THIS IS YOUR KINGDOM

"This is your Kingdom" is an online United Kingdom travel guide that handpicks contributors to write about their favorite places--picture-perfect villages, foodie towns, unspoiled hamlets, rivers and streams.  Since our daughter was born at the Royal Free Hospital and we lived in London for 3 years, I have enjoyed every UK adventure we can manage, armchair included.  Travel is one of the things many of us have been yearning for.

Bunhill Fields, London

Although we don't have kings in America, I love the idea of thinking of our country as our Kingdom, filled with magical forests, mountains, lakes and other places that spark our imaginations. Our Kingdom has the views we miss when we are away, the people we know, the places we haunt and for many, the language we speak.    

Another UK source, The Simple Things magazine, includes a monthly feature where someone in love with their city--from anywhere in the world-- takes the reader on a tour.  This always makes me think about where I live.  Not Copenhagen or Lisbon or any well-known city at all, but Durham, North Carolina, a diverse, blue-collar university town in the rolling wooded hills of the Piedmont, halfway between the mountains and the sea.

The monthly feature in The Simple Things is set up as a Q & A that reveals the hidden gems of a city.  I can't say Durham's gems are all that hidden, but here's my Q & A. I hope it triggers thoughts about your own kingdom, or makes you want to visit mine.  

Q  What's the best winter-time activity in Durham?  
A   Duke Basketball!  Duke University is home to the winningest basketball coach in NCAA history, Coach Mike Krzyzewski (Coach K) with over 1000 wins at Duke and 5 National Championships. That is our winter time activity--college basketball.  Tonight is our 2022 big rivalry away game down the road in Chapel Hill.

National Anthem, Duke-Carolina Game

Duke also has wonderful gardens and a beautiful Gothic Chapel where the 50-bell carillon plays at 5 p.m. each day.  Who would expect a Gothic enclave in a Southern town in North Carolina? 

Duke Chapel

Q  What are the people like? 
A  We're diverse. That's our pride. Our nearest elementary school has students from 80 countries. Multi-cultural night is an adventure.  Native costumes and dances, food trucks from everywhere. 

Q  What's the best place for a night out?
A   There are so many.  One of our favorites is the top of the Durham Hotel, a contemporary renovation of a former mid-century modern bank building.  The views from the rooftop raw bar are spectacular. 

Sunset from Top of the Durham

Q Has Durham's history been preserved? 
A  Yes!  Brightleaf Square, West Village . . . all of our tobacco buildings from the last century have been renovated for multi-use--condos, restaurants, shops.  The American Tobacco Campus lights the old Luck Strike Tower at Christmas.  It's a great place to hang out year round.  DPAC (Durham Performing Arts Center) is a world-class venue.  We saw Jerry Seinfeld there, Phantom, took the children to Radio City Rockettes. . . .

Lucky Strike Tower

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

This barely touches the treasures in my town.  There's the Eno River state park, the historical Black Wall Street area, the Museum of Life and Science, the Nasher Art Museum. . . .  Isn't it nice when we love where we live? When we feel like our home, our city or town, our special beach, our hang-out spots, the park our dog loves, the rivers we rock-hop on, the stars we see from our front yard--all these are our Kingdom?