Soccer fans, assemble! This Friday, find the U.S. Women’s National Team in New Zealand facing off for its first FIFA Women’s World Cup matchup versus Vietnam. And while our leading ladies are kickin’ it across the world, we’ve rounded up local events where you can show your support and spots to screen the match stateside. Let’s make this worldwide event one for the books. #Goals!
The Rialto The show must go on! The Rialto is reopening today at 7:30pm for World Cup USA vs Vietnam at 9pm—enter for free with beer, soda and maybe popcorn for sale. @rialtoraleigh
Tap Yard Fam and furry friends alike are welcome to cheer on our fierce females on the big screen (with the sound on!) with food trucks and cold bevs, natch. And be sure to don your best team USA gear! tapyardraleigh.com
Sports and Social What’s better than watching the World Cup on not one, not two, but 65+ TVs (NTM a 42-foot LED screen)?! Partake in the party—complete with games, giveaways and good vibes—and cheer on our gals with a specialty Hat Trick cocktail in hand. sportsandsocial.com
Live Viewing Party in Moore Square Pitch can’t kill the vibe at this Downtown watch party feat. live music, food truck fare and a load of lawn games (think knockerball, human foosball, soccer challenges and more). Score! raleighnc.gov
The Avenue While it might not be a soccer pitch, roll up to the grassy oasis at The Avenue and catch the game on one of its stockpile of screens—and squeeze in a game or two of pool during halftime. Play on! avenueraleigh.com
The Bridge DTR Clear eyes, full bellies, can’t lose. Fill up on food, drinks and camaraderie at The Bridge for soccer screening—Downtown soccer pub style. thebridgedtr.com
Carolina Ale House Give our kickin’ women an “ale yeah” at the NC Courage watch party in Brier Creek feat. food, games, and an appearance from the mascot Roary (!) along with select players from the NC Courage team. carolinaalehouse.com
Hibernian Pub Channel the luck of the Irish for our all-American soccer stars via a jaunt across the pond—er, to Glenwood South—for pub fare, drinks and an all-around kickin’ time. hibernianpub.com
There’s a new dog in the hause. Shifting from its previous doggie scoop shop concept Salty Paws franchise, meet the revamped vision + moniker: Hause of Dogs.
First discovering the franchise four years ago, local mother-daughter duo Amanda Moody and Ashton Edens, respectively, planned to launch their Salty Paws franchise in Smoky Hollow late this summer thanks to its solid business model—and thus delivering the first doggie ice cream bar and bakery (um, barkery) to bow in NC. But there’s been a recent revamp.
With a central focus on operating the biz to help dogs in need, the duo decided to walk away from the franchise in favor of more creative freedom and in the name of centering their enterprise on saving our local furry friends.
Despite the conceptual shift, Hause of Dogs remains set to open in its originally planned Smoky Hollow locale by visionary developer Kane Realty Corporation in mid-August. “Kane was really excited about the change,” shares Moody. “They thought it was a positive change for our platform and what we are hoping to do.”
Hause of Dogs maintains its plans to host its array of animal-centered activities—from partnering with New Anthem Beer, West Street Dog and DOSE Yoga to keeping their paws open to new ideas from the community. And for our dog lovers/yogis in the hause, find Doga on the schedule, aka yoga with shelter dogs roaming between the mats (did all the dog people just let out a collective squeal?!).
“It’s just giving us more creative freedom,” says Moody. “We can have better events, better parties and can now partner with other places we couldn’t work with before. There’s one shop we are hoping to work with that does customized bark boxes.” Translation: Your dog’s face on a cookie. Who’s ready to let the dogs out? @hauseofdogsraleigh
Create one-of-a-kind footwear via Raleigh author’s new book.
Armed with Posca markers in one hand and an unrelenting passion for sneakers in the other, Raleighite Xavier Crews has taken the sneakerhead community by storm. The viral sensation behind the uberpopular YouTube channel, Xavier Kickz touts some serious skill by switching ordinary sneaks into extraordinary works of art—and now he’s launching an instructional book, Art of Custom Sneakers, so you can too.
Landing on shelves in September, the first-ever sneaker customization manual is a step-by-step guide to creating unique sneaks—including fun and easy designs; techniques for leather or canvas footwear; and instructions on how to prep, paint, airbrush, doodle, hydrodip or toothpick paint your sneaks. Translation: fab footwear on fleek (!).
Art of Custom Sneakers kicks off with the basics (think tools and materials, workspace setup, prep, finishing, and design planning) and each chapter continues to put its best foot forward via vibrantly illustrated custom designs and QR code links to his online vids for extra design deets (plus a few laughs!).
The VA native and footwear maestro kicked off his fascination with shoe customization in high school after garnering attention for his cool kicks. “That really got me customizing,” recalls Crews. “I told my mom, ‘This is so cool, I really wanna do this!’”
A software engineer by day and a sneaker guru by night, Crew transforms sneakers right here in Raleigh—and his passion project for shoe design has garnered him an online following of nearly 1.5 million YouTube subscribers. And padding his popularity, the content creator’s personality and infectious sense of humor has only served to catapult his career via his 100+ YouTube videos inviting viewers into his world of sneaker stylin’. … “I’m also very entertaining,” he adds with a smile.
To boot, the sneaker artist + author aims to use his footwear fame to keep pursuing his dreams and giving back to the community—think gifting basketballs, iPads and his customized footwear, natch.Whether you’re a sneaker aficionado or simply someone who appreciates the fusion of art and fashion, Kickz, well, kicks you the opp to join the customization revolution. So strap on your wildest imagination and get ready for a rollercoaster ride of colors and creativity. … Got (shoe) game?@xavierkickz
Started in 2015, Hops for Hope pairs 30 local corporate teams around town with a local brewery to create a one-of-a-kind beer benefiting Children’s Flight of Hope. After all, teamwork makes the dream work—especially when it’s for a good cause. Join us on July 13 from 5 to 8pm at Crank Arm to try out our custom brew and help us come up with a name for it (choose between Hope Rides Eternal, Bunny Hops for Hope and Wheels of Hope!). Plus, be sure to mark your cal for the main event at Midtown Park in North Hills on Sept. 16 feat. live music, food trucks, a kid’s zone, and beer tasting + judging. … We’re all about drinking for good!
“We have so many exciting things coming up,” says RDU Director of Media Relations Stephanie Hawco. “We are going to touch every corner of this campus over the next several years, from replacing our primary runway to expanding and improving our road systems, parking, security checkpoints and restaurant concepts.” … To that end, in mid-June, RDU’s governing board approved $3.5 mill of funding toward expansion/improvement efforts—think adding upward of 15 and 20 gates to Terminals 1 and 2, respectively; three baggage carousels to T2, plus a larger Customs facility and more ticketing counters, to name a few updates running our way.
“We are also looking at breaking records this summer set in 2019 for passenger travel,” says Hawco. “It’s going to be a busy summer at RDU!” Ahead of RDU’s anticipated updates, we chatted with Hawco for the rundown on what we can expect to fly on the scene.
What’s the vision for Vision 2040? This plan spells out how the airport is going to grow over the next few decades—including everything from infrastructure (like roads) to building a new runway, and adding gates and more parking. In addition to that, we are adding a dozen or more restaurants and dining concepts that will be coming online in the next year or so—and we’re doing a lot of things in general to improve the passenger experience at RDU.
When can travelers expect those restaurant concepts to open?We have a lot of passenger demand for some new options. Scott Crawford will be opening three different concepts in late 2024 (Carolina Craft, Crawford’s Genuine, and Butcher’s Burger and Bar) and Oscar Diaz (of Cortez and Cuya fame) will be opening Adios! in late 2024 as well. We want to have more local NC flavors in the airport, so we are really excited to be bringing these options in.
What about breweries and coffee spots? Beyu Caffe, a Durham-based shop, is slated to open pre-security in Terminals 1 and 2 in the next few months; Black & White Coffee Roasters will be coming spring 2024 in the former Starbucks spot right after you get through security in Terminal 2; and La Farm Bakery has plans to expand its seating area. There are also a lot of breweries coming, which are always popular with airport guests. We’ll have a Bond Brothers Taproom & Kitchen, Raleigh Beer Garden and Lonerider Brewing—all great choices for passengers either coming off their flight or waiting to board.
Is Terminal 1 getting any love? Avelo, Spirit and Southwest are all flying out of Terminal 1 now. Plus, Beyu Caffe and Raleigh Beer Garden will both be located in Terminals 1. And we have a number of new dining concepts coming to both terminals.
And those upcoming pet relief stations? We are currently in the design phase of building pet relief areas in Terminal 1 and 2. They will be located after security and will be for both service animals and people traveling with their pets.
Any travel tips? We recommend getting to the airport early—two hours for domestic flights and three hours for an international flight—for time to park, get inside the terminal, check in to your flight and get through security. Passengers can also book parking in advance on our website and check their flight status online. rdu.com
