Ease into your first day with a late-morning start at Central Market Café, where you can savor a locally roasted coffee and a warm pastry while watching the neighborhood wake up; follow that with a relaxed stroll through the adjacent Riverside Promenade, stopping at the waterfront benches and public art installations. Continue the gentle orientation by joining a guided hour-long walking tour from Town Square Visitor Hub, which highlights the city's history, points out hidden murals, and ends with a light tasting of regional snacks at Heritage Lane Food Stall-perfectly timed for an early lunch and to help you plan the afternoon.
After a leisurely lunch, head to Clocktower Cultural Center for a rotating art exhibit and a glass-roofed courtyard perfect for people-watching; stay for a timed 45-minute gallery talk that puts local contemporary artists in context. From there, wander through the adjacent Botanical Alley - an urban pocket garden that leads to Old Docks Viewpoint, where you can catch golden-hour light on the river and join a short, narrated boat shuttle back toward town if you want a relaxed, scenic introduction to the city's waterfront history.
As dusk falls, head to Lantern Lane where strings of lights and food carts create a lively street-food scene-sample spicy skewers and a signature local flatbread while mingling with families and street musicians. Afterward, take a short walk to Harbor Lookout Park for panoramic night views of the illuminated skyline, then finish with a cozy drink at the rooftop bar of Gable House, which offers live acoustic sets and a laid-back atmosphere to reflect on the day's discoveries.