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Share your thoughts on North Carolina
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slugslugslug
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Mar 25, 2008, 02:25 PM
 
I'm just got into grad school at Duke (the Interdisciplinary Program in Cognitive Neuroscience), so I'll me moving to Durham, North Carolina, in August-ish. If anyone has experience with the area, tell me something.

I'm particularly interested in food (I'm a vegetarian, but I don't bother trying to find meatless restaurants, just ones with options), outdoorsy stuff, coffee, and going out dancing. But anything anyone has to add Duke, Durham, the Research Triangle, and beyond are welcome.
     
Jawbone54
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Mar 25, 2008, 02:44 PM
 
The buffalo wings in Greensboro are tasteless, but that won't be affecting you.

Throw away any clothes you have that are sky blue, by the way.
     
Shaddim
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Mar 25, 2008, 02:49 PM
 
Originally Posted by Jawbone54 View Post
Throw away any clothes you have that are sky blue, by the way.
Very important.
"Those who expect to reap the blessings of freedom must, like men, undergo the fatigue of supporting it."
- Thomas Paine
     
design219
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Mar 25, 2008, 02:50 PM
 
The Outer Banks are wonderful beaches. The mountains around the Linville area is beautiful. The people (that I've had dealings with) are very friendly.
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iranfromthezoo
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Mar 25, 2008, 02:54 PM
 
I lived in Charlotte for a while which is pretty far from the triangle. I have a friend that's at Duke's Divinity school. He said it's really cool because theres so many people, your sure to find something you like.

Good luck.
     
MacosNerd
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Mar 25, 2008, 02:59 PM
 
Originally Posted by Jawbone54 View Post
Throw away any clothes you have that are sky blue, by the way.
Ok, I'll be the first to ask - why?
     
Dakar the Fourth
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Mar 25, 2008, 03:01 PM
 
Everyone point and laugh.
     
design219
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Mar 25, 2008, 03:05 PM
 
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Was free. Now it's gone. Never to be seen again.
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Dakar the Fourth
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Mar 25, 2008, 03:07 PM
 
Wow, you are quick on the draw.
     
Shaddim
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Mar 25, 2008, 03:09 PM
 
Originally Posted by MacosNerd View Post
Ok, I'll be the first to ask - why?
To avoid confrontations and snarky comments.

"Those who expect to reap the blessings of freedom must, like men, undergo the fatigue of supporting it."
- Thomas Paine
     
Dakar the Fourth
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Mar 25, 2008, 03:12 PM
 
...and here I thought we were merely trying to improve his taste in clothes.
     
MacosNerd
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Mar 25, 2008, 03:14 PM
 
Originally Posted by Shaddim View Post
To avoid confrontations and snarky comments.

Gotcha thanks.
     
Tiresias
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Mar 25, 2008, 03:28 PM
 
I had a theory. It was way off.

     
misc
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Mar 25, 2008, 03:42 PM
 
I've lived in the triad for three years now and have traveled to Durham, Raleigh, and Chapel Hill for work a bunch. Not a bad state.

Duke has a bunch of restaurants on campus. Their food works on a point system connected to your ID card. Beyond that, I don't know much.

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Jawbone54
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Mar 25, 2008, 03:52 PM
 
Originally Posted by misc View Post
Duke has a bunch of restaurants on campus. Their food works on a point system connected to your ID card. Beyond that, I don't know much.


     
vmarks
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Mar 25, 2008, 03:54 PM
 
Durham has some great eating, outside of the uni campus. You're going to have to catch a ballgame at the Durham Bulls Athletic Park (not the old DAP featured in Bull Durham.)

Basically a nice place to be.
     
Dakar the Fourth
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Mar 25, 2008, 03:55 PM
 
C'mon people, this is MacNN. I know there's a Duke hater out there lurking, I need your rant as sustenance.
     
OwlBoy
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Mar 25, 2008, 04:25 PM
 
I think of the fact there is a South one too?
     
Love Calm Quiet
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Mar 25, 2008, 05:01 PM
 
As a refugee from NC, I have to say that if you can survive the summer heat/humidity of Philly, you'll probably do fine in "the triangle" of NC.

As long as you can cope with the insipid Duke/UNC rivalry. "A plague on both your domes."

And as a vegetarian, myself, I know that Chapel Hill/Carrboro(sp?) area will provide some treats for you.

::enjoy the arid southwest::
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SpaceMonkey
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Mar 25, 2008, 10:06 PM
 
Originally Posted by Dakar the Fourth View Post
C'mon people, this is MacNN. I know there's a Duke hater out there lurking, I need your rant as sustenance.
I was just going to say that I have no opinion about North Carolina whatsoever, but I have very strong opinions about Duke.

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Jawbone54
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Mar 25, 2008, 10:32 PM
 
Originally Posted by SpaceMonkey View Post
I was just going to say that I have no opinion about North Carolina whatsoever, but I have very strong opinions about Duke.
You are strongly disappointed in their weak tournament performance and your faith that they'll return to full strength next year is unwavering?

That kind of strong opinion?
     
villalobos
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Mar 25, 2008, 11:03 PM
 
North Carolina is a nice state. As mentioned, the beaches on the outer banks are quite nice. Better to go on or after Labor Day : cheaper and quieter. The mountains on the other side of the state are pretty too. Ashville is a nice city to viisit in the summer.
The summers in the Triangle can be very hot. Durham has some good places, but nothing too exciting. Chapel Hill and Durham have more night life (arguble I know Raleigh better).
Lots of students there, with the three universities. Lots of single people if that's what you are looking for. Housing is fairly decently priced (compared to NJ anyways).
There is an OUTSTANDING vegetarian indian restaurant in Cary, called Udipi Cafe.
Cosmic Cantina in Durham has very good burritos.
For a very good French bakery, La Farm in Cary can't be beat. Best baguette and croissants on the east coast (haven't found anything as good in NYC yet, to tell you...).
There is another bakery, german style, in Durham, Guglhupf. Pretty good too.
Spring and fall are heavenly times. It will be around 75-85F and sunny from mid september all the way to the end of november. So nice....

Enjoy!
     
Atomic Rooster
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Mar 25, 2008, 11:20 PM
 
"Share your thoughts on North Carolina".

Ah, well, I think it's north of South Carolina. Isn't it? I could be wrong. I remember I was once.
     
slugslugslug  (op)
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Mar 25, 2008, 11:23 PM
 
Originally Posted by villalobos
Lots of single people if that's what you are looking for. Housing is fairly decently priced (compared to NJ anyways).
Well, I'm married, so single people aren't incredibly important; just nice people. And there're already quite a few of those in the grad program. But it'll of course be good to meet people through other means. I've looked at housing already, and prices are certainly better than Philly's, at least for renting.

There is an OUTSTANDING vegetarian indian restaurant in Cary, called Udipi Cafe.
That is awesome news, especially since there's an outstanding vegetarian Indian place in Bensalem (~ 30 min drive from us) called Uduppi Dosa House.

Thanks for the tip on the French bakery as well. We're big croissant/baguette fans. So it looks like we'll be making lots of runs to Cary for Indian food and French baked goods.

Thanks to everyone else for the other input so far.. We definitely plan on making some beach trips while we live there. I think of friend's parents still own a beach house in Wilmington.
     
keekeeree
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Mar 26, 2008, 12:39 AM
 
Originally Posted by I, Tiresias View Post
I had a theory. It was way off.


I mean...

     
d4nth3m4n
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Mar 26, 2008, 12:51 AM
 
dude, seriously, any collegetown worth their salt can accommodate any weird student quirk, be it vegetarianism or veganism or whatever.

growing up in an ivy league town (ithaca, home of cornell) i'd like to think that duke could hang. seriously, man up, you might just have a good time.
     
Kerrigan
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Mar 26, 2008, 02:27 AM
 
And here I was thinking this was a March madness thread. I had forgotten that nerds don't "do" sports. But there are plenty of "yankees" there from New Jersey and whatnot, so you will find much in the way of coffee houses, vegetarian dishes, etc.

Oh, hey Dakar: fellow Duke hater here.
     
ctt1wbw
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Mar 26, 2008, 05:43 AM
 
Originally Posted by Dakar the Fourth View Post
C'mon people, this is MacNN. I know there's a Duke hater out there lurking, I need your rant as sustenance.

That would be me. I hate Duke. The school for education is good, that basketball sucks. And Durham is a run down smelly sweaty armpit of the state. I was born there and HATE it with a passion. Chapel Hill is a nice place, Charlotte is a nice place, Winston Salem is a nice place. Durham is NOT.
     
lavar78
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Mar 26, 2008, 06:33 AM
 
North Carolina is a poor man's Virginia.

Also, if someone yells out the name of the state, you're supposed to raise up, take your shirt off, twist it around your hand, and spin it like a helicopter. You'll see...

"I'm virtually bursting with adequatulence!" - Bill McNeal, NewsRadio
     
Dakar the Fourth
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Mar 26, 2008, 08:19 AM
 
Originally Posted by Kerrigan View Post
Oh, hey Dakar: fellow Duke hater here.
Oh I didn't say I hate Duke. Just that I feed off this place spouting irrational hate.

I actually love Duke.
     
Jawbone54
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Mar 26, 2008, 10:02 AM
 
Originally Posted by Dakar the Fourth View Post
I actually love Duke.
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slugslugslug  (op)
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Mar 26, 2008, 11:25 AM
 
Originally Posted by lavar78 View Post
North Carolina is a poor man's Virginia.

Also, if someone yells out the name of the state, you're supposed to raise up, take your shirt off, twist it around your hand, and spin it like a helicopter. You'll see...
The morning I got the notification e-mail, I woke my wife up by playing the Petey Pablo song and doing just that!
     
finboy
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Mar 26, 2008, 12:15 PM
 
Originally Posted by slugslugslug View Post
I'm just got into grad school at Duke (the Interdisciplinary Program in Cognitive Neuroscience), so I'll me moving to Durham, North Carolina, in August-ish. If anyone has experience with the area, tell me something.

I'm particularly interested in food (I'm a vegetarian, but I don't bother trying to find meatless restaurants, just ones with options), outdoorsy stuff, coffee, and going out dancing. But anything anyone has to add Duke, Durham, the Research Triangle, and beyond are welcome.
The People's Republic of Chapel Hill/Carrboro is just a short drive away! Seriously, the Research Triangle/CH/Durham area is really unlike the rest of North Carolina. It's a neat place to live if you can put up with all the 60-year-old hippies.
     
MarkLT1
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Mar 26, 2008, 03:27 PM
 
First off, Congrats! I think you'll love it at Duke.

I am a Duke Alum (2001), and just finished up my graduate work at another institution. I have to say, that my time at Duke was an amazing period in my life, and I definitely look back on Duke with very fond memories.

Duke is a very fun place to be. The undergrads know how to have a good time, and the whole basketball thing is quite fun! I came in without any kind of desire to so much as watch a basketball game.. and left with a love for the sport. K-Ville is a blast, (though as a grad student you wont directly participate, they get their tickets the easy way ), but it would be well worth it for you to take a trip over one weekend night during B-Ball season to experience it.

The whole Durham, Chapel Hill, Raleigh area is growing quite fast, and there is plenty to do. The NC Museum of Art in Raleigh is fantastic if you are an art fan. There is a bunch to do in Chapel Hill (Try to see some concerts at the Cats Cradle- awesome venue- I saw Susan Tedeschi, Derek Trucks, and G. Love there). There was also a place on Franklin Street called The Caves which was quite fun (remember, this was 7 years ago, so things may have changed).

Summers in NC are quite warm (coming from MN it was a bit of a shock) and if you haven't experienced southern culture, it can take some adjusting to. I came to love the NC culture, and would move back down there in a heartbeat.

What department are you going to be in?
     
rickey939
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Mar 26, 2008, 03:45 PM
 
Decent basketball program.
     
subego
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Mar 26, 2008, 05:41 PM
 
Originally Posted by I, Tiresias View Post
I had a theory. It was way off.

I was thinking along the same lines.

The only time I had ever been told not to wear sky blue (for reasons other than maintaining my dignity) was when I had a gig at a prison.
     
Jawbone54
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Mar 27, 2008, 01:20 AM
 
Come again?
     
subego
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Mar 27, 2008, 02:26 AM
 
Originally Posted by Jawbone54 View Post
Come again?

I worked electrical on a women in prison movie. They cleared out one of the holding facilities at Stateville, and it was, not surprisingly... very funky.

Standard uniform for the prisoners was blue jeans with a sky blue shirt, so we were instructed not to wear anything that could be mistaken for it.

They also recommended that we keep our pot in the hotel room.

I'm serious, it was on the letter we got from production. I wish I had kept it.
     
Jawbone54
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Mar 27, 2008, 02:34 AM
 
Ha...great story.

When you said "gig at a prison," I figured you were a musician. You know...

     
subego
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Mar 27, 2008, 02:48 AM
 
Originally Posted by Jawbone54 View Post
Ha...great story.

When you said "gig at a prison," I figured you were a musician. You know...

Well, I couldn't resist the opportunity to look cooler than I am.

Edit: and if Abe is listening, he would want to know that during the same job I got to meet Louise Fletcher, who played the warden.
     
   
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