Discovering Durham NC

With 5 access points to choose from, we decided to choose the Fews Ford access point, which is one of the more popular areas. There are multiple historic sites, located on the Ridge Trail and Holden Trail, as well as a suspension bridge located on the Cox Mountain Trail. There’s also a very popular swimming hole along the Buckquarter Creek Trail, so you may wanna bring a swimsuit! Don’t forget those hiking shoes too! Because of its popularity, it gets pretty busy over the weekends, especially Saturdays, so I recommend going on a weekday if possible!

Not too far away was the cutest hotdog place I’ve ever seen! Not only do they have an adorable dog theme, but their prices were super affordable and the food was delicious! Even though their main dish are hot dogs, I decided to try the BBQ sandwich with hush puppies!

Whenever we're not booking through Airbnb, our go-to hotels are almost always Hiltons! We checked in, hauled our luggage to our room, and got settled in for an early night! The Raleigh-Durham area has gotten pretty popular so make sure you book your hotels in advance!

Conveniently located just a few minutes from Eno River State Park, we decided to give this restaurant a try since we passed by them on our last Eno journey. Great place to grab some lunch! Quite an inviting atmosphere and we got our food pretty quickly! I recommend eating outside if the weather is nice!

Since there are several access points and trails, we decided to take another day exploring Eno River State Park. With over 4,000 acres to explore, it’s almost impossible to explore everything in one day! There was so much wildlife to see, from birds to aquatic life and more, so I recommend bringing binoculars and/or a camera!

We loved our first visit so much, we decided to go to The Dog House again- this time to another location! Ordered the same thing as last time- a BBQ sandwich with hush puppies!

Located at a former tobacco factory, the American Tobacco Campus is the perfect blend of history, entertainment, dining, and shopping! For parking, there are parking decks that are right beside the campus. They are labeled on Google maps as “American Tobacco North Deck” and “South Parking Deck American Tobacco Campus.”

Located on the American Tobacco Campus, this Mellow Mushroom was within walking distance from where we were exploring. There’s plenty of other restaurants in the area, we just love eating here lol. I ordered the meatball hoagie with tater tots!

If you love baseball or are bringing your kids with you to Durham, you definitely can’t miss going to a Durham Bulls game! Even though they’re a minor league team, the Durham locals LOVE coming to watch their games, as well as the fantastic fireworks they have at the end of them! If you want to see fireworks, make sure to go to a Friday or Saturday game! You can find their schedule on their website!

We decided to come back to American Tobacco Campus to see their lights lit up. The lights definitely add a different vibe to the place. It was a fantastic way to end the day! This business park also holds a variety of events throughout the year so make sure to check out their website for more information!

Duke Gardens has become one of my favorite botanical gardens in North Carolina so far. I love the variety of plants and wildlife, and it’s the perfect escape from the city. We chose the perfect time of year to visit which was during their cherry blossom season! This is the time of year when the garden is busiest, so I recommend trying to visit on a weekday and in the early morning!

Duke University is right next to Duke Gardens so it was an easy walk to get there. The campus is filled with beautiful historic buildings, one of which is Duke University Chapel (pictured)

One cannot walk by the chapel without checking out the inside! Visitors are welcome. Just respect the establishment and enjoy quietly! I suggest wearing your walking shoes and bringing some water as the campus combined with the garden is a decent walk.

The American Tobacco Trail is roughly a 23-mile walking and biking trail. Because of its long distance, we decided to split up our journey into 2 days. There are several access points to the greenway. We parked at Elmira Avenue Park so we could come back and enjoy a picnic afterwards! If biking, make sure to keep track of how far you’re going! The amount you bike one way, you have to come back and do again! We biked 10 miles one way, and 10 miles back, so we rode 20 miles all together!

There is much to see and do in downtown Durham, from the Durham Performing Arts Center and Durham Bulls Athletic Park, to the numerous restaurants and bars to dine and socialize. I also enjoyed the many murals that were scattered throughout town. If you don’t wanna do a lot of walking, I recommend bringing a bike, or renting an e-bike or e-scooter!

Our journey through downtown led us to this cool little pub. We just so happened to stumble upon one of the events they were having. Unfortunately didn’t get a photo but I ordered the fish and chips; they were amazing!! Keep in mind, you will have to order from a QR code instead of an actual waiter. The food comes pretty fast though! Expect it to be busy on weekends or on days that there are major sporting events!

Since the American Tobacco Trail is so long, we decided to revisit parts of it that we hadn't been on yet. The greenway had separate trails stemming from it, one of which led to Southpoint Mall which we decided to detour to.

Southpoint Mall is an upper-class, two-story mall that is perfect for your shopping needs or for simply walking around! We decided to take a stroll around the mall and check out the outdoor portion of it. The outdoor section was our favorite!

Located within a walking distance from the mall, we finished exploring the outdoor portion of the mall and grabbed a bite to eat. Saturdays are their busiest days so try to arrive early or join their waitlist online!