Elizabeth,
Moving to the RTP area will be GREAT for you in terms of food
selections. I live in Chapel Hill and never have a problem eating out.
The whole foods markets here are Wellspring Grocery and Weaver Street
Market. Wellspring is a side chain of the Whole Foods Market. There's
one in Raleigh, Durham, and in Chapel Hill. They all have wonderful
dining areas as well. Weaver Street Market is located in Carrboro NC
which is basically a side town of Chapel Hill. It is smaller and has a
WONDERFUL salad bar and dining area. It's good for me because I'm vegan
and they have plenty of vegan options. They also have a great lawn
where they have jazz bands/cookouts on Thursday evenings and then Sunday
jazz brunches. There is also a great farmer's market right down the
street from the market. Across the street from the market is a
restaurant called the Spotted Dog. It's neat. They have funky dishes
of all sort including tofu this and tofu that. They play '70's and '80's
music. Chapel Hill has plenty of veggie friendly restaurants. A good
one is Pyewacket which serves veggie and non veggie options. In Durham,
the sister of Pyewacket, AnotherThyme, is a similar type of restaurant.
My favorite restaurant is in Raleigh, Irregardless Cafe. They have
mostly veggie/vegan options as well as some non, and they have
jazz/blues music. There's another restaurant in Raleigh, The
Ratskellar, which has plenty of veggie options as well. The triangle
area is a great place to be. Feel free to email me privately if you'd
like more information.
Renee