We don’t have photo books, we have Instagram. Feed-worthy memories are ripe for the making on this two-day tour guaranteed to get you out and about in Nash County. No matter how you frame it and filter it, you’ll remember this trip. Great stories (and photos of those stories) start here.
Day 1
STOP 1: Books and Beans
If you like a good book with your morning coffee, this is your place. Perk up your morning at Books and Bean. Breakfast sandwiches, smooth coffee drinks, and inspiration await. Owner and New York Times’ best-selling author Etaf Rum curated this calm space to awaken customers’ senses with locally brewed coffees and teas, as well as a rotating wall of books for sale or to borrow. Take your morning pick-me-up outside and pose with Rocky Mount Mills water tower peeking over your shoulder. Insta-hearts to follow.
STOP 2: Tar River Trail
Add a little splash to your feed with a shot of the falls on the Tar River. From the Rocky Mount Mills campus, pick up the Tar River Trail to Battle Park. At 57 acres, it's Rocky Mount's largest park and centered on the scenic calls of the Tar River. This area used to be prime fishing and hunting ground for the native Tuscarora Indians. For you, it’s a great spot for a photo shoot. After you snap a pic, take a hike on some or all of this 3-mile trail that winds through Rocky Mount and connects to five other parks.
STOP 3: Wooden Bridge
Leaving Battle Park, continue hiking East down the paved Tar River Trail to one of the longest wooden pedestrian bridges in the United States. A beautiful feat of engineering, it also has those key leading lines that make for a great instagram photo.
STOP 4: Barley and Burger
Nosh on gourmet burgers with a movie themed twist at Barley and Burger. Start with the fried pickles and one of the local beers on draft before debating the merits of the burgers like the Goonies-inspired “Truffle Shuffle” (caramelized onions, fried mushrooms, swiss cheese and truffle aioli) or the “Marty McFly” (American cheese, chili, slaw and mustard). One bite in one of these 100% black angus beef burgers and your taste buds will be as electrified as 1.21 gigawatts.
STOP 5: Train Station
The historic Helen P. Gay Train Station will have you looking for platform 9 and 3/4. Lovingly restored through the years, this active train station still shuttles passengers in and through the town it helped build. Red bricks, original wooden benches, and a tidy, lofted-ceiling lobby will make you feel like a passenger in the 1930s.
STOP 6: Downtown Train Mural
From the train station platform, don’t miss the colorful train mural on the Carolina Gateways Partnership building on South Main Street. The Champion celebrates Seaboard Coastline Railroad’s flagship passenger train. And the hot pink and purple CSX train still comes through Rocky Mount today. For you, it makes a scroll-stopping color pop on your Instagram feed, guaranteed to have your followers wondering where you are and what you’re doing.
STOP 7: City Lake Park
Get ready for the perfect duck face. Because this one will include an actual duck. Hundreds of your fine feathered friends are waiting to pose at City Lake Park. The half-mile paved loop around the lake doubles as an art trail with some unique industrial sculptures. Venture across the arched wooden bridge to the park island for a chance to visit hundreds of ducks and geese. Snag them some bird feed from one of the vending machines and you’ll have some very willing participants for your photo shoot.
STOP 8: Lou Reda’s An American Table
Craft bourbon cocktails. Fried Kung Pao brussel sprouts. Brisket and short rib burgers. Everything is made in-house on the daily at this modern American restaurant. The menu is constantly changing depending on the inventive, inspired whims of owner Lou Reda and Chef Justin Gaines. When the plate hits the table you know that the food is the star of this show. The finest and freshest local ingredients make your plate a pretty picture.
STOP 9: Tiny House Hotel
Ready to feel like a giant? River and Twine is the world’s largest tiny home hotel and it’s located right here in Rocky Mount. You can choose from one of 27 different tiny homes located in a cozy, wooded setting right beside the Rocky Mount Mills campus. Your accommodations come complete with board games and Adirondack chairs around a fire pit. All you have to bring is a sense of adventure and conversation. Did we mention there are breweries just across the parking lot?
Day 2
STOP 10: Larema Coffee House
Ease into the morning with fresh-brewed, single origin coffee prepared by hand right here in Rocky Mount. The Larema menu includes all your favorites from easy-going drip coffees to rocket-charged espressos to calm-me-down herbal teas. You can even order up some homemade toast topped with local jams, butter, chick peas or avocado.
STOP 11: Game Day
Everyone smiling a genuine smile in the picture. That’s the dream for any parent. Well, that dream is alive and well at Game Day Adventure and Arcade at the Rocky Mount Event Center. Race up one of the indoor climbing walls and leave your fear of heights grounded. Tell those butterflies in your belly what for as you dig deep, jump and grab a punching bag suspended two stories in the air. But, for those feeling competitive and a little more in love with gravity, we suggest aiming for the high-score at the arcade located on the ground level.
STOP 12: Imperial Centre
The Imperial Centre is one-part Science Center and one-part Art Gallery. This 135,000 sq. ft. converted tobacco mill offers guests a chance to touch a moon rock, take a selfie with a Giraffe and then do yoga in a gallery filled with priceless art. This is a good half-day of hands-on learning that will ignite everyone’s imagination.
