Skip to content Skip to sidebar Skip to footer

5 West Mag

Advertise With Us

sean

62 articles published

Features Home & Garden Pets

Small Space, Big Soul: Intentional, Unexpected Design

The transition to an empty nest is often framed as a period of loss—the loss of noise, the loss of frantic schedules, and, most commonly, the loss of square footage. But for Shane and Kerri Page, standing at the threshold of a new phase as their daughter, Zoe, prepared for college, the move from a…

March 1, 20260Comments Bysean

Features Travel

The Ellie Beach Resort in Myrtle Beach

By Dathan Kazsuk | You think you know Myrtle Beach. The ocean. The boardwalk. The common rhythm of umbrellas, sunscreen, and sandy feet. But perspective changes everything, and at The Ellie Beach Resort, that shift happens the moment you walk onto the balcony.

March 1, 20260Comments Bysean

Features Home & Garden Local Sightseeing Travel

A Garden Journey through North Carolina

From Murphy to Manteo, North Carolina is home to a variety of vibrant cities, each with its own unique charm. Whenever I travel across the state, I seek out places with gardens to enjoy. Here are just a few favorites.

March 1, 20260Comments Bysean

Community Family & Education Features Nonprofit

Cache In: Geocaching is a way to help clean the trash out

Geocaching is a scavenger hunt for all ages. People around the world put items inside small containers called geocaches or caches and hide them for others to find using a set of coordinates. Caches can be hidden anywhere—I’ve found them everywhere from parking lots and public parks to deep in the woods, far from any…

March 1, 20260Comments Bysean

Family & Education Features Food Health & Wellness Nonprofit People & Profiles

National Alliance on Mental Illness partners with Wake County schools

Story by Sarah Merritt Ryan | The National Alliance on Mental Illness (NAMI) Wake County has teamed up with the Wake County Public School System to begin piloting “Ending the Silence for Families” at 10 local schools. This crucial initiative provides parents and youth with the tools to recognize mental health warning signs…

December 31, 20250Comments Bysean

Features Food Local Business

Holly Springs’ Pimiento Tea Room celebrates 5 years

Story by Kyle Marie McMahon | Five years ago, the Pimiento Tea Room in Holly Springs was a humble, grassroots beginning that perfectly foreshadowed what it would become: a place deeply rooted in hospitality, history, and community. Now, as they celebrate their fifth anniversary, the Griffiths have cemented their establishment not just as…

December 31, 20250Comments Bysean

Features Local Business Sports & Fitness

Inside the Triangle’s Boutique Fitness Communities

Story by Samantha Carson | The calendar flips to a new year, and with it comes the annual, silent promise: This time, I will exercise more. For many, that resolution leads straight to the intimidating, impersonal expanse of a big-box gym—a brightly lit battlefield of lonely treadmills and unused equipment. But the enthusiasm often dies.…

December 31, 20250Comments Bysean

Features Travel

A Season to Stay: Blowing Rock Beckons

| By Dathan Kazsuk | When the air turns crisp and the leaves begin their slow, colorful descent, the call of the Blue Ridge Mountains becomes impossible to resist. Each year, North Carolinians flock to the western part of the state, eager to embrace the chill, the views, and the charm of small-town retreats. Whether…

September 1, 20250Comments Bysean

Entertainment Features

Spooky Good Times in Kersey Valley

| By Mario Boucher | In 1984, movie fans met a man with knives for hands and seemingly cute creatures that turned nasty in a hurry. The next year, Tony Wohlgemuth answered a teenage dare and turned a simple idea into a backyard nightmare that developed into the Spookywoods it is known as today. “At…

September 1, 20250Comments Bysean

Features People & Profiles Sports & Fitness

Former Apex, UNC catcher Tim Federowicz nearing return to majors as a manager

| By Kurt Dusterberg | For 13 seasons, he climbed the professional baseball ladder, often shuttling back and forth between Class AAA—the highest level of the minor leagues—and the major leagues. As a catcher with a strong bat, he found his way onto the big league rosters of six different teams from 2011 to 2019.…

September 1, 20250Comments Bysean

Features People & Profiles Sports & Fitness

Rod Brind’Amour: Reaching Milestones, Making Memories

| By Kurt Dusterberg | Carolina Hurricanes coach Rod Brind’Amour spends most of his days living in the moment. For the past 37 years, his life has revolved around the National Hockey League’s schedule, where it takes 82 games across 6 months just to reach the playoffs. So it may come as a surprise that…

September 1, 20250Comments Bysean

The Blind Pelican’s Bloody Mary Revolution

From Brunch to Bucket List BY JENNIFER PRIMROSE | PHOTOS BY JESSICA BRATTON In Holly Springs, something wildly unexpected has been happening, and we had to get to the bottom of it—a bloody mary revolution! Enter Joshua Self, proprietor and manager at The Blind Pelican, who, alongside assistant bar manager Brianna Scott, has been turning heads with the…

July 1, 20250Comments Bysean

Features People & Profiles Visual Arts

Cary artist Shalimar Waffa brings color, music and joy to her canvases

Artist at Work BY DOLLY R. SICKLES | PHOTOS BY JESSICA BRATTON A registered nurse by training, Shalimar Waffa was on track to become a nurse anesthetist when she became pregnant with her daughter, Rowan, during the pandemic. “Rowan was my fourth pregnancy,” she says, “and a miracle baby.” Pregnancy gave her the perfect opportunity to step…

July 1, 20250Comments Bysean

Features Sports & Fitness

Bonus Baseball: The Holly Springs Salamanders Give Local Players and Fans a Hometown Summer Experience

BY KURT DUSTERBERG If you drive along NC Hwy 55 Bypass in Holly Springs on a summer evening, you might catch a familiar slice of Americana. On the east side of the highway, stadium lights splash across Ting Park, a modern baseball venue where the seats are often brimming with fans. At first glance, the view gives…

July 1, 20250Comments Bysean

Family & Education Features Home & Garden

What Each Swim School Offers May Surprise You

What to know before you choose BY SARAH MERRITT RYAN When our son was 18 months old, my husband and I wanted him to learn to swim. We just chose the first swim school that came to mind—one that was reasonably close to our house. I assumed all swim schools were alike and that they were there…

July 1, 20250Comments Bysean

The Hot Dog Days of Summer

By Dathan Kazsuk Let’s get one thing straight: There’s no shame in loving a good hot dog. Sure, it’s not caviar and an expensive bottle of French Champagne. It’s not a handcrafted sushi roll placed delicately on artisan rice. But when that frankfurter hits the grill, when the snap of that casing gives way to…

June 30, 20250Comments Bysean

Features Sports & Fitness

Carolina Hurricanes expand hockey’s reach with the Triangle’s first outdoor ball hockey rinks

Takin' It to the Streets BY KURT DUSTERBERG | PHOTOS COURTESY OF JOSH LAVALEE/CAROLINA HURRICANES On a warm, sunny afternoon in late March, more than 200 kids spread out across two street hockey rinks in Apex. Some of the teenagers knew how to stickhandle and put a shot in the net, while the younger kids mostly pushed…

May 1, 20250Comments Bysean

Features Food People & Profiles

Chef Scott Crawford’s Personal Journey

Brothers and Survivors Crawford Brothers Steakhouse owner learned tough life lessons with sibling BY KURT DUSTERBERG PHOTOS BY JESSICA BRATTON It is late morning at Crawford Brothers Steakhouse in Cary, and Scott Crawford is already in motion.While the kitchen staff tends to food prep and deliveries, the acclaimed chef and entrepreneur chats with his…

May 1, 20250Comments Bysean

Date Night Under the Stars in Holly Springs

Nightingale is Calling BY DATHAN KAZSUK | PHOTOS BY JESSICA BRATTON FOOD STYLING & PHOTO ASSISTANCE BY RACHEL DANIELLE It was a cool night in downtown Holly Springs—the kind of evening where the air hums with possibility and the clinking of cocktail glasses sets the soundtrack—and it was only Thursday. Along with my wife (and fellow 5 West writer) Jennifer…

May 1, 20250Comments Bysean

Home & Garden Nonprofit

A pay-what-you-can program is nourishing the Triangle, one garden box at a time

Gardens for Everyone BY SUSANNA KLINGENBERG PHOTOS COURTESY OF INTER-FAITH FOOD SHUTTLE I magine a generous bowl of steaming vegetable soup on a chilly day. Or a classic tomato and mayonnaise sandwich in the heat of summer. It’s nourishing, it’s delicious, and here’s the best part: It’s made with produce from your own backyard. A garden-grown meal is no…

March 5, 20250Comments Bysean

Subscribe to
our Magazines

Subscribe to
our Newsletter