Every month on the first Friday, most, if not all, of the galleries in the downtown area open up their new exhibits with really enjoyable receptions. Many people drive downtown and walk to as many of the galleries as they can with the night usually culminating in a few drinks at a local bar. For me, it’s probably one of my favorite times of any given month because it’s a great opportunity to see many of my friends as well as check out the artwork. Also happening every first Friday of the month is a downtown bike ride often hijacking at least one lane of traffic. Most are college aged or young professionals, although anyone and everyone is welcome. Usually we have a good distribution of ages. Typically we’re following our noses to the places with the free beer or wine as well as the places where our friends or colleagues have shows. The advantages are that A) you can visit many more galleries over a much broader area than you could by foot, and B) that there is no problem finding a parking place right in front of the galleries. This month was no exception, and due to the beautifully fall-tacular weather, we had a huge turnout! We had 35 riders when I took the picture above at RebusWorks.

The route we followed was from RebusWorks which had a neat political exhibit titled Pro/Con. RebusWorks is down by AntFarm right past the Boylan Bridge. They usually feature what they describe as compelling and innovative work and to their credit, it always is both compelling and innovative!

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Every Wednesday is College Night at Buckhead Saloon and it could easily be the best deal and the best night out in town for students. There’s no cover charge before 10:30 and the drink specials can’t be beat–$1.50 well drinks and $2.00 drafts. When you factor in free hot dogs/hamburgers and free limo or bus rides, you’ve got all the ingredients of a five star night for a one star budget.

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Although Poole’s Downtown Diner has many decades of Raleigh history under its belt, you won’t be greeted with the typical soul food you may have come to expect from a diner. The owner is Ashley Christensen, a nationally renowned chef recently featured in Bon Appetite Magazine.

The menus that change daily are only listed on the blackboards. Additionally, most of the ingredients originate locally so many of the rotating items are seasonal. The evening I stopped by featured entrees such as a 10oz Royale with Scotch Whisky Cheddar, Duck Confit served over white beans, and Macaroni au Gratin.

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