It's officially summer — one of the best times to take advantage of the Triangle's outdoor beauty and indoor escapes.

Why it matters: Whether you're welcoming visitors or looking to try somewhere new, here are five memorable outings.

🦥 Check out the Lemur Center

• The most diverse population of lemurs outside their native Madagascar lives in an idyllic section of Duke Forest on the outskirts of Durham.
• Visiting the Duke Lemur Center is an excellent evening activity for wildlife lovers.

If you go: Buy tickets in advance. A two-hour basic tour is about $18 per person.

• Summer hours are 5-7pm Thursday and Friday and 10am-noon Saturday and Sunday.

⛸️ Go ice skating where the Canes practice

• The dead of summer is the perfect time to cool off at the ice rink.
• Invisalign Arena — where the Stanley Cup-winning Carolina Hurricanes practice — offers public skates most weekends. (But check the schedule ahead of time.)

If you go: Expect to pay up to $16 a person. That price includes a skate rental.

🖼️ Explore the art museum grounds

• The North Carolina Museum of Art has 4.7 miles of trails amid its sculptures, pond, meadows and trees. Take in a summer morning there.

If you go: If temperatures climb too high, head indoors and peruse the galleries.

🫐 Go berry picking

• Blueberries and blackberries ripen in the summer. Eno River Farm has both, plus homemade ice cream.

If you go: The farm posts about ripeness and availability on Instagram.

⚾️ Get the Durham Bulls experience

• Summer baseball games provide a perfect dose of Americana, and no minor-league teams do it quite like the Durham Bulls.
• Get in the mood by watching "Bull Durham." The Oscar-nominated 1988 film is surprisingly raunchy and holds up well. (Amazon Prime, Pluto TV and other streaming services have it. A safer version is on YouTube.)

If you go: Tickets are cheapest at the box office, but some games sell out.

Keep reading for great food and drink near each spot

They're popping bottles down at The Speckled Trout.

• Just kidding, but that's where we would be tonight if we were in Axios Raleigh and Axios Charlotte's favorite mountain town.

State of play: Blowing Rock convincingly won the final matchup of our Best Mountain Town bracket against Asheville after thousands of votes from readers.

Zoom in: It's easy to see why Blowing Rock — home to North Carolina's oldest tourist attraction — earned so many votes. It combines the charm of a bustling small town with some of the state's best views.

• Despite its small size, Blowing Rock has something for everyone, from Tweetsie Railroad and luxury resorts to a downtown full of interesting shops and great restaurants.

Between the lines: It's access to nature that puts Blowing Rock over the top.

• The stunning Blue Ridge Parkway snakes through town, offering easy access to some of the best hikes in the Blue Ridge Mountains as well as attractions like Moses Cone Memorial Park, the engineering marvel of the Linn Cove Viaduct and the serene landscapes of Julian Price Memorial Park.

Go deeper with Axios Charlotte's guide to the area.

🏒 The Carolina Hurricanes will play a preseason game in Greensboro, marking the team's first game there since the late '90s. (WRAL)

• 🏀 N.C. State and UNC could also play a non-conference game at the coliseum in November. ACC scheduling changes meant the in-state rivals would otherwise only meet for one game. (News & Observer)

🐶 Yardstick, a "hotel" for dog care, will open in the Celebration at Six Forks shopping center in Raleigh next year. (Triangle Business Journal 🔒)

🗳️ The State Board of Elections censured two Democratic election board members in Wake County over a 2024 decision to count the ballots of three people who voted early but died before Election Day. (WUNC)

Construction could soon begin on a stalled battery manufacturing plant in Morrisville.

Why it matters: Forge Nano, a Colorado-based battery maker, said in 2023 that it would build a plant in the Triangle that could employ up to 200 people.

• After delays to its plans, the company now says a new deal with Samsung will kick-start construction as soon as this month, with operations expected to begin in 2028.

Driving the news: Forge, which makes battery cells that feature its protective, nano-coating technology, said it signed a partnership with the South Korean battery company Samsung SDI.

• Samsung SDI will help Forge build the factory and buy batteries from Forge starting in 2028.

Zoom in: Forge is investing around $300 million into its Morrisville factory at 401 Southport Drive, with $100 million of that coming from a grant from the Department of Energy.

Between the lines: North Carolina landed several expansions from battery companies during the Biden administration — but most of those projects have not gotten off the ground due to changes in federal policy or a fall in demand.

• Now, Forge looks to join other battery wins like Toyota's massive plant in Randolph County.

Here's what's happening across the Triangle this weekend.

🏳️‍🌈 Take part in Pride Month celebrations as Out! Raleigh Pride hosts events, vendors and music across downtown Raleigh today and Saturday as well as a pride brunch on Sunday.

🥁 Listen to live music in the park and shop for art around downtown Hillsborough for its Last Fridays Art Walk.

🥎 Watch the Carolina Blaze professional softball team take over Durham Bulls Athletic Park for a three-game series.

🎸 Join the gaggle that follows popular jam band Goose as the group plays Red Hat Amphitheater today and Saturday.

🎙️ Honor the life of Chapel Hill musician Dexter Romweber by attending one of DexFest's shows at venues across Chapel Hill and Carrboro this weekend.

🪙 Check out rare coins at the Raleigh Money Expo happening all weekend at the state fairgrounds.

🇺🇸 Celebrate America's 250th anniversary at Chatham County's community celebration on Saturday, featuring historical exhibits and other activities.