Originally Posted by onice
Thanks, K. DH and I will be in CH for the first time and will be staying at the Carolina Inn for the 24th and 25th, and then moving on to the marriott Fairfield until the 31st. Are either of these places close to the shops? Are the shops right in town? If you lived in town, would you be able to walk or take a bike to the shops in either CH, Raleigh or Durham?
Do you enjoy living in CH? I live on Cape Cod now, but the winters are not user friendly for me (arthritis and a bad back) so we're looking into retiring farther south. Checking out CH as a possibility.
We've been here for 18 years and are quite happy. The Carolina Inn is gorgeous and they do a great job decorating for Christmas. I'm trying to remember where the Fairfield is located. You do need a car to get around. We have a free bus system, but it is very limited during the University breaks and won't run on the 25th at all.
The area suffers from sprawl, not like Los Angeles or Atlanta, but definitely not compact. Thus the need for the car.
Chapel Hill is pretty bike friendly, and there is an active cycling group - the TarWheels.
On average the climate is pretty mild in the winter, but we definitely get freezes, just not long lasting ones. Some years we get real snow. Summers can be beastly hot like this year, or moderately hot like last year.
We are 2-3 hours from the beaches and 2-3 hours from the mountains, so a great location.
I hope you enjoy your visit.
Cheers, K