In my limited racing career, the Florence Forth Road Race definitely ranks at the top of the list…read more This is a very local race with not many bells and whistles, but that's what makes it so great. Sign up early for a discounted rate but the most you'll ever pay is around $50.00 after fees (for the 10k). Registration is quick and easy and this year, in addition to the athletic tee, they included post-race metals. Race options include a 5k and 10k, both starting simultaneously at 8am on the first Saturday in March. The weather is usually chilly, but very manageable for the later morning start and the course is wonderful. With small rolling hills and a path that takes you through some of the hot spots around Durham including Trinity Neighborhood, Duke East Campus (running parallel, not the actual trail), past Brightleaf Square and into Lakewood passing by Lakewood Montessori School and up past the Nasher Museum and Sarah P. Duke Gardens. You begin and end the race on Ninth Street and it's hard not to feel part of the great community that comes together each year to remember a little six year old who lost her battle to autoimmune encephalitis disease and may others who are still fighting. As you race you'll see your fellow racers in capes and super-hero gear, because we're fighting this disease together. Race-packet pick-up takes place at the Hilton Gardens Inn just off Ninth Street, where you're in and our with nothing fancy (no vendors, just bibs here). Post-race you'll find a small assortment of vendors (Big Spoon Peanut Butter, H&R Block and some fitness studios). This is one of the best organized races I've attended, I was able to easily arrive and park within less than 30 minutes to race time and the course is lined with volunteers and police officers. Two aid stations at mile 2 and 4 offer water and power-aid and you can even choose to compete for the USATF NC 2016 10K State Championship. Highly recommend the Florence Forth if you're looking to be apart of a great community race!

Historic site off Bull Durham's filming but most recently hosted some games in a 15u travel…read morebaseball tournament I coached. The field is well maintained and played true -- Sunday hops everyday! Fans RAVED over the bleachers. Plenty of SHADED seating, practically a wind tunnel that was easily 10-15 degrees cooler compared to being on field in late June. Small parking lot was enough for our games. Restrooms were under the bleachers.

This is a great ball park, especially for minor league play. It is a beautiful facility…read more The best seats in the house, in my opinion, are under the awning on the first or third base side. There are also some large fans to help move some air as it gets hot and humid in Durham. The tickets are reasonably priced and it is good baseball. Parking can be a little tricky.. if you come from the right direction, you are pushed right into the parking garage. If you come from the wrong direction, which we did, you run into a lot of closed roads, etc. But it worked out. Definitely buy tickets ahead of time. We showed up once two years ago thinking(like most minor league games) you could get a ticket before the game... They were sold out. So we bought tickets on line. Also, if you want to get a spot in the garage, be there at least 30-45 min early. I am sure there is free parking somewhere that locals know about, but I just went with the 7$ parking. They also sell Durham Bull beer there which isnt half bad!! This is a great park and was a good time!

Smaller turnout, less glitz, and fewer vendors than the SPCA's K9-3K, but a wonderful event all the…read moresame. Held each May, the walk is a fundraiser to benefit Durham's APS. I've participated the last two years and love it for a few reasons. Despite being a die-hard Tarheel, even I will begrudgingly admit that Duke's campus has an evident beauty about it. The walk rendezvous point is Wallace Stadium and walkers take a directed path through campus that's both scenic and shady. The path veers for folks who choose to do the 1K option as opposed to the full 5K. Registered walkers get a tee-shirt and a breakfast before the walk starts. Enter your pooch in a competition or watch the Flyball team (rescues who compete in relay races). Browse the vendor tables and score some free dog treats. Bottled water is provided and there's a nifty poop-mobile that makes rounds during the walk to collect your bagged doggie droppings.

Love coming to the DBAP! This time was for something different - Festibull of Lights! It was…read moreawesome! We came on a Monday night and had quick and easy access to everything - no lines for Santa & Wool E. Bull photos, letters to Santa, the inflatable slide, and s'mores stations. We easily spent a few hours walking around with our kids enjoying all the lights and activities. It was the perfect evening! The kids also did a scavenger hunt and turned the paper in for a prize. The staff member working gave them an extra special prize that my son had adored - a replica of the 2022 championship ring!

I attended my first Minor League Durham bulls baseball game. I had full suite access and catered…read morefood along with fully stocked fridge of beverages. I really enjoyed the food and experiencing the game for the first time. The stadium was really nice. The seating was roomy and comfortable. The entertainment and music was enjoyed as well. The staff there were nice and welcoming. I had the chance to see, meet and take a photo with The Durham Bulls mascot Wool E. Bull.

Shout out to Robert for turning our day around! He quickly resolved what could have been a…read moredisappointing situation and provided top tier customer service. He was attentive, friendly, and truly made our visit enjoyable. Because of Robert alone, we will definitely be coming back. My toddler had a great time!

We needed a family friendly valentines days outing and this was a fun option. The place wasn't too…read morecrowded. They had bumper cars that our 1yr could be a passenger in, so we all got to ride in the bumpers. (2 adults 2 toddlers). They also had an arcade which had some cool games and the price wasn't bad. We did a combo which came with a game card so that was cool. The toddler play area offered 2 hours of fun for the toddlers with its slides, obstacles courses, ball pit, and swings. Our kids had a blast and we were able to go down the slides with our 1yr old. Great place for them to burn energy. We only ordered drinks and mozzarella sticks so i cant speak for the whole menu , but what we ordered was good. Only thing i didn't see was any of the staff disinfecting the gokarts, arcade/vr area, bumpercars, or play area.

I am so glad that after a long hiatus, The Full Frame Film Festival is back downtown..It is great…read moreseeing these great documentaries in the downtown area and of course they continue to find some of the best films from around the world...Definitely need to add it to your annual list of things to do in Durham, NC.. I think you will thoroughly enjoy yourself at this annual event.....I have no doubt that is one of the premiere film festivals in the country and the staff has always been tremendous.......

So I used to love this festival. I used to love going to their documentaries. But I have PTSD and…read morecan't risk being trigged. Not too long ago I saw one of their free documentary screenings, which is something I really appreciate. What was advertised as a lighthearted movie actually had a complete tone shift halfway through that neither me nor my date expected. This was the second time they had seen the movie to, but they had forgotten about it because it had been several months. We had plans to grab drinks and hang out, but they canceled because the movie had bummed them out so much. I felt awful. There were themes of suicide and forced hospitalization. There was no trigger warning in the introduction and as a rule they do not do trigger warnings or content warnings before introducing movies. Which is their prerogative, but it doesn't make it a safe space for sexual assault survivors or people struggling with other issues. One of my friends has PTSD from being involuntarily committed to hospitals for her mental health disorder. I am so glad I didn't go with her because literally a week before I saw the movie we had talked about getting together and seeing a movie. I wish I could give them five stars but I can't give them more than 3 because the festival is not inclusive to a big chunk of society. I'm not asking for anything big. Just a 10 second trigger warning before they screen a movie. They always send someone out to intro movies and it wouldn't hurt them to take a few seconds to offer some vague warnings. Also this happened a while ago. I hesitated to post this but people should be aware of this and read the information on the movies closely and even then the information they provide might be inaccurate as it was with the Three Identical Strangers doc we saw. I personally loved the documentary but it WAS difficult to see that documentary at the time because I had been recently hospitalized for PTSD myself. Please be careful and take care. I know a lot of these movies aren't in wide release so there will be no info on doesthedogdie.com which is a great resource for all other movies that ARE in wide release (they track 60 common triggers (and I looked, three identical strangers IS there now and would have been available by the time it was screened the second time around because it was already Oscar nominated and in wide release by then. Lots of people had seen it). That being said, every movie thy show has been screened and carefully selected by someone at the festival. They see a lot of docs, I'm sure, but they also presumably know everything that happens in each one. I don't know how onerous it would be to keep track of maybe not 60 common triggers but perhaps the 10 most common ones? Five? Three? And be explicit about which ones ARE present in both the program for the festival and before the movie is screened.

Cameron Indoor Stadium, home to the Duke Blue Devils, is a storied and historic arena on the campus…read moreof Duke University. Situated amongst the academic halls, the stadium is a bit of a walk from nearby parking. The arena essentially has been the same since its construction and has a capacity for 9314 spectators, making it one of the smallest venues for NCAA basketball. That makes it a tough and expensive ticket to get. I was there last Saturday for their game against the SMU Mustangs who are / were ranked in the top twenty five, so of course the crowd was extra lively. Also, they honored the '01 championship team and Coach K was in attendance. It was a great experience. This arena is "hallowed ground" amongst the fandom of college basketball. The history and tradition of Duke University and their basketball program is unmatched in my honest opinion. I'm lucky enough to have attended two games here, the last one being in '18 against my Alma Mater St John's University who got blown out that day. The amenities here are enough to keep you happy. They have the usual arena fare. Smithfield's has a sandwich cart and there are a few Mexican themed carts for nachos and tacos. I think Alpaca Peruvian Chicken has a cart as well. The concessions offer candy, popcorn, burgers, hot dogs etc.. Nothing extraordinary. You can purchase beer and wine. You are here to watch great basketball and not necessarily for the A+ concession offerings that people expect these days.

As a Duke men's basketball fan since the 90's, it's such a joy living in the same state now that…read morethey play in. I've been to games all over the US to see them play... Las Vegas, Boston, Atlanta among others. There's something different though seeing them play in Cameron Indoor Stadium that I hope every true fan can experience! Been to a few games there now and there's nothing like it. Staff is very friendly and helpful in every way from scanning your tickets to finding your seats. With less than 10,00 seats here, to watch one of the best programs in the country play, this place gets insane! The Cameron Crazies and all the fans get very loud in here. The energy is unmatched. Make sure to come and check out the campus prior to the game, it's absolutely beautiful. Also go check out the campus stores for all your Duke gear/memorabilia needs. I have a man cave in my home with all Duke stuff, which mostly came from here. There's one right across from the stadium. DDMF!

Woo hoo, I did it! Post-race day (by one day) and I'm feeling mentally rejuvenated although…read morephysically sore [my legs deserve some TLC!] I signed up for the Bull City Race Fest, my first official half marathon, in April for $54.26 (using a promotional code). The event offers a 1 mile, 5 mile and 13.1 mile race option. You receive plenty of e-mail correspondence up until the day of the race, and about a month in advance you're invited to participate in several 'fun runs' sponsored by breweries, beer shots, etc. around the area [I wish these events had been sent out ahead of time and prompted more, possibly even having MORE of these events to really grow the race community]. I trained for this race using the Hal Higdon half marathon training plan, training outdoors and in on the: Ellerbe Creek South Trail, American Tobacco Trail, Third Fork Creek Trail, Duke East Campus and at the YMCA. My training started at least three months in advance and I did use the Eno Quarry/Eno Park as training near the end. I highly recommend training on more hillier trails! I wish I had used Al Buehler Cross Country Trail or even Duke Forest because people, this race has HILLS! I had heard rumors about the hills, but I'd also heard that the course was changing. Even though the hills aren't extreme per say (it's no Tar Heel Laurel Hill experience!) There are many, many slow inclines (especially after three four while you're crossing back and forth Broad Street) and a couple steeper inclines at mile ten around Cranford Road and Perkins Road). There are six aid stations along the course (although one is used twice) with water and sports drinks, although mile 8 (running into Duke East Campus) also had Accel Energy Gels. Once we split off from the five-mile runners, it seemed like the half-marathoners did spread out and the aid stations weren't too full. I like the cheering crowds, although these definitely dissipated towards the final three miles. They do have a costume contest (cash prize) but hardly anyone dressed up, as well as a bag check pre-race. The 2015 race was COLD! Luckily we could wait in American Tobacco Campus before the start of the race, but I ran comfortably in a long sleeve and shorts the entire race. As far as parking, I arrived about 6:45a for the race and found parking easily (but you have to know WHERE to park!) I highly recommend the parking deck off Jackson St. and W. Pettigrew St., easily reachable if you're getting off I-40 onto Duke Street. DON'T turn right on Yancy St., take the next right onto Jackson Street, through the stop sign and the parking garage is on your left! As far as packet pick-up and post race festivities, they were good, but not great. I recommend coming FIRST THING when packet pick-up opens at 11am. It was understaffed but at least the lines weren't long. All you're given is your bib and t-shirt, no bag of goodies, but there are some tables you can visit. Post-race you're given coupons for two free beers (first time I've ever been able to drink before noon on a Sunday in NC!) but honestly, I think the 1 and 5 mile runners took advantage of this more then the half-marathon runners [I was pooped!] Plenty of food trucks, this would be a good stop for a non-runner just to check out a bunch of trucks. Variety of tents and athletic promoters, but not an overload. OVERALL, I'm really glad I ran the Bull City Race Fest half-marathon, but I don't think I'd sign-up for it again unless I was running with a group, I honestly will look for a flatter race in the future!

Just spent the better part of Sunday at Centerfest 2019 and kudos to the committee who choose the…read moreincredible artists that were there. Every booth had something different and unique. It was SO well done. Parking was easy. I only have raves for those incredible artists who work so hard to bring us part of their heart in their artistry. The bonus, there were stores and art galleries open as well. Thank you Centerfest, for a wonderful day!

This is my 3rd or 4th year visiting Durham's Centerfest Arts Festival. It's always been a nice…read moreannual diversion. There are up and coming musicians and street performers as well as very talented artists selling their works. This year's crowd seemed somewhat smaller than prior years, and although there were many vendors, an unusually large number of jewelry booths were present. Still worth the time to stroll around and take in the sights and sounds on a beautiful day.