2110 Blue Ridge Road, Raleigh
This will no doubt get us in trouble, but is there a better public place to have your head above the clouds than the North Carolina Museum of Art’s park on a sunny day? There’s a “cloud chamber,” a tiny, round, dark room through which a pinhole in the roof projects an image of the sky above onto the floor. There’s a metal tree, giant earthwork rings, and a bench that works as a microphone. You can stroll the greenways, get lost in the surrounding woods, or stare out at all the joggers and picnicking people from Lowe’s Pavilion. And if all that doesn’t enhance your buzz, just remember that those shrubs and sand pits you see across the lawn are an art installation that spells out “Picture This.” Whoa, dude. You’re the wrong kind of high to see it, exactly the right kind to believe it.