by Liza Roberts photographs by Missy McLamb There’s nothing fancy about the windowless Teen Center Club gymnasium that sits in the shadow of Wake Med’s mega-campus on New Bern Avenue. Most days, it smells like sweat and sounds like basketball. But to…
by Charles Upchurch photographs by Robert Willett David Brooks sits astride his favorite polo pony on a banner day at Crooked Creek Farm, his home in northern Orange County. In a royal-blue jersey, polo helmet and knee boots, mallet and…
by Ann Brooke Raynal photographs by Mark Petko There’s a house in North Raleigh that is haunted by happiness. Haunted by ghosts, possibly, but certainly haunted by the happiness of its owners. Built in 1890, the Lassiter Farm House has seen births…
by Jesma Reynolds photograph by Missy Mclamb It’s not every day that a man in tails and gloves shows up to deliver an elegantly scripted invitation on a silver tray. But that’s exactly what happened to Raleigh resident Nancy Brenneman this past…
by Todd Cohen photographs by Nick Pironio Dexter Hebert has devoted his adult life to giving kids who need it the kind of loving support he got from his own father. “Not having a father in the home is a huge…
by Tracy Davis photographs by Juli Leonard In days of yore, traveling minstrels made their way from one town to the next, sharing their tunes on the village green. Today, many minstrel types have set aside lutes and lyres in…
by Tony Avent illustration by Ippy Patterson At one time or another, most gardeners have grown African violets, or saintpaulia hybrids. Back in the disco era, we of a certain age also indulged in trying to grow their more challenging…
by Allie Higgins photographs by Geoff Wood John McHugh never imagined he would drive the train at Pullen Park; he was too busy clowning around. That started early, at Ringling Brothers and Barnum & Bailey Clown College, back in 1978….
by Betty Adcock Sacred Harp Singers, Georgia, 1930s If their voices were visible entities flying from the deep south’s fading churches, startled from the throats of an earlier century by hope revived, they would be birds. Ordinary starlings. Or swifts…
by Luther H. Hodges Jr. After a recent period of personal upheaval, retired North Carolina Democratic politician and banker Luther H. Hodges Jr., 76, sought solace and insight in adventure: a walking safari in Africa. Unplugged and surrounded by the…
by Scott Huler The dozen or so healthy oak trees standing in a line in the secret park along the Pigeon House Branch north of Peace Street look to be about 40 years old, which means the oaks, which…
Here’s a thought. A little bar-hopping in a great bar town just might do you good. After all, bars are in business for one reason: to make you happy. And if I learned one thing in the exhaustive investigative research…
by Allie Higgins photograph by Missy McLamb Raleigh craftsmen Matthew Cronheim and Justin Johnson are putting an unexpected twist on a summer classic: the porch swing. Stacked, slotted, and strung, their handmade Harris Swing makes for a cool glide on a…
by Liza Roberts photographs by Lissa Gotwals When Broadway star Lauren Kennedy was growing up in Raleigh, she put in her time doing wholesome-kid things like catching salamanders in the creek near her house, and playing games like freeze tag with her…