The
best of
d u r ha m
minding their
a sweet potato and spinach frittata, while her husband and talented baker, Daniel Edwards, pulls something golden brown from the oven. But this morning, the ground floor is quiet. Georgia and Shambé – 12-year-old siamese cats – lounge on couch cushions in the sitting room, unaware that April 12 marks a milestone for the three-story brick home; Daniel and Monica are celebrating the 25th anniversary of opening their business, which was just named one of our readers’ favorite places to stay in our Best of Durham poll. The couple often join guests at breakfast in the dining room to sip coffee and find out how dinner plans panned out the previous night. They’ll suggest a bustling new brewery to try, give directions to the Durham Performing Arts Center (a mere few blocks away) or just chat about what the day holds. Monica wasn’t born here, but after living here for more than 30 years, she has enough insider knowledge and pride in the Bull City that she might as well be a Durhamite. She’s now a self-proclaimed “ambassador” of Durham, having moved to the area from eastern North Carolina to earn her master’s in business administration at North Carolina Central University. There, she met Daniel, a New Jersey native who was studying criminal justice. Monica and Daniel delight in helping travelers navigate our city for the first time. But even locals book stays to enjoy their hospitality. “When people start making reservations, it’s either for the location or an event, but then they get here and that shifts,” Daniel says. “We have personality, and we become a part of their experience.” Interacting with visitors is part of the Edwardses’ everyday life and what they love most about their roles, although they’ve had to navigate its ups and downs. “We don’t advertise that we’re [people] of color,” Daniel says. Morehead Manor Bed and Breakfast is just two blocks from the “Sometimes people are taken American Tobacco Trail and three from the Durham Bulls Athletic Park. aback.” Yet, Monica says, they It’s owned by Monica Edwards and Daniel Edwards (pictured right with one of their cats). “get a lot of first-time inngoers,
manor
The couple behind this readers’ favorite B&B reflect on a quarter century in the hospitality business
irds chatter, a buttery sunrise filters through the trees and warmth creeps back into the air as Morehead Hill neighbors wake to an idyllic Tuesday morning in April. Yet, it’s unusually still at Morehead Manor Bed and
Breakfast. Innkeeper
and co-owner Monica Edwards is typically busy in the kitchen by 9 a.m., whipping up a stack of her zucchini-pecan waffles or 60
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