On Thursday, September 23, Lady Antebellum will return to the area. This time it is a headlining date at Cary’s Booth Amphitheater. Tickets are on sale now.

Money Magazine has released its best small towns list, and two triangle towns are in the Top 40. Chapel Hill comes in at 40, and Cary ranks #23.

The results are interesting. Living in Chapel Hill is a distinct experience. All residents definitely feel the center of the town, the Franklin Street/Carr Mill axis. However Cary feels more like a series of subdivisions and strip shopping centers. Cary certainly feels different than Chapel Hill and North Raleigh, but does Cary really have a distinct vibe, or is it just a coincidental collection of new developments in Triangle, USA?

On Thursday, July 15, Counting Crows will return to the area; this time to Cary’s Booth Amphitheatre. This year’s band that will upstage the Crows (it’s become an annual event)? Augustana. We got a chance to see Augustana at the Cat’s Cradle last fall and they were sensational. Hopefully Augustana singer Dan Layus will feel comfortable bantering between songs in this venue, because he is a hoot. Tickets are just under $40 for lawn and just under $60 for reserved.

On Sunday, August 15, Sheryl Crow and Colbie Caillat will be playing at the Koka Booth Amphitheatre in Cary. Tickets are on sale now.

Heard it from a friend who heard it from another that on Thursday, September 2, Cary’s Booth Amphitheatre will host REO Speedwagon and Pat Benatar. Don’t waste precious time getting tickets. They are $59.50 for reserved, $39.50 for lawn in advance.

Great news for Crossroads Plaza in Cary! The Crossroads location of Bear Rock Cafe is the latest to close in the faltering chain. Luckily, though, the space will be occupied in the late spring by Jason’s Deli.

It’s been at least eight long years since I walked into a retail store and was awestruck. That period of time ended when I recently visited The Meat House. The store is a national chain of butcher shops, but don’t be fooled. There isn’t a local merchant within at least 30 miles (maybe hundreds more) that remotely comes close to delivering the incredible product I saw.

The heart of the store is its meat counter, where a myriad of fresh meats are presented for the picking. Seafood is not available (except for some megashrimp), but pork, poultry, and a slew of red meat options are. I counted 10 variations on “steak”. The store also stocks a deep supply of frozen, difficult-to-find items such as venison, pheasant, duck, fois gras, ostrich, and more.

The Meat House is more than just a meat counter, though, as the specialty grocery items are larger in scope than expected. A new kind of tortilla chips I haven’t seen are delicious, as well as the three accompanying sample dips displayed (I especially liked the artichoke dip). The store also stocks prepared meals from Cafe 121 in Sanford. The meat prices are more in line with the Fresh Market, so it is noticeably cheaper than Whole Foods.

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While the Meat House’s standard meat counter is unmatched in the eastern half of the Triangle, the store really shines with its semi-prepared foods. I counted 25 different marinated meats, pinwheel steaks, kebabs, and the like. The store has a grill outside, and they constantly keep a chafing dish with two samples going at all times. I have tried 5 items now and each has been incredible. The chicken wings and the Sundried Tomato and Herb-marinated Chicken were fantastic, and so were a couple of marinated beef tips. The Burgundy Wine marinated Beef Tips, however, were so remarkable I have thought about them while trying to sleep. Not only are the marinades excellent for these items, but the quality and tenderness of the meat is so good that it shines through even the strong marinades.

If the store is a success, the owners will continue their pursuit of a North Raleigh location. I sent along my recommendation (of going in where Blockbuster on Wake Forest Road was), and it appears that their site selection criteria are on par with what will be a true success for Raleigh one day. The nearby Trader Joe’s opened with much fanfare a couple of years ago. However I never felt it was worth the drive to Cary. The Meat House, on the other hand, undoubtedly is.

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On April 15, Patty Smyth and Scandal will be playing at the Koka Booth Amphitheater in Cary.

Booth Amphitheater will play host to My Morning Jacket on April 30. The touring group of Preservation Hall Jazz Band will open. Tickets are $35 and go on sale Friday at Noon.