Unsafe Lane Change Attorney in CItyname, NC

Hear me out: The best soft serve in North Carolina isn’t from a quaint beachside shack or an old-school spot in one of the state’s many adorable downtowns. It’s at Broken Spoke Farm, a family-owned, central NC establishment miles away from the nearest town and surrounded by farmland and grazing animals.

Though you can visit the farm any day of the week to buy fresh produce (depending on the time of year, they may have tomatoes, greens, squash, eggplant, melons, berries, flowers and more, all grown without chemicals) and say hello to the cows, sheep and chickens, the soft serve operation is only open on weekends, and closes seasonally from December through March.

Though it’s a bit of a trek to get there (it's about half an hour from where I live in Carrboro, and ten minutes from the closest town of Hillsborough), it’s become a frequent weekend excursion for me. It’s not just that the soft serve is fantastic—which it is. It’s that Broken Spoke’s flavors, which are typically made with ingredients from the farm, rotate every weekend, and are often highly creative. On a recent visit, for instance, I got strawberry and cereal milk (I always get the swirl, but you can pick just one flavor if you’d prefer). So far this year, they’ve also had fun combos like Oreo and black sesame, banana and vanilla wafer, and black cherry and chocolate cream. They always have vegan options, sometimes of the same flavors and sometimes with slight variations or sorbet versions.

You can imagine why I find myself there so often—it’s become a bit of a “gotta catch ‘em all” situation. Plus, Broken Spoke scratches a particular ice cream itch that I didn’t know I had: Though soft serve is my ice cream of choice, I also love unique flavors, and it’s devastatingly rare to see soft serve flavors that go beyond vanilla and chocolate. There’s also something about licking a cone while you watch a sheep nod off in the sun, or check out the flowers and crops growing in the nearby fields, that somehow makes the ice cream taste better.

Broken Spoke is a super family-friendly spot, with swings and toys to entertain kids as well as adorable “tiny” cones (they really are tiny!) for the littlest customers. It can get crowded, especially on sunny days, but the line moves quickly, and if the parking lot is full, you can park along the side of the rural road leading up to the farm. If you happen to stop by Broken Spoke on a weekday, you can still try the soft serve—they sell it in frozen to-go cups at the farmstand (though it’s not the same as eating it fresh out of a cone).

If you’ve made the trip to Broken Spoke Farm, make the most of it by checking out nearby downtown Hillsborough, which I love for its many shops featuring local artists, or taking a stroll though the remains of the Occoneechee Speedway or along the Holden Mill Trail.

A Japanese store’s first North Carolina location is now open in Raleigh.

Ebisu’s soft opening began Saturday, June 7.

The store is on Hillsborough Street, on the ground floor of Uncommon student apartments, near NC State University. People were lined up outside the store hours before it opened, reported ABC11, The News & Observer’s newsgathering partner.

There were so many people opening weekend that Ebisu had to limit the number of customers inside, to keep the store from getting too hot or crowded, the store said in an Instagram post. On Sunday, June 8, Ebisu had to close two hours early, at 8 p.m.

“We didn’t expect such high demand, and our inventory is running low again,” the store said in the Instagram post.

Ebisu offers a range of products and brands.

Inside the approximately 3,600-square-foot store, shoppers can find home decor, snacks and drinks, toys, figurines, beauty products, cups and mugs, stationery and other products.

During the grand opening, which lasts until Friday, June 20, Ebisu is offering special promotions including free snacks, gifts with purchase and other deals.

Ebisu is located at 3012 Hillsborough St., next to Chex Grill & Wings, a Charlotte-based wing shop that launched in 2014.

During the soft opening, the store opens at 10 a.m. daily.

Berries taste better when you’ve picked them yourself—that’s just science. (And by science, I mean my taste buds.)

It’s finally berry picking season in North Carolina, and there’s no better way to get summer started than to visit a local farm and fill up a bucket with strawberries (which typically grow in NC between late April and early June), blueberries (which you can pick between early June and early July) or blackberries (which grow from the end of June through August).

There’s no shortage of opportunities to pick berries in North Carolina, especially in the central part of the state. But for an experience that’s always top-tier, my pick is Eno River Farm, just outside of Hillsborough.

Though Eno River Farm is family-owned and operated, it’s a big, well-organized operation. That meant that on a recent Saturday at the peak of strawberry picking season, the parking lot was full and the line for ice cream was long, but the strawberry fields themselves were spacious enough that each family got their own section to spread out and pick berries at their own pace. The farm’s prices felt reasonable, too: For $25, we filled up a generously-sized basket to the brim (or there’s also a smaller basket you can fill for $15).

If you’d rather not pick your own, Eno River Farm has baskets of pre-picked strawberries available, along with other seasonal produce from their farms, farm-made honey, and other products, and an expansive greenhouse of plants for sale.

It’s not just berries that you can pick at Eno River Farm: In addition to strawberries, blueberries, and blackberries, the farm also offers you-pick tulips and daffodils in the early spring (and at the end of the bloom, you can even dig up your own tulip bulbs to plant at home).

After you pick your berries, stop inside for homemade ice cream or a coffee drink, and take your treats to wander around the family-friendly trails through the woods on the Eno River Farm property, which feature giant wooden troll sculptures and a playhouse. Or, if picking wore you out, the farm has ample Adirondack chairs to relax and take in the view of the fields of berries.

Eno River Farm frequently has food trucks on-site if you want to grab a quick lunch or dinner post-picking, and often hosts other events, like wreath-making workshops or tree care classes.

But there’s no arguing that the berries are the main attraction. Personally, I ate mine by the handful, put them over yogurt, ice cream, and oatmeal, and piloted a strawberry-basil mule. If you visit Eno River Farm (or any other you-pick berry farm, for that matter), have your recipes ready—and be sure to go while there’s still plenty to pick.