Seize your Jackets Journey Weblog: A Satan of a Time in Durham

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Duke is an odd gaming experience for a number of reasons. Although within the boundaries of Durham, North Carolina, the Duke campus itself is a separate entity from the city. This makes exploring the area a little more complicated, but still fun. Duke is also a school that cares more about basketball than soccer. This means that although football is always numerous, the atmosphere for football is significantly less energetic than at other times of the year. Even so, the Duke community loves all of their sports teams and is fun to chat with. Duke is just a fun and laid back campus to run around before a game where you can watch GT defeat the Blue Devils. Let’s get into that.

Travel Tips: Atlanta to Durham

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From Downtown Atlanta, the drive to Durham takes about 6-7 hours, depending on the route. Either travel up I-85 through Charlotte and then switch to I-40 once you’re nearby, or cross I-20 to Columbia, South Carolina and travel north on I-77, to get to Charlotte. The I-20 freeway has less traffic but is longer so I recommend going up I-85, but they feel about the same at the end of the day.

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Flights from Atlanta to RDU with Delta currently cost around $ 150 to $ 200. The downside is that RDU is still about 15 minutes outside Durham and 20 minutes from Duke. A car is essential for this particular trip, so despite the extra time, driving may be a better option. There’s Uber and Lyft, but you’ll be moving around a lot so prices for using these services can stack up over the weekend.

Downtown Durham is a five minute drive on the Duke Interstate. Parking in downtown Durham isn’t too difficult, but general parking at Duke is scarce. Keep in mind that during the game you will likely have to park right in front of campus and walk the rest of the way. This shouldn’t be a problem for adults, but try to keep it in mind if you have children.

Places to stay

Hotels in the area are available for a range of prices, generally between $ 100 and $ 150 per night. Unlike Clemson, most of these hotels are available near game day (for soccer, I can’t speak for basketball). There are several hotels within walking distance of the university. Reviews seem to suggest that the quality of hotels near the university is a bit lower than those in downtown Durham. The price for the hotels is in the same range so the decision will depend on whether you are near the activities in downtown Durham or closer to Duke University for the gaming experience.

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The closest hotels to campus are the University Inn, the JB Duke Hotel, and the AC Hotel by Marriott. JB is more for Duke alumni (hence the name) and is the only hotel that I struggled to find availability at on game weekend even though they have vacancies on weekdays. I’m not 100% sure, but JB may not be an option for away fans (at least on game day). AC Hotel and University Inn are closer to Duke Hospital, which means a slightly longer walk to the actual stadium. However, the AC and University hotels are closer to the center of the campus, which means that if you stay with them you will walk past the gardens or the chapel on your way to the stadium.

Downtown Durham offers more options for hotels. The top rated hotels I could find were the Durham Hotel, Unscripted Durham, and the 21C Museum Hotel Durham. All 3 of these hotels are located in the heart of downtown Durham, where all of the restaurants, shops, and museums are (albeit further from Bull’s baseball stadium). With that in mind, none of these hotels are a bad choice.

Airbnb is also an option. There are many studio apartments available to rent over the weekend in this area. If your heart desires, you can also stay at Chapel Hill as it is just a short drive down the road. Since Chapel Hill is the home of UNC, I don’t really go into it today, just know that there are options in that direction. Raleigh is also about 30 to 40 minutes away so feel free to look outside if you want.

Attractions: Downtown Durham

Durham has many restaurants, breweries, and activities that are well worth a visit. As you roam Durham, remember that you need to be aware of your surroundings. Much like downtown Atlanta, downtown Durham can quickly change the atmosphere depending on which block you’re on. Again, I’ve never had a problem, but maybe be careful if you decide to wander downtown on your own.

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Durham Bull Stadium is outside of downtown but is well worth a visit. The Bulls are the AAA subsidiary for the Tampa Bay Rays, and the stadium was also where the movie Bull Durham was filmed. The ACC Baseball Championship was held here every year (before a contractual dispute moved it to Charlotte). I don’t think there are usually games in the fall, but it might be worth a look if you come back another season.

The Durham Performance Arts Center (or DPAC for those in the know) has many plays and concerts. The musical “The Band’s Visit” will be shown on the weekend of the game. Check this out if you like musicals.

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There are many options for eating. Pizzeria Toro is a lovely wood-fired pizza. The Viceroy serves Indian food. Taberna Tapas has Spanish tapas options. Copa is a Cuban tapas bar. Bull City Burger and Brewery is a burger tapas bar … no, actually they only serve good burgers (liked with the tapas thing). There is also Dame’s Chicken and Waffles, The Pit BBQ, and M Koko Korean food.

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For bars, check out The Roof, which, as the name suggests, is a rooftop bar with a great view of the city. Boxcar Barcade is a bar with lots of arcade cabinets to play while drinking. Motorco is a nice bar that occasionally plays local bands and comedy acts. Full team and Ponysaurus brews are also popular breweries that are well worth a visit.

Sights: the campus highlights

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The first thing you notice when entering the Duke campus is the architecture of the buildings. The buildings of the west campus are all designed in the “Collegiate Gothic Style”, which means that the campus is reminiscent of castles and churches from old England. All of the buildings on the west campus are constructed from local stone quarried from Hillsborough, NC, better known as “Duke Stone”. The combination of stone and architectural style gives the entire campus a uniform but strange appearance compared to other campuses.

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The building in the Duke that most embodies the Gothic style is the one that was designed first but last built: the chapel. The chapel is a holdover from the Duke’s Methodist history. Although the Duke family are Methodists, the chapel is a sanctuary open to all people regardless of their religious background. The chapel is a beautiful piece of architecture and history that has to be seen on campus.

More modern buildings and certain areas of the campus use a Georgian style or more modern architectural techniques the further you get from the campus center. That’s partly because Duke is made up of combined campuses that have been merged. Another reason is the limited amount of remaining ducal stones that are available for the construction of buildings. Duke-Stein’s limited resources have meant that building designs need to get more creative in the use of the material.

Other attractions on campus include the Duke Botanical Gardens. The gardens are home to a wide variety of plants from around the world. Since you are visiting in the fall, not all of these plants will bloom, but it is a beautiful place well worth a visit.

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There is also the Cameron Indoor Stadium, the Duke basketball stadium. The stadium is generally closed, but there is a museum of Duke sports history on the side that is well worth a visit. As you step into the stadium, you may find how small Cameron feels compared to our own thriller dome. Part of what makes Cameron so intimidating is how many people the Duke fan base can fit into such a small space. Getting tickets to a basketball game at the stadium is pretty hard, so try to take a tour while you are in the area instead.

There is so much to see and do near Duke before and after you watch Saturday’s game. Duke’s fan base is also pretty relaxed compared to other major programs. Duke fans love to welcome other fans and learn more about them and discuss the area (at least until the game starts … damn, some even stay nice during the game). I know Duke isn’t high on the must-see list, but it has a lot going for it. If you have the chance, be sure to check it out and if you’re already leaving I wish you a nice weekend up there. GO JACKETS !!!