Some of yall are coming to LAN, and if any pros are reading this: some tips from a Raleigh local (I've lived the area basically my whole life).

Raleigh does not have good public transit. You'll need a car or prepare to Uber/taxi around. If you're staying downtown we have those rental scooters. There's also rental electric bikes in different areas.

Barbecue: NC is known for bbq. For those of you unfamiliar its smoked, low and slow cooked pork. The Pit is the worst fucking place for this experience. If you're near downtown Sam Jones is the place for good bbq. I repeat the Pit is NOT good bbq. It's BAD.

PNC arena does not allow back packs/purses. It's fucking stupid but is what it is. YOUR BAG HAS TO BE SMALL AND CLEAR. Check their website for the details. ALSO PNC IS NOT NEAR ANYTHING. You’ll be driving parking and staying there as there’s nothing around to walk to. Prepare accordingly. Check prices for parking to get an idea what to expect (it’s not cheap)

It is HOT and HUMID here. Prepare yourself. The heat index will be over 100 every day. Drink a lot of water. Humid heat is a different beast if you're not used to it. (I just saw Sat and Sun will be in the 80s, consider yourself lucky). We do get some gnarly summer thunderstorms that will pop up, dump enough rain to flood the streets then disappear.

There's a lot to eat / drink in downtown but there's not like this crazy clubby party nightlife. Raleigh is a very beer centric sort of city so there's a lot of bars/brew pubs/breweries. There's a few fun dance clubs downtown.

Any questions I'm happy to answer.

EDITS AS I THINK OF THEM:

Make the time to go to Snoopy's for a hot dog or Char Grill for a burger. Those places are legendary.

Woke up to this kinda blowing up.

If you’re staying downtown do yourself a favor and go to CAM (contemporary art museum). It’s free and the shows up right now are fucking amazing.

If you want to do brunch Sunday at any of the good spots (Beasleys, Humble Pie etc) be prepared to wait

Breakfast downtown: Big Ed’s in City Market, Morning Times, Heirloom for Asian inspired breakfast.

Woody’s at City Market has great wings!

Raleigh Times is a local haunt but the food sucks now. But it will be busy and there’s always a crowd for booze

Flying Saucer is an OG place with like a billion beers on tap.

DOMESTIC BEVERAGES: if you want good local domestics that don’t taste like they’re brewed for 15 year olds trying to pass out without tasting anything Trophy is fantastic. All sorts of beers. All yummy.