HOCKEY, HOOPS, HALLS AND HISTORY: Goin’ whole hog for sports in Raleigh, N.C.

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Looking to take a relaxing beach vacation where your most strenuous activity consists of walking to the poolside bar for another exotic cocktail?

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Then stop reading now.

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This is a piece about hockey, hoops, halls of fame, whole hog BBQ and even a little history, not sun, surf and sand.

Welcome to Raleigh, N.C., fine readers, your vacation destination for all of the above and then some when you include Durham and Chapel Hill. Collectively, with Raleigh, the tri-city area is known as the Research Triangle. But it could alternatively be dubbed Sports Heaven.

Yes, we’re talking about the greater Raleigh area, home to the NHL’s Carolina Hurricanes, at least three of the top university basketball programs in the United States — Duke, North Carolina and North Carolina State — the North Carolina Sports Hall of Fame 9and others; keep reading), some of the best pork BBQ you will ever devour and the North Carolina Museum of Natural Sciences, future home of the incredible ‘Dueling Dinosaurs’ exhibit.

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Listen, there are plenty of destinations that cater to Snowbird sports lovers — Canadians love to hit up Miami, Tampa and Arizona for warm-weather hockey experiences — but few have the diversity that Raleigh offers, albeit with slightly different winter weather conditions.

Where else can you watch an NHL game — in this case Carolina-Montreal — then three days later take in a heated NCAA rivalry basketball game between North Carolina and NC State … in the same arena? And in between that action, you can stroll through the incredible sports history of the state, which is located just steps from the Southeast’s largest natural history museum, and visit some of the best BBQ restos you’ll ever experience.

Let’s start with the hockey experience in Raleigh.

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I’ve got to admit, 25 years ago when the Hartford Whalers relocated to Carolina, I was highly skeptical it would work. Boy, was I wrong. Seeing it first-hand, Raleigh is now as much of a hockey town as more established — and northern — U.S. cities.

I was invited to Raleigh to attend the Stadium Series game, one of the NHL’s outdoor spectacles, between the Hurricanes and Washington Capitals at Carter-Finley Stadium, the home of the NC State Wolfpack football team mere steps away from PNC Arena. Although the outdoor game is pretty much a one-off for any team, it allowed the city and it’s hockey fans to show off their passion and enthusiasm for the sport, which was fully on display long before the teams skated onto the ice.

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As part of the Stadium Series game,the team closed off Fayetteville Street for the Carolina Hurricanes Fan Fest, a buzzing, energetic, immersive hockey experience that drew thousands. To understand what the team means to Carolinans, all you needed to do was see the long lineups for fans to have a photo taken with the Stanley Cup or get an autograph from former players, to say nothing of the kids who queued to shoot on targets.

The game at Carter-Finley Stadium, which drew just shy of 57,000 people, was the extravaganza you’d expect, with all the bells and whistles, including a military flyover just before puck drop. The pre-game tailgate — yes, fans tailgate at hockey games in Raleigh! — added another level to the experience, with more live music, interactive games and, of course, Lord Stanley’s Mug as part of the official program.

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Rewind to the Carolina-Montreal tilt at PNC Arena two nights before the Stadium Series game. I was taken aback at the energy in the rink, the support for the home team — the number of fans wearing team gear rivaled anything you’d find in a Canadian NHL city — and the overall game experience. Grab yourself a brisket grilled cheese or pulled pork BBQ sandwich and a Storm Brew, the official beer of the Hurricanes, and kick back and enjoy. The Canes do game-night right.

But Raleigh, and this sounds strange to say, isn’t just about hockey.

Basketball fans know how much of an impact Carolina schools have had on the sport, with 13 national championships between Duke (five), North Carolina (six) and NC State (two). North Carolina, the program that produced Michael Jordan and former Raptors great Vince Carter, last won in 2017 while Duke, which gave us NBA stars Zion Williamson, Kyrie Irving and Canadian RJ Barrett, took the title in 2015.

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Getting the chance to not only visit the North Carolina and Duke campuses, but get a behind the scenes peak, was incredible. Watching Tar Heels star Caleb Love, who has since transferred to Michigan, work on his three-point shot before practice in an empty Dean E. Smith Center, Carolina’s home court, or walking into the TV studio used for ACC Network broadcasts or stepping into the Duke hype room at Cameron Indoor Stadium, where the Blue Devils players gather to get pumped up before games, was, in a word, surreal.

Some of that would be off limits to most people but the chance to meander through the Carolina Basketball Museum in Chapel Hill and the Duke Basketball Museum in Durham makes the trip outside Raleigh worth it. Getting up close with artifacts from the the storied history of both schools — check out the wacky story of Krzyzewskiville, where students camp out for weeks to get the chance to buy tickets for the big Duke-Carolina game — will do for basketball fans what a visit to the Hockey Hall of Fame in Toronto will do for hockey fans.

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Anyone who hasn’t had a chance to take in an NCAA game between two of the sport’s top basketball programs should rectify that. The atmosphere at the Carolina Tar Heels-NC State Wolfpack game at PNC Arena was exactly what you would expect — electric — as the two state rivals went toe-to-toe. It was another bucket list item I was able to cross off.

Cap off the sports-themed activities with a visit to the North Carolina Sports Hall of Fame on the third floor of the Museum of History, a 3,000-square foot exhibit that displays personal items of more than 360 inductees, including the warmup jacket worn by legendary Duke coach Mike Krzyzewski and the Harlem Globetrotters uniform worn by the legendary Meadowlark Lemon.

The Museum of History, in the same building as the Hall of Fame, has artifacts that tell the story of North Carolina and features rotating exhibits like the history of protest in the state that will be on display until the end of March, 2024.

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While you’re in the area, pop into the Museum of Natural Sciences for an educational peek at the state’s flora and fauna, the natural wonders that make North Carolina unique. There are four floors of exhibits, a 70-foot globe that features the fossilized bones of a massive Acrocanthosaurus dinosaur (the most complete skeleton anywhere), walk-through dioramas and a three-story theatre.

Coming soon will be the ‘Dueling Dinosaurs’ exhibit — 67-million year old bones of a Triceratops and Tyrannosaurus rex that were found buried together in the Hell Creek Formation in Montana — that will be the centrepiece of the museum. We had a sneak peek at the bones, which were still partially encased in their plaster jackets, and the end result will be stunning. You will also be able to walk through a working lab area to get up close to the fossils and interact with research scientists, a pretty cool experience for anyone who loves dinos.

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WHERE TO EAT

Whole-hog BBQ (it’s used as a noun, not a verb in North Carolina) was the theme for my visit to the Raleigh-Durham area — it was even featured at the Stadium Series game — and it did not disappoint.

We started at Sam Jones BBQ, a popular Raleigh resto that opened in 2021 and is owned by a third-generation barbecue restauranteur and BBQ royalty in the area. Sam Jones BBQ’s specialty is wood-smoked pork but turkey, chicken and ribs are also offered. Try a slab of cornbread, which locals will probably warn you off, just to experience their “notorious” recipe that goes back generations.

Our second stop was at Picnic in Durham, an eatery that opened in 2016. The restaurant, which breaks tradition by offering beer, wine and liquor to a tradition that was historically dry, features a BBQ sauce recipe that was handed down to co-owner Wyatt Dickson’s father in the 1960s.

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Lastly in the BBQ trifecta was Longleaf Swine, a former food truck that has moved to a brick and mortar home in the historic Oakwood neighbourhood in Raleigh. As much as it’s a whole-hog BBQ place, the brisket at this place if to die for and the chocolate chess pie is the perfect way to finish your meal.

If you want to skip the BBQ for a meal or two, check out the craft beer and pizza at Trophy Brewing Company on Morgan St. The pizza is as good as you’ll get anywhere.

WHERE TO STAY

We stayed at The Casso,a boutique-style hotel on the edge of downtown Raleigh (603 West Morgan St.) and easily walkable to the Museum of Natural Sciences, the state capitol, Fayetteville Street and the pubs, bars and restaurants of the city centre. It’s also just down the street from the Morgan Street Food Hall, a collaboration of eateries that offers something for everyone. But if you want to venture afield, say to explore Durham or Chapel Hill, you’ll need a vehicle.

HOW TO GET THERE

Air Canada offers multiple daily non-stop flights from Toronto Pearson to Raleigh-Durham International Airport. The good news is the flight is under two hours in duration, which makes Raleigh great for even short-term stays.

MORE INFORMATION

For more information that will help play your trip to Raleigh, check out the Visit Raleigh website.