The hub & I ventured out to the Third Friday Art Walk in Downtown Durham and loved the energy of…read morethe event. We strolled from hotels to galleries to art stores and boutiques. It is time well spent. There are great restaurants and bars in that area as well.

Raleigh's First Friday Yelp page in addition to encouragement from Rod O. led me to represent…read moreDurham and create our own THIRD Friday page! Not that I'm contributor to Durham's art walk, which takes place from about 6-9pm every third Friday, but I'm definitely a beneficiary. I will admit, after living in Durham for three years now, I've only just started to attend these open gallery nights, but I'm loving them! I've discovered so many hidden gems and realized that Durham's legacy is so much more then the "dirty" (hipster) vibe. We have some truly talented people that you might not hear about unless you go searching, so do me a favor and search (or rather just use my search efforts to make it easier for you!) I recommend either starting downtown at the Durham Arts Council OR on the East side of downtown at Golden Belt. You need to start your walk knowing that you just can't see it all in one night! So if you're a tourist, make your list of the places you MUST hit, if you're a local, just go back! Also, every Friday is different, some studios might be open one week and closed the next, so make sure you check the website before planning your trip. Bull City Arts Collaborative / Horse & Buggy Press: Very small photography gallery north of downtown. I personally would skip over this one; lack of beverages and with one person manning the studio, just lacked pazaz. Mercury Studio: Great stop to purchase anything local! Another co-working space for artists with a shop inside. Located in the DIY district, so you've got lots of food/drink choices. Plus, hit Nomadic Trading Company while you're over there for more art! Through This Lens: Another photography studio closer to 21C Hotel (which includes a small 24 hour museum). Durham Arts Council & Guild: Large combined artist gallery. The Carolina Theatre of Durham: If there's a snow going on, this is a place to stop. Beautiful restored theater! Trust Building (aka 21C Hotel): Grab a drink next door at The Counting House next door and see the 24 hour museum! Golden Belt: In my opinion, a MUST! A huge co-working space for artists of all different medias! Dogstar Tattoo Company: Not often do I venture into tattoo parlors, but I love that Dogstar participates during Third Friday. Visit when at the Golden Belt! SPECTAR Arts: Awesome small gallery next to the Golden Belt. Museum of Durham History | History Hub: Not necessarily a must during the art walk, I would recommend a visit during the day if you're in Durham though. Nasher Museum of Art at Duke University: Again, not a must during the art walk, but definitely a gem in Durham and so convenient to Duke Gardens! Vega Metals Gallery: gorgeous metal work, although rarely open during the art walk. The Carrack Modern Art: Mixed feelings. Worth a visit but go early. I tried to go again at 8:45p this past week (after visiting at 10:00pm last month) and they were already closed! Make sure you know what the exhibit is beforehand. Pleiades Gallery: Beautiful gallery! Small but still bigger then some. Definitely worth a visit. Full Frame Theater at the Power Plant: Try to catch a show, it's an awesome theater and takes you into American Tobacco Campus which is lovely at night! Alizarin Gallery: Love the space, gallery AND the artist. This is on my must list of Third Friday! There are SO, so, So many more galleries that I haven't visited yet (or places that also offer special exhibits during Third Friday). Hopefully one day I'll visit them all. But for now, here's my opinion on a few. Definitely take some time for a visit & view my "Third Friday List" for details on each gallery!

The hub and I happened into this space during the Third Friday Art Walk, and I was please to see so…read moremany types of art displayed on two levels of this building. Many items were really spectacular and eye-catching.

One of my favorite places in Durham! The classes are an awesome opportunity to make art as a…read morecommunity. In particular, Carol's watercolor class and Heather's intuitive painting workshop are truly invaluable creative experiences.

We've been coming to this gallery for years (even when it operated under a different name) and have…read morebought several small pieces of art from the artists. Come on every third Friday of the month for an open house, meet some of the artists, and have some small refreshments. The list of participating artists have changed over the years, but they always offer nice pieces from local artists.

Brightleaf Square is a quaint retail development located in the center of the Brightleaf…read moreneighborhood in downtown Durham. I'd call it a "shopping center," but it's not like a typical suburban shopping center. The development consists of two repurposed brick warehouses, originally built in 1904, that used to store bright leaf tobacco (that's where the name comes from). So, Brightleaf Square looks and feels historic, and that's what makes it charming. That said, the development is kind of small and there's not that much here. If you want to walk across the street to, say, Rose's or Jeni's, then yes, the neighborhood (also known as the Brightleaf District) has more to offer. I highly recommend Rose's, by the way, for their ramen and ice cream sandwiches. Strictly speaking, within the square, Emmy Squared Pizza is terrific for their Detroit-style pizza. It's among the best deep-dish pizza anywhere, in my opinion. There's also Clouds Brewing, which is a craft brewery and restaurant. Other businesses are local/boutique shops, such as Bull City Art & Frame Company and Mill & Meadow Stationery Shop, and private offices. The brick/stone walkway, old-fashioned lamp posts, string lights, trees, benches, and early-1900s buildings can make for a fun, whimsical stroll with friends and family before or after lunch or dinner. It's also a good date spot, especially if you incorporate the larger neighborhood (e.g., pizza at Emmy Squared followed by ice cream sandwiches at Rose's). For parking, I suggest parking in the surface lot at the corner of W Main St and S Gregson St. You can enter the lot from either of those streets. Pay attention to signs as you may have to pay during certain days and times. Fun fact: Durham's infamous "Can Opener Bridge" is located on the south end of Brightleaf Square. If you don't know what I'm talking about, check out the bridge's Wikipedia page here: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Norfolk_Southern%E2%80%93Gregson_Street_Overpass Also, watch some of the videos on this YouTube channel to see the Can Opener in action: https://www.youtube.com/@11foot8plus8 The camera that captures those videos is mounted on one of the buildings at Brightleaf Square.

Brightleaf Square looks like it'd be cute and fun to walk around in, but that's really all it is…read more Pretty market lights and small shops but nothing actually to do..? Hopefully they add better restaurants and more variety of boutiques here because the square is not living up to its potential. Basically, I'd skip this and head over to ATC.

TLDR: cute place, a bit pricey, interesting ambiance but I like the idea of it…read more Came in on a Wednesday for the more open random game night with friends. The place is pretty tucked away and didn't know it existed until I was invited. First thoughts were uh this is a bit shady walking up stairs and the building itself was not super well kept (not their fault). The bathroom looks so outdated and wasn't super comfortable that the bathroom is a shared one (two stalls, a urinal and it's just open to all) so wouldn't feel comfortable drinking alcohol and then possibly being alone in a bathroom where men are peeing right next to me. That's just my opinion and comfort. Regardless the place was cute- the bar had a lot of options for tap, they had MEAD! Extremely exciting as I LOVE Starrlight mead. The music was kinda all over the place from like 70s music and then the next was like a Fern Gully song -would just stick to one genre. The employees were also pretty nice (they ?Meredith? helped me over the phone as well). Notes: DO NOT PARK IN THE GRAVEL PARKING LOT- it's not theirs They seem to automatically tip, not sure how much, I wasn't given a receipt and didn't have the price of my drink so I can't deduct from my charge. They seem to have a pretty big card charge as well so maybe cash is better? They have a ton of events so check when you want to go during the week! I've added a photo.

So there's this human-hybrid bathroom where men and women can use the restroom at the same time??…read moreI'm all for equity at a logical level but this is a disaster waiting to happen. Also the bathroom was disgusting and I threw all my clothes in the wash. It's near the college which I guess explains the sounds coming out of the speakers. Actually they were more like a series of constant screams accompanied by the unplugging and re-plugging in of instruments. Major cons: *limited parking *pee * about 10 tables * no one asked me about board games or cared. Pro: that brief period when the music stopped. Thankfully there were plenty of edgy hairstyles Do places like this care about money or is it just a front for the magic the gathering store?

We are all entitled to our own opinions, right? Well here's mine:…read more Parking: 3 Location: 5 Decor/ambiance: 5 Customer Service: 5 ( TIM WAS AMAZING) If you were in the Durham North Carolina area and you're looking for a venue to host a event, party or a concert, look no further. I strongly recommend the Durham fruit and produce Company as an amazing place to host your event. There is so many awesome things that are around the establishment as they are dead center downtown Durham. Parking is trouble I will go ahead and admit that so come prepared and ready to park somewhere for a walk. Outside of parking the place is a slim five-star experience. There's this guy that works there that's name is Tim and he is so accommodating. My band and singers came and we did a live recording during Coronavirus for our church. Tim was so accommodating as he allowed us so much access and gave us a great deal. With that being said he did not rush us in any form or fashion as he allowed us to take our time in rehearsing, take our time and setting up and he allowed us to take our time in breaking down. He even assisted us where needed. The establishment was super clean and decked out with loads of eclectic decor. The sound system sounded great. They even have a mini bar. My favorite part of the entire shindig was the blue room. If you're having some pictures taken or if you're a photographer looking to do some cool edgy shooting, take a look at the blue room. Five-star experience and thank you Tim!

I have been to this venue a few times and it is definitely one of Durham's true crown jewels as a…read moreevent soace. Definitely would recommend it. .

We are all entitled to our own opinions, right? Well here's mine:…read more Parking: 3 Location: 3 Decor/ambiance: 4 Customer Service: ma What a unique establishment of businesses, apartments, condos, and much more. This conglomerate of shops and businesses are uniquely yeah awkwardly located off of Fairfield Road in Durham North Carolina. It can be fairly crowded in the station during certain times. Peak times are normally lunch and dinner as a lot of the businesses inside of the complex are restaurants. Just to name a few that are super good check out nantucket grill and BUA! If you are looking to lease one of the lovely condos that sit nestled above the businesses you need to hop online and search for Sutton Station Apartments. I'll go ahead and warn you these apartments come with a pretty price tag as they are considered luxury apartments. I do love the layout and quite a few of them as they feature a double-sided fireplace is which is really neat. One thing I can say if you do lease at the station is you will be conveniently located to a lot of other awesome things like the American tobacco running through check out Sutton Station.

Sutton Station is a nice shopping center right off the American Tobacco Trail and Fayetteville Rd…read more I love going to Dulce Cafe and Bella Trio Day Spa. The area is quiet, with trees and benches and there are plenty of office spaces for businesses. I do wish it was more populated, it's almost like a lost or hidden gem just by Southpoint that people forget about. There are still a lot of vacant offices, but with more visitors I think Sutton Station could do even better. It's clean, easy to get to and I just love that you can walk there from the ATT.

Wow. As if the available traditional-medium art in the Triangle is not enough, there's also a…read moregallery dedicated to electronic-medium art of the camera. I thought having books of pictures would be a reasonable facsimile of the seeing the actual photograph. It's like any art form really, I thought. Through This Lens proved me wrong. Where a book can group places and concepts, a gallery has to be a bit more selective, I think. It has limited space and time to capture and keep your interest as it competes with other medium and distractions. And in downtown Durham, during a weekend festival no less, TTL managed to do it. TTL has photos from all over the world. All are visually stunning in their own way. Each with a message, sometimes subtle, sometimes not so much. One can see snippets of objects, colors, movement -- all moments in time captured by the photographer-artist. In this one small gallery you can travel the world from the reservations in Arizona to the deserts in Africa. It's a mini-vacation. The owner, Roylee was very helpful in answering my questions and explaining the technique used by a photographer of one particular picture that captured my attention. There was a color photo of a dried well, the tan walls a sharp contrast to the two women in bright saris, there at the bottom of the drying well. The description by the photographer added another layer of awesome. Another photograph, a black and white photo taken at an abandoned church in Georgia, was stunning. I probably spent fifteen minutes staring at it from every angle. It hadn't yet been hung on the wall so I was able to look at it from all angles as I walked around the table. The lines and shadows just drew me in. There was such an unexpected symmetry in that picture, it was hard to believe it wasn't computer-drawn. And so it went for my entire visit. .

Lovely but small photography art gallery and framing shop. I've only visited the shop for the…read moregallery portion and have yet get to get something framed, but it's a nice stop during any of Durham's Spring/Winter Art Walks or on Third Friday. They usually have several bottles of red and wine wines along with a complimentary cheese/bread plate for gallery guests during their special events, which is quite nice. The photography is from all over the world, many prints I'd recognize as South East Asia but there are also some lovely local Triangle photos and those for the nature enthusiast. I'd recommend putting Through This Lens on your gallery hopping list if it's convenient, but it isn't large enough and, after a handful of visits, I've never received a personal greeting to draw me back if it's out of the way. Through This Lens rents their space from Durham Arts Place, around to the right if you're facing the entrance and up the stairs.