Touring Tuesday in Downtown Cary
Cary, NC – Ever wonder what there is to do during the day in Cary’s Downtown?
Touring Tuesday
Try a Touring Tuesday today and find out for yourself. This initiative is a brain child of the Heart of Cary Association’s president, Lauren Schafer and Sheila Ogle after they spoke with many restaurants and retailers to come up with a novel approach to highlighting what makes downtown unique.
Lauren said the idea evolved from thoughts Ralph Ashworth had. Lauren said:
Ralph Ashworth came to me with an idea of drawing more people into Downtown Cary, after seeing people from other NC towns make day trips here on their own. …Most of Cary has no idea of the treasures that are in our downtown area…. everything from Lilly Pulitzer accessories to unique pottery made onsite. The concept of Touring Tuesdays is to offer a schedule of short tours and demos to show people in Cary and in other neighboring towns that downtown Cary is full of things to do. All of the test tours that we did in October ran out of time before they ran out of things to do.
Last month the group created a brochure and invited media and other folks to take a preliminary tour and offer critiques on what was liked and what was needed. Today, the group debuts the idea to the public.
Events start around 10:30 AM and continue through the afternoon.
Join when you want, leave when you must. See a full list of activities for Touring Tuesday.
Art, History, Food & Shopping
Art, history, shopping and dining are all part of the tours designed to bring foot traffic downtown at a time that might usually be a little sleepy. Some retailers will offer special incentives and demonstrations to make the Touring Tuesday customer feel special.
Touring Tuesday activities include a visit to Cary Pottery to watch pots being thrown or a kiln being opened. Artist Kenneth Neilsen will explain his process while you watch. Would you like to know a little more about Cary’s history? Visit the Page-Walker Arts & History museum and take a guided historical walking tour at 10am. The First United Methodist Church will do a history of the church tour at 2pm.Are you feeling crafty for the holidays? Beautimous Beads will conduct a jewelry making demonstration at 1pm.
Touring Tuesdays also coincide with the weekday when the Downtown Cary Farmers Market is open (2pm- 6pm). Over on Park Street you can purchase some seasonal produce before you head home.
While you’re Downtown, check out one of the numerous restaurants that feature many different ethnic cuisines.
More Info
If you miss this one, you will have to wait til after the holidays when the weather warms up. The concept will be relaunched for Spring in March.
More information about Touring Tuesday and holiday events downtown at Heart of Cary Association.
I did a similar thing with 8 grandkids when they were off school, between Christmas and New Years.
Went on a day trip to Salisbury, NC.
Ate BBQ downtown then walked to a place for dessert and had some home-made ice cream.
Got back on the Amtrak at dusk and came back to Cary.
Did same trip in the Summer with my wife. Walked to Chamber of Commerce downtown, friendly people, free maps and tips on what to do. Then rode a narrated Tram tour of Salisbury. Ate a meal and got back on the train.
Cary can do same, and leverage their Amtrak Station, despite those who despise “disruptive railways” in town.
Gee, the new Downtown Mgr guy knows about light rail and Charlotte as well! I can imagine some people came in from Pineville via light rail and dined or got entertained in downtown Charlotte.
Opinion: the Tuesday-only thing may limit the demographic that can participate.
Idea: Seriously, include Lil’ Caesar’s pizza some day. Also, Amtrak allows carry-on food! Restaurants listed could make up a take-out special for those Tours arriving/departing by train.