{"id":106020,"date":"2016-07-13T06:44:08","date_gmt":"2016-07-13T10:44:08","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/raleighpublicrecord.org\/?p=106020"},"modified":"2016-07-14T03:59:33","modified_gmt":"2016-07-14T07:59:33","slug":"andy-opie-magikarp-fishing-for-pokemon-in-five-raleigh-parks","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/theraleighcommons.org\/raleighpublicrecord\/news\/2016\/07\/13\/andy-opie-magikarp-fishing-for-pokemon-in-five-raleigh-parks\/","title":{"rendered":"Andy, Opie & Magikarp: Fishing for Pok\u00e9mon in Five Raleigh Parks"},"content":{"rendered":"

Editor’s note: this piece is a follow-up to “Pok\u00e9\u2019in Around Raleigh: Five Downtown Spots for Catching Monsters<\/a>,” which contains more details about Pok\u00e9mon Go, the mobile game currently sweeping the nation \u2014 and the streets and greenways of Raleigh.\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n

One of the many joys of playing Pok\u00e9mon Go is witnessing the way it forces players to get and explore the world in a way they may never have thought of doing otherwise. While\u00a0most of Raleigh’s parks are plenty packed on the weekends as-is, we decided to go out and see what the Pok\u00e9-action was like midweek.<\/p>\n

To no one’s surprise, we spotted dozens of people \u2014 from the greenways of Lake Johnson to the landmarks at Pullen Park \u2014 who figured the best way to spend a hot, occasionally cloudy Tuesday afternoon was to hunt down as many rare Pok\u00e9mon as they could before the rain hit.<\/p>\n

While our list isn’t a comprehensive database of *all* Pok\u00e9mon at *all* City Parks, we did try to select locations we hoped would be rich in both Pok\u00e9mon and natural, scenic beauty and that were, with one exception, convenient to downtown Raleigh. Before we begin, we’d like to note we’ve heard a lot of good things about the Lake Lynn greenway trail in North Raleigh.<\/p>\n

The parks we did include are ranked in a completely arbitrary fashion. Hard to play favorites! Although we will say that no. 1 deserves its spot.<\/p>\n

5.\u00a0Historic Mordecai Park<\/h4>\n
\"Historic<\/a>

James Borden<\/p>

Historic Mordecai Park<\/p><\/div>\n

Once the site of Raleigh’s largest plantation, the Mordecai Historic Park is now home to<\/p>\n

\"Eevee<\/a>

James Borden<\/p>

Eevee loves the color scheme of the old Mordecai house<\/p><\/div>\n

the city’s oldest house still in its original location. Tucked away on the cusp of downtown off Wake Forest Road, the small, 3.2 acre park is also the site of a number of historic outbuildings, including “the overseer’s office and smokehouse, the Allen Kitchen, the Badger-Iredell Law Office, St. Mark’s Chapel and the birthplace of the 17th President, Andrew Johnson.”<\/p>\n

The well-manicured grounds of the Mordecai Historic Park are also home to two separate\u00a0Pok\u00e9mon gyms and five official\u00a0Pok\u00e9stops. We only spotted two or three other players out there on late Tuesday afternoon, but we imagine come this weekend, the grounds will be swamped with local families.<\/p>\n

Here’s a preview of some of the things they’ll find:<\/p>\n