clayton’s Live Village and Tree Lighting – November 29th 6-8:30pm

Hillsborough Lighting of the Town Tree Ceremony – November 30th 6:30pm

WRAL Tower Lighting – November 30th

Garner’s “Light up on Main” – November 30th 6-8:00pm

Lafayette Village Tree Lighting – December 1st 5-8:00pm

Fuquay Varina Tree Lighting and Sleigh Rides – December 6th 6-8:00pm

Lighting of Wake Forest – December 7th 6-8:00pm

Raleigh City-Plaza Tree Lighting – December 1st

Cary Christmas Tree Lighting Ceremony – December 1st 6:00pm

Governor’s Christmas Tree Lighting at the NC State Capitol Building – December 6th 5-7:30pm

American Tobacco Campus Lucky Strike Tower Lighting – December 7th

Holiday Concerts / Performances
Raleigh Boy Choir – Raleigh Winterfest in City Plaza – December 1st 

The Trans Siberian Orchestra “Lost Christmas Eve” – PNC Arena – Dec. 1st

Triangle Gay Men’s Chorus Christmas Concert – Nov.30th, Dec. 2nd & 9th

Raleigh Ringers Christmas Concert – Progress Energy Center – Dec. 8-9th

A Christmas Carol” – Progress Energy Center – Dec. 6th -12th

A Christmas Carol”  Durham Performing Arts Center – Dec. 15-16th

Nutcracker Ballet – Progress Energy Center – December 23-25th

Raleigh Boy Choir Christmas Concert – Hayes Barton Baptist Chruch -Dec. 15th 7:30m

Holiday Historic Home Tours
Wake Forest Historic Home Holiday Tour – December 1st 2-8:00pm

The Hillsborough Candlelight Home Tour – December 2nd 12-6pm

Duke Homestead Christmas by Candlelight – December 7th 7-9pm

Historic Oakwood Candlelight Tour – December 8-9th 1-7:00pm

Historic Wendell Candlelight Tour – December 15th 3-8:00pm

Governor’s Mansion Holiday Open House – December 6th -9th

Mordecai Holiday Lantern Tour in Mordecai Historic Park – December 8th 5pm

Other Holiday Events
Sleigh Rides & Cider : A Winter Night at Oak View Park – December 1st 5-7:30pm

AT&T Raleigh Winterfest Ice Skating Rink in Raleigh City Plaza (Daily) – December 1st through January 26th

Santa Train at Museum of Life & Science – (various dates see website)

Holiday Fun Fest at Durham Central Park – December 1st 1-5 pm

Triangle Christmas Tree Challenge – December 7th – January 3rd

 

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Montana Skies Rocks Setroma Amphitheater in Cary’s Bond Park!

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Cary tends to get a bad rap in my opinion.  All too often it is the subject of tired jokes with references to the number of yankees that live there and nonexistant rules requiring everyone to live in beige houses.  Yet once you peel away these misconceptions you discover that the area has a lot culture to offer with monthly art and music events that shouldn’t be discounted so quickly.  A came across the perfect example two weeks ago when my wife and I ventured over to Bond Park in Cary to listen to the  free outdoor performance by Montana Skies at the Sertoma Amphitheater.  

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Montana Skies is an eclectic duo that combines the techniques and music theory typically found within a classical orchestra crossed with the energy of a rock band.  The duo is comprised of Jennifer and Jonathan Adams who create a unique form of music with their pairing of cello, six-string electric cello, and Spanish/classical guitar, and steel string guitar. They add to the complexity of their performance by employing a musical technique known as “looping”.  In this case, the looping is not a pre-recorded audio sample that they repeat, but instead is a live recording they make during their performance that they then use electronics to repeat or “loop” throughout the piece. 

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They performed a wide variety of music genres ranging from covers of Pink Floyd and Rush to Vivaldi, House of the Rising Sun, and Bach.  They also do their own originals that are inspired by their travels across the country and sometimes have Spanish influence.  I enjoyed one piece in particular that they wrote after visiting the grand canyon.  

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If you haven’t had a chance to catch music or theatrical performance at the Sertoma Amphitheater in Cary I suggest you put this on your list of things to do this fall.  While some of the plays require the purchase of a ticket, they are well worth it and there are usually more than several free events scheduled as well.  Some interesting upcoming events at the Amphitheater are a free performance by the Triangle Youth Jazz Ensemble on October 17th and a presentation of William Shakespeare’s play “The Winter’s Tale” October 8-10 (tickets $15). Check out the Sertoma Series website for additional details about future shows.

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Looking for Organic Wine? Check out Sip … a wine store in Cary!

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Last Friday my wife and I met up with some friends to check out a new wine shop in Cary called Sip …. a wine store.  They were holding a free tasting event that night which offered us the perfect opportunity to explore this uique shop.  Sip is special in that they are the only wine shop in the Triangle that only carries Organic and eco-friednly wines.  

We are huge fans of wine but, whenever possible we try to buy organic, but most wine shops only have a handful of such offerings.  Not so at Sip, where you can find a wide variety of certified organic wines and other wines created using biodynamic farming practices that incorporate more earth-friendly techniques.  I appreciate the environmental aspect of organic agricultural practices while my wife is more interested in the fact that certified organic wines usually have no added sulfites.

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The shop is located in Cary’s Preston Walk shopping center (map) and even though I live in N. Raleigh the trip over there was fast and easy.  I just took  I-540 to the Chapel Hill Road exit and was pulling up to the shop within a few minutes.  When we arrived we were pleasantly surprised to see that in addition to having several great wines to tast and light munchies (including gluten free chips) that there was live music!  April, the owner of the shop, was very friendly and knowledgable about the wines and was happy to answer all of our questions. 

In addition to the large variety of wines we were  also excited to see that  they offered wines from a wide range of price points with many great options in the $9 to $15 range.  Several of the wines we tasted that night were less than $10 and we had a hard time deciding which we liked most. 

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The cool thing about Sip is that in addition to the tastings you can purchase a 1/2 glass or full glass of wine, which we did and ended up spending an hour just relaxing listening to the live guitar music and chatting with the owner.  They also seel organic beers and ciders whcih you can buy by the six pack or by individual if you are looking to try something new.  They even have some of them cold so you can enjoy a beer in the store.  Hanging out there on Friday evening is easy enough since the shop has a warm country boutique vibe to right down to chalk board signs and the large rustic wooden “butcher-block” like tasting bar. 

Another free tasting event is scheduled for tonight (7/30) where they will be tasting organic and biodynamic wines from Benziger from 4-8pm. Stop by if get the chance.  You will be glad you did!  For more information about Sip and to learn about future tasting events at their shop check out their website or join their facebook fanpage.

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