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Photo courtesy of Durham Convention & Visitors Bureau
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Photo by Tina Eshleman
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Photo courtesy of Durham Convention & Visitors Bureau
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After multiple visits there during the past decade, Durham, N.C., has left me with the impression of a laid-back place that has the feel of a smaller city than it actually is. Maybe that's because the trips have involved spending time with friends, walking around town and making leisurely stops at parks, shops or restaurants. But with more businesses opening downtown, not to mention a newly renovated ballpark and a sparkling performing arts center, there are lots of reasons to keep coming back.
At about 150 miles from Richmond, Durham is a little farther than Washington, but the advantage to heading south on Interstate 95 (and then I-85) rather than north is that there's far less traffic. On a springlike Sunday in mid-February, we decided to go to the Museum of Life and Science , just a few minutes' drive north of downtown, with our Durham friends. One of the big attractions there is the Magic Wings Butterfly House, where we looked for paperwhites and blue morphos among the tropical trees and flowers inside a 30-foot-high conservatory. In another exhibit, we gawked at giant prickly stick insects, an enormous rhino beetle, blue and yellow-green poison dart frogs and a Goliath Birdeater Tarantula. We walked by habitats for rescued black bears, lemurs and red wolves, tried our hands at operating remote-controlled sailboats and made sound waves ripple on panels of silver-colored discs.
There are several browse-worthy shopping areas in Durham. Near Duke's east campus is the Ninth Street District, where treasures include the Regulator Bookshop as well as several places to look for clothes, jewelry and gifts: Cozy, Vaguely Reminiscent and Zola Craft Gallery. Brightleaf Square , a former tobacco warehouse district, has independent shops like the eco-friendly Vert and Vogue boutique, and downtown highlights include Dolly's Vintage and Letters bookshop, which opened in December featuring new, used and rare books, with a specialty in children's books.
For a quick lunch, we went to Parker & Otis , a restaurant and gift shop at 112 S. Duke St. near Brightleaf Square with gourmet food, wine and beer. All the salads at the deli counter looked appealing, and my fontina-and-artichoke-heart panini with roasted red peppers and spinach on sourdough was fresh and filling, and just $7.
For dinner, we tried Watts Grocery , at 1116 Broad St., which showcases chef (and Durham native) Amy Tornquist's imaginative and delicious Southern cooking, such as my North Carolina flounder with barbecued Sea Island red peas, root vegetable purée and peanut romesco sauce, as well as the braised pork loin with grits, bacon, collards and house-pickled pepper salad that I sampled from my husband's plate.
As you'd expect for a university town, there are some good pubs where you can find North Carolina brews, burgers and more. Our friends Abby and Brian recommend Bull McCabe's at 427 W. Main St.; Federal at 914 W. Main St.; and Fullsteam brewery, where food truck fare is often available, at 726 Rigsbee Ave., near the Durham Bulls Athletic Park.
And for us, no visit to Durham is complete without a stop at Locopops at 2604A Hillsborough Road, a year-round popsicle shop with flavors like boysenberry pear, raspberry hibiscus, mango chile and lychee rose petal.
More Things to Do
The Durham Bulls ' baseball season opens April 3 with a home game against the Gwinnett Braves (formerly Richmond Braves), complete with fireworks, in an athletic park that's sporting $20 million worth of renovations, including new video displays and lighting, concession and picnic areas, an upgraded sound system and a new playing surface.
The Durham Art Walk Spring Market is set for April 12 and 13, organized by the Durham Arts Council downtown. Curious about the city's food scene? On April 24, there's the Grand Taste Experience at the Durham Performing Arts Center, part of a five-day food festival.
And through May 11, the featured exhibition at the Nasher Museum of Art at Duke is "Archibald Motley: Jazz Age Modernist." It's the first retrospective in two decades of work by the New Orleans-born African-American artist, who spent much of his life in Chicago.
Don't Miss
The 55-acre Sarah P. Duke Gardens at Duke University, celebrating its 75th year, is a beautiful place to wander around on a nice spring day. Admission is free, though the university charges $1 for parking each half hour. On Saturdays in April and May, Duke Gardens holds free family activities with demonstrations, stories, scavenger hunts, experiments and hands-on projects.
