When it comes to hockey and big Triangle events, we’re no fair-weather fans
Rain, cold and ice. What a perfect weekend for Triangle hockey fans.
Raleigh went all in for the NHL’s Stadium Series game between the Washington Capitals and our Carolina Hurricanes, including a downtown Fan Fest on Friday.
It doesn’t take ABC11 chief meteorologist Don “Big Weather” Schwenneker to convince professional skeptics that any outdoor event in February is a guaranteed rainmaker.
Maybe skeptics need to chill out.
And maybe the collective WE need to give the Triangle more credit as a tourist destination.
Oh, you’ve said it before.
That the Triangle is a wonderful place to live, but … it’s not a place to keep visitors entertained. (I get it, though. It’s how we keep relatives from staying too long.)
We have mountains to the west, beaches to the east. On the Brady Bunch scale of Carolina tourism, we’re Jan.
But before you go all Marcia, Marcia, Marcia, where else can you find multiple organizations — notably in Chapel Hill, Durham, Raleigh and the state — along with universities such as North Carolina State’s Tourism Extension office focused on the tourism experience?
No ‘ordinary’ week
Not a museum person? We’ve got hundreds of trails, along with parks and lakes, here.
And don’t overlook every home event at a Triangle college and university. Those are hotel stays, T-shirt sales and meals that make local tourism go cha-ching.
I rarely experience an “ordinary” week working in downtown Raleigh.
Here’s what I saw during morning walks last week:
On Thursday…
Lawmakers were in session. The legislative building is for the public, snack bar and all. The legislative process may feel like sausage making in suits, but there is a quaint familiarness you don’t find in other states. Plus, this is where folks gather to be seen and heard, no matter their cause.
South of the legislative building, school kids squealed, laughed and chattered while forming lines that looked more like the dinosaurs they came to visit. The pathway that links the neighboring North Carolina Museum of Natural Sciences and North Carolina Museum of History is a welcome mat for the state’s rich heritage.
On Friday…
Teens in backpacks swarmed the convention center and local coffee shops. Fayetteville Street was blocked north of the Marriott City Center to Morgan Street. A Ferris wheel anchored the intersection of Fayetteville and Hargett. Food trucks serving trash plates (a Rochester, NY, specialty that resembles how it sounds), barbecue, tacos and doughnuts lined Fayetteville.
North of Morgan Street, the North Carolina State Capitol building was busy with student tour groups, folks wearing hard hats and the normal assortment of morning strollers.
Bipartisan support
Back to Fan Fest as a gray morning welcomed a gray afternoon. On the Plaza Stage — conveniently near The News & Observer office — dudes wore Canes jerseys bearing the names of hockey-hero dudes. Four Marines in dress uniforms smartly presented the colors. On stage, local government officials, event sponsors and hockey executives offered cheerful weather forecasts and spirited allegiance to the Canes.
The Canes have bipartisan support, which explains why the state’s Caniac-in-Chief sounded the siren kicking off this national showcase for hockey and our state. Gov. Roy Cooper, bedecked in team colors, told the umbrella-toting crowd that the NHL Stadium Series would mean $12 million in tourism impact. Like the siren and the crowd, he was revved up.
And on Saturday…
I’m fond of our team assigned to cover the outdoor hockey game at Carter-Finley Stadium — Chip Alexander, Andrew Carter, Luke DeCock, Ethan Hyman and Robert Willett are veteran journalists who understand what this means for the community and our readers.
Outdoor ice prefers lower temperatures. Only here were fans — sitting outside for hours — rooting for the cold.
It’s how we do tourism in the Triangle.
Totally chilled.
Bill Church is executive editor of The News & Observer. He prefers doughnuts and barbecue in every weather condition.
