Dine outside in downtown Raleigh and Durham, pick pumpkins plus more Best Bets
Oh, my gourd, #SquashGoals. Spice things up all over town this week — from carving pumpkins with goats to building scarecrows (he promises to be outstanding in his field) to hauntings, hay rides and more fall galore.
After you’ve worked up an appetite, plenty of ops abound to #SupportLocal with Downtown Raleigh Restaurant Week, Downtown Durham Streetery, Oktoberfest, and others. Plus music, art, theater, comedy… and tacos. Fantas-taco fall fun, indeed. As always, #SpreadLove, y’all.
Downtown Durham Streetery
Now through Dec. 19 on Fridays & Saturdays (5–9:30 p.m.) you should find yourself strolling the festive music- and light-filled Downtown Durham streets — as 25 restaurants, pubs, taprooms, breweries and more welcome diners as part of the Downtown Durham Streetery opening multiple corridors to pedestrian traffic along West Main, Orange, Market, East Chapel Hill, and South Corcoran streets. Follow Downtown Durham on Facebook for performer info. downtowndurham.com/streetery; @DowntownDurham
Downtown Raleigh Restaurant Week
If you ever thought you were hungry for Restaurant Week or DTR dining before, 2020 no doubt has raised the bar. Local restaurants need us more than ever. Dine in (out), take out, or gift up Oct. 2–11 for the return of Downtown Raleigh Alliance’s Downtown Raleigh Restaurant Week. And, for two special days, Oct. 3 and 10: #DineOutDowntown as the city closes two blocks of Fayetteville Street (5–9 p.m.) decked with lights, art, picnic tables and expanded outdoor dining spaces. Check the site for menus, details and more. downtownraleigh.org/restaurant-week
Pumpkin Patch Express
All aboard! The Pumpkin Patch Express is back Oct. 3 in the Bull City at Museum of Life + Science, with a hay maze, nature bingo, rubber duck races, mini golf and more — plus, your chance to pick the perfect pumpkin. Patch site entry every half-hour; tickets need to be purchased in advance. Visit site for full info, dates, times and tickets. lifeandscience.org/pumpkin-patch
Pullen Park Scarecrow Festival and Pumpkin Patch Bash
Give ’em pumpkin to talk about… foam punkin-chunkin’ is a thing — and it’s a competition. Pull up your suspenders, throw on a flannel shirt and get your game face on for the Scarecrow Festival and Pumpkin Patch Bash Oct. 3 at Pullen Park (9 a.m.–noon), complete scarecrow-building, pumpkin decorating, and of course chunk pumpkin foam, plus more. Check the site for full details on the free fall event (pumpkins $5).
Carving Pumpkins with Goats
Hello, gourd-geous. Fall fun just “goat” a serious upgrade. Carve pumpkins with goats at Spring Haven Farm Tuesdays through Sundays from Oct. 7 to 31, when you pick your perf pumpkin in the patch and then trot over to the pasture for carving. Dreams do come true. Bonus: Tractor Train Express, Haunted Farm Maze, fall treats, music — and did we mention goats and their animal friends? Visit site for ticket info. facebook.com/SpringHavenFarmandStables
The Gregg Museum
Get your art on at Gregg Museum of Art & Design. The NC State museum is now open to the public (as of Sept. 23). Free timed reservations are available; check the site for full info. gregg.arts.ncsu.edu
‘Waiting for the Host’
ICYMI, Raleigh Little Theatre’s next production is now on sale: Directed by Patrick Torres, “Waiting for the Host” is a two-part comedy by Marc Palmieri “about a handful of parishioners gathering via video conference to perform a theatrical reading of the Passion story for their church website. As exes bicker and technology confuses, this socially distant endeavor quickly becomes chaotic. Still, in the effort, the group finds a strange, painful closeness, and that their comic and clumsy reading has become a kind of desperate prayer.” Links to Part 1 (“Waiting for the Host”) and Part 2 (“Still Waiting”) are sold separately for $10 each. Parts can be enjoyed independently, but purchase of both is recommended for the full experience. The show will be performed live online between Oct. 1-10, with four chances to catch each of the two parts. Please visit the site for schedule, or purchase your tickets here! raleighlittletheatre.org
Crawford & Son anniversary Pop-Up
It’s fun to be 4! Especially for Chef/Owner Scott Crawford and the team behind foodie fave Crawford & Son, who will celebrate a fab four years in DTR with an Oct. 3 outdoor pop-up on the the cobblestone streets of City Market with live jazz by Enloe High School Students, a Greatest Hits menu and wine pairings by Master Sommelier Max Kast. The event benefits Healing Transitions, a place for recovery in downtown Raleigh. “The charming backdrop of City Market’s old cobblestone streets provide space for us to spread out and serve diners in an open-air setting, in the safest way possible,” said Crawford, who will be spacing tables 10 feet apart, and following NCRLA’s Count on Me NC guidelines. That means requiring staff to wear masks and encouraging guests to do the same upon arriving, leaving and visiting the restrooms. Seats are limited, and the dinner will take place under City Market’s covered eaves, rain or shine. View ticket and full menu at crawfordandsonrestaurant.com.
Letters From Wolfgang
The day the (live) music died is no more. The Chamber Orchestra of the Triangle announces its 2020-21 six-concert lineup: Making Space for Music, featuring a lineup of concerts and guest soloists that reimagines the concert experience for musicians and audiences alike. Musicians will all perform together live, video recorded and produced for release to COT Digital Subscription holders — and, wait for it, will also allow a small socially distant audience to attend live, subject to state and local guidelines for gatherings at the time of each event. Comprised of 40-plus musicians hailing from across our great state, the COT is renowned for its artistic excellence, remarkable versatility of musical styles, and adventurous programming. Visit the group’s site for full schedule and digital subscription info. The first event, Letters From Wolfgang, takes place Sunday, Oct. 4, (3 p.m.) with The CaroFeaturing Enrique Graf, piano and actors from Playmakers Repertory Co. theCOT.org
Haunted Hills Terror Drive
Fasten your seatbelts. Bringing new meaning to thrilling ride is the Haunted Hills Terror Drive, starting Oct. 2. Take the slow (3 mph) spooky 10-15 minute drive through the grounds of Shakori Hills Community Arts Center in Pittsboro for a can’t-forget chilling experience. Boo! Check site for time, date and ticket info. ticketor.com/hauntedhills/default
Offstage Live: S.E. Ward
Following appearances by Chatham County Line and Dreamroot comes S.E. Ward, performing live (virtually) for North Carolina Museum of Art’s newest installment of its free Offstage Live streaming concert series. The band’s first album was released on Bull City Records Presents to local acclaim, and its next album is slated to drop in early 2021. At the helm is Ward herself, a now Triangle music fixture via Vermont, who “flaunts her songwriting and vocal chops through a master class in emotion that moves from haunting to heated in just four tracks.” Livestream will be available through this YouTube link starting Sept. 29 at 8 p.m., and the show will also be broadcast on UNC-TV with behind-the-scenes interviews in the coming months. Future acts include Diali Cissokho & Kaira Ba from Pittsboro (Oct. 20). youtube.com/ncartmuseum; ncartmuseum.org/offstage.
Live comedy: Rod Man
If you haven’t seen this Last Comic Standing (literally, he won the NBC hit hilarious show in 2014), run — don’t walk — to grab tickets at Goodnights for an uproarious night of relatable stand-up as he bends the board for three nights in Raleigh, Oct. 2-4. See site for showtimes and tickets. goodnightscomedy.com/events/40690
Firefly Farm’s Witch’s Haunted Barn
Hillsborough’s bringing the haunt this season with its Witch’s Haunted Barn, open all five Saturdays in October for an affordable family treat (or trick?). For $15 total, your boo crew can get your spook on in this music-filled barnful of pirates, ghosts, witches, vampires, and sinister creatures galore. Survivors treat on with a bag of candy for the children. Other fall fun options abound on the farm for victims (er, visitors). facebook.com/events/977477576007548/
Oktoberfest at PourWorks
Prost! Dust off your dirndls and locate the lederhosen for the third annual Oktoberfest at PourWorks, Sunday, Oct. 4. From 2 to 5 p.m., transport yourself to Munich via German beer specials, plus free brats, pretzels and beer cheese. facebook.com/events/2722468331356142
National Taco Day
Lettuce pray. It’s National Taco Day, y’all. Um, taco ’bout awesome. On Sunday, Oct. 4, inhale tacos and exhale negativity while you taco ’bout your fillings and celebrate anywhere tacos exist around town. Bonus: Now through Oct. 4, post a photo of you dressed like a taco with #chuystacoday on social media for a chance to win a free taco meal kit at Chuy’s. Winners will be selected at random. Do it for the ’Gram.