Love Your CARPET
letter
To Durham, With Love
I
5634 Durham Chapel Hill Blvd., Durham, NC
mentioned in a recent letter that Durham Magazine just celebrated its 100th issue. I didn’t realize – because, honestly, who can keep track of anything after a year in a pandemic – that I was approaching my own milestone: 10 years at Shannon Media Inc. I started here as an intern, freshly graduated from UNC. My love affair with Durham was hard-won at first, since I had no intention of willingly going anywhere near a city associated with Duke. My partner, luckily, is a born-and-bred Durhamite, and he – gradually, strategically – showed me what I was missing. The first place we went back in summer 2010 was Sarah P. Duke Gardens, a readers’ favorite event space where my best friend would, some five-odd years later, get married. I could have spent days exploring all the gardens had to offer and learning about its history; instead, we took goofy photos in the Asiatic Arboretum that I look back on fondly. (The gardens reopened to the public on June 1, too!) I get why these places win “Best of Durham” awards (page 60) year after year, thanks in part to my first introductions – date nights at the Durham Performing Arts Center to see musicals like “Matilda” and “Ghost,” brunch at Motorco Music Hall with friends and an over-the-top bloody mary, shopping at The Scrap Exchange for craft items (whether or not those projects ever came to fruition is another story) and so many more. Our years spent renting a cute 1930s duplex in Watts-Hillandale, a readers’ (and our!) favorite neighborhood, led us to discover the wealth of amazing spots around Ninth Street, like Elmo’s Diner, Vin Rouge, The Regulator Bookshop, Yoga Off East, Happy + Hale, Heavenly Buffaloes and Vintage Home South, among others. Now that we bought a home in north Durham, I’ve spent most of my time scouring the shelves for treasures at TROSA Thrift Store, taking my two cats to Eno Animal Hospital or walking around the DIY District/Durham Central Park area, enjoying my old haunts like Fullsteam and Cocoa Cinnamon as well as new additions like Heal Tree CBD, Lula & Sadie’s in the Durham Food Hall and Conniption Gin cocktails at Durham Distillery’s Corpse Reviver Bar & Lounge. It’s vitally important for us to support all our local establishments, which endured undoubtedly their toughest year yet (see page 123 for more on the recovery of arts, restaurants and retail). So go forth, readers, and spread the Bull City love far and wide!
Beauty, Artistry & Tradition FOR OVER 40 YEARS
www.persiancarpet.com 6
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T H E COVER
Photo by John Michael Simpson
@amanda_maclaren amanda@durhammag.com