Memorial Day Vacation in Raleigh - Durham: Day 1

Me and Miriam at the Durham Distillery

My friend Miriam, whom I met in DC ages ago, had been living in San Francisco for the past several years. But in January she moved back to her home state of North Carolina. I never had the chance to visit her in California, so when she moved back East, I sort of invited myself over to visit for the Memorial Day holiday weekend. Luckily, she's the kind of girl who's game for anything and quickly said yes to my own invitation.

Day 1

I arrived Saturday morning, and we headed to Best Buy as soon as I landed because I thought I was having a computer crisis (but the Geek Squad guy turned on my computer easily). After the relief of not having to spend hundreds of dollars on a new computer, we made our way back to her place in Raleigh. We cleaned ourselves up, and then headed back to Durham for a BBQ hosted by one of her friends from college. Everyone was so warm and welcoming (Southern hospitality is a real thing), and the food was perfect for the hot, holiday vacation vibe (the banana pudding...Mmmmm!).

After a couple of hours at the BBQ (and a food baby later), Miriam and I wandered downtown Durham for a little while.

I had to have my picture taken with "Major." Note the huge testicles on this guy.

Unscripted is a hotel that has a 21+ pool that's open to the public. We stopped by, but the party felt a little douchey...

Image found here

Our last stop downtown (or just outside of it) was the Durham Distillery. It was named the # 1 Craft Gin distillery in the U.S. in 2018 by USA TODAY and the winner of Best Distillery and Best Local Liquor by Indy Week (2016, 2017 & 2018). With limited hours, I was very glad we could sneak this one in. They had six items to taste, all of which were delicious (their American Dry Conniption Gin had the most amazing botanicals; I would have bought a bottle if I didn't have to fly home). The tasting is only $10, and you get to keep your shot glass, so I highly recommend this as a stop if you're ever in Durham!

From there we headed to Irregardless Cafe, a restaurant that offers a lot of vegetarian and vegan options. I enjoyed my Vegan Sex salad (of course I had to try that!), while Miriam had the Wild Mushroom Polenta (which I thought was sadly disgusting. #sorrynotsorry).

Wild Mushroom Polenta. The presentation was lovely, but the taste was not.

You can't tell with all the avocado (so generous!) and the chicken, but there is a sweet potato and quinoa square under there.

After dinner, we headed home for a disco nap before going out dancing at Arcana, and underground bar and lounge in Durham. Miriam had seen that the bar was hosting a "Whorechata" dance party, which we thought would be Latin trap music but was mostly just regular club music. The place is a small, dark venue known for its tarot card readings. The DJ party kind of felt like we were just in the basement of someone's house, so there was certainly no club vibe. We enjoyed $5 shots of Rumchata and the dancing, but after less than two hours, we were kind of over it. We fell asleep quite quickly once we were home. Such a fun first day!