The TRAVELER'S JOURNAL: August fourteenth, taking the Research Triangle Tour.

North Carolina's Piedmont country lies roughly halfway between Washington, D.C. and Atlanta, as well as midway from the Atlantic to the Appalachians. The heart of the Piedmont is known as the Research Triangle, an area defined by three cities, Durham, Chapel Hill and state capital, Raleigh. The name derives from Research Triangle Park, the huge corporate enterprise zone in its center, which was nurtured by the area's three universities, UNC, NC State and Duke.

The cultural and intellectual energy injected over recent decades into this Old South tobacco country has created unique juxtapositions: Chai-drinkers and chaw chewers, Porsches and pick-ups, fine wines and pork rinds. Big city sophistication, down home comfort and redneck grit all mingle incongruously amid a boomtown ambiance.

Raleigh's rallied from its capital city stodginess. Glenwood South and the Warehouse District are two neighborhoods reborn as high-energy centers of eating and entertainment. The newly refurbished Museum of Natural Science is well worth a visit. Four of its floors feature walk- though dioramas, along with Willo, the first discovered dinosaur with a fossilized heart.

For those who prefer their animals live, there's Duke University Primate Center, with the world's largest collection of endangered primates, as well as the new Butteryfly Conservatory. Once a tobacco town, Durham is now known as the City of Medicine. It's also home to several of the southeast's finest regional restaurants.

This issue of the magazine National Geographic Traveler, a supporter of our program, offers tips on spending 48 great hours in the Research Triangle.

FMI For information on the Research Triangle, contact the Greater Raleigh Convention and Visitors Bureau at 800-849-8499 or www.raleighcvb.org

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