Durham, N.C. - Places To Go

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Parent Category: Travel Info

Category: Travel Feature

Published on Tuesday, 06 April 2010 20:44

Written by Laura Blum

Several years ago a producer friend attended the Full Frame International Film Festival, and gold-starred it as a "destination festival." Not only was its host city of Durham, N.C. "beautiful," he clucked, but it offered so many "Things to See and Do."

Having grown up there, I'd never heard anything more preposterous. Except perhaps Thomas Wolfe's assertion that you can't go home again; any place where the grocery checkout girl asks how you'll be fixin' your Granny Smiths and pecans bears revisiting. But the hick town of my Boone's Farm-soaked youth, a tourist attraction?

The Lord works in mysterious ways.

I got to reckoning that my friend — and Durham's five and a half million annual tourists — had a point. Red clay; pines silhouetted against the Carolina sky; magnolias by the Eno River (and sass like "We Southern magnolias grow in dirt"): pretty soon I'd slopped together a mess of arguments for the Bull City's appeal, not only for its scenery, history and cuisine, but as a whole heap of culture to boot.    

Bennett Place
Soon after General Robert E. Lee's Appomattox 1865 surrender, Confederate General Joseph E. Johnston and Union General William T. Sherman met at James and Nancy Bennett's farm to effectively end the Civil War. Stick around for a week after Full Frame (April 8-11, 2010) and catch the 145th Anniversary Surrender Commemoration (April 17-18) at the exact spot where the War's largest troop capitulation was signed. Tack, anyone?
4409 Bennett Memorial Rd.
Durham, NC 27705
(919) 383-4345
This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
www.nchistoricsites.org/bennett/

Duke University Chapel
As Duke students know, getting high needn't involve chemistry lab. Rising 210 feet above West Campus, this neo-Gothic stone chapel has been elevating souls since the Depression. Climb up to its 50-bell tower, and if the view of Duke forest guilt-trips you over next year's Christmas tree, repent downstairs at a church service accompanied by the 5,200-pipe Flentrop Organ.
100 Chapel Drive, Duke University
Durham, NC 27708
919-681 1704
www.chapel.duke.edu

Sarah P. Duke Memorial Gardens
Everything comes up rosy at Duke University's botanical gardens, offering lovers great make out spots since 1934. Wander its five miles of paths through exotic leafy things, and toss a Frisbee on the South Lawn. Fun factoid: the 36th Parallel of Latitude cuts through here, a 1988 discovery giving new meaning to the Terrace Garden's landscaping model, the globe's seven lines of latitude. Renovation is currently underway to de-scuzz the famed lily pond stocked with Koi, comets and goldfish.
Campus Drive at Bynum St
426 Anderson Street
Durham, NC 27708
(919) 684-3698
www.hr.duke.edu/dukegardens

Nasher Museum of Art at Duke University
I just happened to be visiting the Nasher when a terrific show of Andy Warhol photos was up, featuring, among other beautiful people, Nancy Nasher. The Duke grad and her family are to thank for opening their alumni association envelopes. Now five pavilions radiate out from a huge sky-lit hall, giving Durham a respectable museum. Permanent collections span Medieval, Renaissance and pre-Columbian art plus contemporary works with my new favorite assemblage, Petah Coyne's haunting tangle of decayed flowers, birds and found materials known as “Untitled #1111 (Little Ed’s Daughter Margaret).”
2001 Campus Dr
Durham, NC 27705  
919-684-5135
www.nasher.duke.edu

Duke University Lemur Center
If you like the animated film, Madagascar, you'll love this research center dedicated to lemurs and other prosimian primates. Ring-tailed lemurs, galagos and even those real-life cartoons, Aye-Ayes, make up the roughly 250 frat members of Duke's best behaved animal house. Who says they're the evolutionary predecessors to monkeys, apes -- and humans? Call in advance to schedule a tour.
3705 Erwin Rd
Durham, NC 27705
919-489-3364
www.lemur.duke.edu

Eno River State Park
Escape the quiet of Durham to the quiet of Eno River State Park, heading due northwest. Outdoor enthusiasts will find canoeing, fishing and 21 miles of well-maintained hiking trails to feed body and spirit before cracking into the gorp. To bivouac in its riverside campsite, make reservations in advance.
6101 Cole Mill Rd
Durham, NC 27705  
919-383-1686
www.ncparks.gov

American Tobacco
Gone are the days when a kid could wake up to the sweet smell of tobacco spicing the town, or score a foot-long cigarette at a field trip of a cigarette factory. But not all is lost: the former Lucky Strike cigarette factory now anchors an entertainment, shopping and restaurant complex in the heart of downtown. Parent company American Tobacco Company also built the nearby Watts and Yuille tobacco warehouses, which was recycled 20 years ago as a hotspot, Brightleaf Square.

318 Blackwell St.
Durham NC 27701
(919) 433-1566
http://www.americantobaccocampus.com

Brightleaf Square
Once used to store, age and ferment tobacco, the neo-Romanesque brick warehouses of this indoor/outdoor mall date from the early 1900's. Like Bullington Warehouse, the restored site is on the National Register of Historic Places.
905 West Main Street
Durham, NC 27701
(919) 682-9229
www.brightleafsquare.com

North Carolina Museum of Life and Science
Interactive exhibits, a railway ride and a dinosaur trail are part of the hoopla to be had at this 70-acre swath in northern Durham. Flit around the Magic Wings Butterfly House in the recreated tropical rainforest, or ferret out ampler creatures – like bats, gators and owls -- in the Carolina Wildlife zone. The Museum's newest resident is a black bear yearling named Yona, whom you'll find cavorting in the bear yard of Explore the Wild.
433 Murray Ave
Durham, NC 27704  
919-220-5429
www.ncmls.org

Bullock's Bar B Cue Inc
For folks like me who colonized Durham prior to the advent of the bagel, this southern establishment with its heavenly hush puppies gave us our daily bread. Comfort food doesn't get homier than Bullock's overcooked green beans and saucy barbecue brought out – s l o w l y – by waitresses with piled hair. Romantic décor and snappy service may be in short supply, but clear your innerds for the heaping flavors of the Carolinas preserved within these 60-year-old walls.  
3330 Quebec Dr
Durham, NC 27705
(919) 383-3211

For a related article on Full Frame Film Festival, see http://filmfestivaltraveler.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=655:full-frame-documentary-film-festival-serves-non-fiction-feast&catid=31:general

What To Do in Guadalajara

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Parent Category: Travel Info

Category: Travel Feature

Published on Sunday, 14 March 2010 18:03

Written by Laura Blum

Like the rest of Mexico, Guadalajara tourism is still recuperating from swine flu. This means lots of healthy bargains for those looking to slip late winter blahs and catch the Guadalajara International Film Festival in mid-March — or just hit its home town anytime.

Plus, you can make up for your Vitamin D deficiency under Guadalajara's generally sunny skies. Perched at an altitude of 5,000 feet, the capital of the state of Jalisco claims to have the best climate in North America, with the mercury hovering around 70 degrees year-round.

The first time I visited, to attend the Guadalajara Film Festival, sunshine wasn't the only thing bursting. The previous year, five gas explosions had torn through the city's sewers, mincing five miles of streets and killing more than 200 people. And in May 1993, two months after I left, an archbishop and six people were felled in a shootout, allegedly between rival cocaine cartels.

But this sort of excitement is the rare exception in a place where the biggest frictions usually involve soccer teams or mariachi guitar chords. Should you be so lucky as to find yourself in "La Perla del Occidente" ('Pearl of the West'), as Guadalajara is affectionately known, here's a quick roundup of what to see:

Catedral de Guadalajara (Guadalajara Cathedral)
Smack dab in the heart of the Centro Histórico rises the Metropolitan Cathedral of Guadalajara, framed by four colonial plazas. Its original towers were smashed in the 1818 earthquake, and the current spires sport yellow and blue tile. Built over the course of 50 years beginning in the 1560s, Guadalajara's refrigerator-magnet staple is an impressive mishmash of Neo-Gothic, Baroque and neoclassical styles (architectural terms whose formal spellings are equally diverse). This being Mexico, there's bound to be a mural inside: Here it's "The Assumption of the Blessed Virgin," by Bartolomé Esteban Murillo.
15 de Septiembre 16
Guadalajara, Jalisco
+525 33 3616 2491‎
 
El Instituto Cultural Cabañas (Cabañas Cultural Institute)
From the unassuming exterior of this cultural center, you'd never guess that inside lurk some of Mexico's "Wow!"-est murals. José Clemente Orozco painted them in the late 1930s to spiff up this former shelter for orphans, widows, the poor and the elderly. "The Man of Fire" is a standout among the muralist's 57 works on display alongside his smaller paintings, drawings and cartoons adoring the Institute's 106 rooms and 20 odd patios.
Calle Cabañas 8, Centro Histórico
Guadalajara, Jalisco, 44100
+525 33 3668-1647

Mercado Libertad (Liberty Market)
Pigs feet, bootlegged DVDs, unidentified fish — you'll find pretty much everything in the this maze of a covered central market at Plaza Tapatia's East end. Nicknamed San Juan de Dios after the nearby church, it's where you'll score herbal remedies for bronchitis, a broken heart and whatever else ails you.
Javier Mina y Calzada Independencia
44100 Guadalajara
Jalisco

Plaza de los Mariachis (Mariachi Square)
Around the corner from the market is the birthplace of mariachi music. For about $10 a song, you can get serenaded by an eight-piece orchestra. Ask someone to translate the corridos (ballads), which typically dish gossip about misbehaving neighbors, politicians and other folks who make oral history come alive.
Av. Lopez Mateos Sur No 2375
at Ave Mariano Otero
45050 Guadalajara, Mexico

Museo del Premio Nacional de la Cerámica Pantaleón Panduro (Pantaleón Panduro Museum of the National Pottery Prize)
Who was this Pantaleón Panduro that got one of Mexico's fabbest museums named after him? The father of modern ceramics in Jalisco, which is to say, in a country of pottery aficionados, a big chingón deal. Among the stunning pieces you'll encounter here, including talavera from Puebla, arboles de vida from Metepec and bruñido from Tonalá, are prizewinners from the Museum's national ceramics competition, held every June. After you've depleted your Spanish synonyms for "beautiful," stroll around the surrounding complex, now called Centro Cultural El Refugio, which in colonial times served a religious community. Keep strolling and you'll hit Tlaquepaque's craft market, where ceramic knockoffs are available for pesos you can afford. Guadalajara's Tlaquepaque suburb is well worth the schlep, with its cobbled streets and converted 19th-century abodes that now house restaurants and boutiques.
Calle Priciliano Sánchez, 191, at Calle Flórida
San Pedro Tlaquepaque
Guadalajara, Jalisco
+525 33 3562-7036

El Pantéon de Belén (Belen Cemetery)
"…when the tree destroys the tomb completely, the vampire will be free to once again attack those who stay up too late.” So goes the last line of a famous vampire tale about this historical cemetery dating to 1786. Intrepid souls may want to take a guided night tour of the grounds. The rest of us wimps can catch the crumbling tombstones in daylight, and check out the museum. Or hear more legends of haunted souls, from "The Pirate, The Lovers and The Monk" to "The Child Afraid of the Dark" and "The Story of José Cuervo."
Belén No. 684
Belén, El Retiro
Guadalajara, Jalisco, Mexico
+535 33 3613 7786
 
El Tequila Express
If you have a free Saturday, hop the first-class train to nearby Tequila and the factory where the Sauza brand of the municipality's namesake spirit is produce. There, some nine hours of mariachi music, tequila and beer will keep you properly hydrated. The Hacienda de San Josel Refugio, where Tequila Herradura is concocted, offers a tour elucidating everything you didn't know you didn't know about the Tequila-making process. Eat, drink, make merry — and drink some more.
Avenida Washington at Calzada Independencia
Fracc Guadalajara
Jalisco  44100

 

Washington, DC A Tourist Capitol

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Parent Category: Travel Info

Category: Travel Feature

Published on Sunday, 14 February 2010 01:03

Written by Lloyd Carroll

New Yorkers should feel right at home in Washinton DC for numerous reasons ranging from culture, points of interest, fine restaurants, to a first class mass transit system. You really don’t need a car because Washington’s subway, better known as the Metro, can get you to almost anywhere in the Beltway. The trains are clean, the service is frequent, and it only costs $1.35 during off-peak hours.
      
Many of the most popular attractions in Washington do not charge admission. The National Zoo, located in the city’s tony Adams Morgan neighborhood, attracts millions of visitors each year who want to view its primate and big cats exhibits, and of course, the big draw, the great pandas from China. The zoo is quite hilly so be prepared for strenuous exercise if you want to see everything here.
      
One can spend weeks visiting all of the Smithsonian museums. My suggestion is to see the Museum of American History and the Natural History Museum first. The former places a lot of emphasis on pop culture. Among the displays here are the ruby red slippers that Judy Garland wore in “The Wizard of Oz,” Fonzie’s leather jacket from “Happy Days,” and the chairs that Archie and Edith Bunker had in their fictional Rego Park living room from the classic ‘70s CBS breakthrough TV comedy, “All In The Family.” The latter, which has just gotten a lot of play from the recently released sequel to the Ben Stiller film, “Night At The Museum,” features numerous artifacts and fossils.
      
There are some novel and intriguing privately-owned museums as well. The Crime & Punishment Museum chronicles the history of organized crime in the United States, with particular emphasis on such 1930s gangsters as Al Capone, John Dillinger, Bonnie Parker & Clyde Barrow, to nefarious serial killers as Charles Manson, John Wayne Gacy , Albert “The Boston Strangler” De Salvio and Ted Bundy. Of interest to Queens residents is an exhibit on the late Howard Beach “Dapper Don,” John Gotti, and a 1992 letter from David “Son of Sam” Berkowitz to an old friend in which he reminisces about the fun nights that they spent in taverns on Queens Boulevard. Fox Television’s popular Saturday night show, “America’s Most Wanted,” has its studio here.
   
A block away from the Crime & Punishment Museum is the International Spy Museum which looks at the history of espionage from the time of Benedict Arnold right up to today. The Spy Museum has plentiful information about Allies spies behind the Axis lines in World War II, to the CIA-KGB battles during the Cold War. The museum spares no details about such American traitors as Aldrich Ames, Robert Hanssen and John Walker Lindh. On a lighter note, there is a lot of spy pop culture here including props from James Bond movies, as well as from such TV shows as “Get Smart,” “The Man From UNCLE” and “The Avengers.”
    
As a journalist, I have to admit that I am partial to the Newseum, the first museum dedicated to the history of news reporting, starting with the early days of the Gutenberg printing press right up to the Internet. The current front page of a daily newspaper from each American city is on display, as well as those capturing historic moments such as V-E Day, the JFK assassination, and 9/11. Photojournalism has a dedicated wing here as well.
    
On the Newseum’s second floor, visitors are apprised that community newspapers are thriving while their daily counterparts are in financial trouble. It would be nice if there was an exhibit dedicated to community weeklies instead of just getting a pat on the back.
     
The most somber, yet emotionally-moving, museum arguably in the world is the National Holocaust Museum which of course examines the hate-filled world of the Nazi Empire that cost millions of Jews, gypsies, homosexuals, Jehovah’s Witnesses, and Gentiles who dared to stand up to the Hilter regime their lives. The June 10, 2009 rifle attack on the Holocaust Museum by 88 year-old Nazi sympathizer James von Brunn that killed heroic security guard Stephen Johns is a reminder that hate is sadly very much alive. Ironically von Brunn’s despicable action is a stark reminder of why everyone should make at least one visit here.
       
There are no shortage of terrific dining experiences in DC. For those on a budget, Nando’s Peri-Peri Restaurant, has very tasty flame-grilled chicken and has quickly become a favorite of the business lunch crowd. A great way to spend an evening is to take a three-hour Odyssey dinner cruise. You get to enjoy both a four-course meal and a trip on the scenic Potomac that sails from Georgetown to Alexandria, Va. Finally, the Juniper Restaurant at the Fairmont Hotel is renowned for its Sunday brunch as well as for its local seafood dishes such as Maryland crab cake.  
      
The Fairmont Hotel is also a great place to stay. Located in the beautiful West End district that is home to lovely brownstones and several parks, and away from the DC hustle and bustle, the Fairmont is located near two Metro stops and is a short walk to hip Georgetown. There is also a beautiful outdoor courtyard in the center of the hotel that has been used for many a wedding.
    
Washington is easy to get to via Amtrak (I recommend taking the Acela Express which is quite cheap on weekends). There are also several bus carriers such as Bolt, Megabus and
DC Trails that compete so fiercely that fares are frequently just $25 each way. For those in a hurry, both Delta and US Airways have hourly service from LaGuardia, while Forest Hills’ own JetBlue flies from JFK to Dulles Airport throughout the day.
     
For more information, log onto www.destinationdc.com or call the Washington Visitors Bureau at (202) 789-7000