Trip motivation
One of the reasons we love traveling is connecting with friends. Many of our college friends have spread out across the country. We have visited friends in Huntsville, AL, Chicago, New Jersey, and more just in the last year. We have made several trips to Raleigh and Rocky Mount, NC to visit with a friend and spend some quality time together. This is another one of our travel spots where we spend a lot of time house-hanging and grilling and not a lot of time visiting tourist sites but we do try to hit a few new spots every visit.
Flight: BNA to RDU + 1 hour drive
Getting There: Nashville (BNA) to Raleigh (RDU) Fri evening (1h 25m)
Coming Back: RDU to BNA Sun evening (1h 35m)
Flying Southwest
Ben + Jenn: $150/person RT
Carter + Ellie: Free on promo companion pass $23.20 (Just taxes)
We love flying Southwest. The price was reasonable. We had promotional companion passes for this trip and will earn a full companion pass in 2022-2023 from credit card sign-ups. You can earn Southwest points from Southwest Credit Cards or by transferring Chase points using the Chase portal. See more tips on using points and miles here.
For more tips on flying with kids, see this post here. See this post here if you need tips for putting together a packing list.
Airline Perks from Credit Cards
A perk we get from several credit cards is Global Entry/PreCheck. PreCheck is a program that offers faster TSA lines at airports. There are separate lines for PreCheck travelers, and you don’t have to remove shoes, laptops, liquids, etc. It is amazing and has saved us so much time and makes it SO much easier to travel with kids. For more on this benefit and how to use a credit card to receive it for free, see here.
Car Rental
We rented a small car through Costco Travel for $120. For more info on car rentals and the best credit card to use, see this post.
Accomodations
On our recent stay, we spent our evenings at our friend’s home. This made the trip even more inexpensive. If we had wanted to spend more time in Raleigh, there were several Hyatt options in the city. Hyatt is our favorite brand, and the hotels are always clean with room to spread out, a decent breakfast, and friendly staff. You can earn Hyatt points from Hyatt stays, the Hyatt credit card, and Chase points, which can be transferred to Hyatt. Learn more about points here.
Activities in Raleigh, NC
We spent a day exploring Raleigh. We looked at the Science and Children’s museum and decided on the Marble Kid’s museum. We spent several hours here and the kids had a blast building, learning, and exploring.
Both museums are close to each other and on the ASTC pass, so they could be done on the same day. ASTC science centers offer reciprocal admission. Having a membership at any of these science centers will give you free admission to museums all over the country. This is a huge tip and will potentially save you hundreds of dollars. In Nashville, the Adventure Science Center is a reciprocal ASTC member. Alternatively, you could do what we do and specifically plan a trip to a cheaper museum to get a family membership to use primarily for museums while traveling. We recently traveled to the Owensboro science museum and purchased a family membership for only $40. Other nearby options can be found in Murfreesboro, TN, or Paducah, KY. If you’re not local to Nashville, there’s probably a museum near you.
In Raleigh, we also really enjoyed a food market nearby with options for empanadas, sushi, curry, and ice cream all in one spot
Other Raleigh Activities
We didn’t spend a lot of time in the city, but some other activities we will look into on a future visit include:
Pullen Park: This park has carousels, kiddie boat rides, a miniature train, and pedal boats.
State Parks: Hikes are always a lovely activity to do as a family.
Museum of History: Admission is free and this museum is an affiliate of the Smithsonian museums. There are exhibits that are aimed at kids.
TreeRunner Park This climbing course has options for discounted kids climbs.
Activities in Rocky Mount, NC
We spent most of our visit spending time with our friends in Rocky Mount, NC. We packed a small activity bag for the plane with some extra coloring and art supplies so we could set up areas for the kids. The grown-ups spent time chatting and playing our new favorite board game: Wingspan.
Rocky Mount is a small city about an hour northeast of Raleigh. While we spent most of our time at our friend’s home, we have adventured out to a few sites in the area and have plans to visit others on future visits.
Rocky Mount Mills
Rocky Mount Mills has numerous breweries and cute outdoor areas to play and explore.
Imperial Science Center
Rocky Mount also has its own science center called the Imperial Centre. This museum is also on the ASTC list so if you find yourself in the area, this would be a great activity for the family. It has a small toddler section with play areas upstairs and a specific traveling exhibition downstairs. It has has a pneumatic scarf tube area that the kids love. On our recent visits, there’s been a space theme, math puzzles other fun traveling exhibits. There’s also a planetarium and frequent shows that are excellent!
Final Thoughts
One of the reasons we love traveling is connecting with friends. Many of our college friends have spread out across the country. We love being able to visit friends where there are. This trip to Raleigh and Rocky Mount, NC was full of quality time and joy and we will need to go again soon!
