There's plenty happening around Durham today and tomorrow.
Our friends at The Regulator on Ninth Street are having the next in their series of Shop Local! days; these events offer a chance for local craftspeople and small businesses to sell their wares inside one of Durham's proudest local business. Just in time for Valentine's Day shopping, pick up wares from Dolly Mama Handmade Chocolates, Ninth Street Bakery, White Oak Pottery, and Fused Glass Designs by Karen Casey. [regulatorbookshop.com]
It's Tarp Day over at Northgate Mall; join Keep Durham Beautiful, the event sponsor, and Mayor Bell, County Commission chair Page, Sherriff Worth Hill, D.P.D. chief Lopez, and city manager Tom Bonfield for a free giveaway of tarps to pickup truck owners. Keep the crap from falling off your truck, and, er, hobnob with senior government officials. This unique Bull City moment starts at noon sharp outside the Chick-Fil-A.
Dr. Leslie Brown -- who earned her Ph.D. at Duke and is now on the faculty of Williams College in Massachusetts -- returns to the Bull City tomorrow to give a talk to include readings from her new book "Upbuilding Black Durham: Gender, Class, and Black Community Development in the Urban South." Dr. Brown will be speaking at the Hayti Heritage Center at 3pm on Sunday and promises to discuss the history of Durham's black community. The event is sponsored by the Durham Co. Library in partnership with St. Joseph's Historic Foundation. (The H-S has a nice wrapup of Dr. Brown's master class on the subject, held on Friday at the Stanford L. Warren Library.)
Duke Chapel's newly-restored Aeolian organ will be dedicated at 4pm tomorrow. The free event starts at 4 p.m. and includes a dedication of the instrument as the Kathleen Upton Byrns McClendon Organ. [chapel.duke.edu]
The handbag designers from Be & D will be holding a "wine and shopping event" at Six Plates Wine Bar over at Erwin Terrace on Sunday, from 1pm-6pm; featuring designer Steve Dumain, the "D" in Be & D, the event will feature pricing 40-80% off list. [sixplates.com]
I'm trying to figure out what's "happening" in downtown right now. I drove to my Five Points office at 12:30 and hard to circle the block to find a frickin' parking space. The sidewalk tables at Toast are full. People are sitting at a couple of the park tables in the point. People are walking. WTF?! Happy happy WTF :-)
Posted by: Phil | February 07, 2009 at 01:31 PM
I actually had a slightly different take walking around downtown today (Farmer's Market to Blue Coffee to American Tobacco to Durham Station back to Central Park). Mind you, there were definitely more folks out and about today compared to say 2-3 years ago, but I still feel like the foot traffic is a bit lacking.
Many elements are already there - the Farmer's Market, more residential units, more restaurants/bars, good art galleries, etc. But there is a noticeable lack of boutique/shopping opportunities. On a Saturday, people might come for the Farmer's market and then go to a restaurant for lunch and check out a gallery or a place like the Scrap Exchange, but there isn't much to keep people around for the rest of the afternoon unless there is an event going on (Art Walk, Full Frame, etc.).
All that said, it DOES feel exciting to be in Durham right now - downtown is definitely starting to feel like a destination.
Posted by: Erik | February 07, 2009 at 03:37 PM
Make your life easier get the personal loans and everything you need.
Posted by: AndreaAGUILAR19 | January 06, 2012 at 10:00 PM