Duke Gardens

A morning walk around Duke Gardens with the boys.

cotton + tobacco

On the last day that Ben's parents were here, we spent the morning at the cotton farm (Oak View County Park) and then went to the American Tobacco Campus in downtown Durham in the evening. We had delicious burgers and shakes at Only Burger (their bacon mac 'n cheese bites and onion rings were pretty awesome too). They also had this nice big table in a separate area with a sliding glass door to close it off from the rest of the dining room. Perfect for our big group and keeping Simon under control. The weather was so nice that evening and perfect for wandering around the Tobacco Campus enjoying the fountains and water features.

The Burt's Bees headquarters are in downtown Durham and they have a beehive! We had fun trying to locate the queen bee.

durham birthday tour

The weather was gorgeous on my birthday so I took the boys and headed to Durham to check out some bakeries and Duke Gardens. We had lunch at Toast and it was delicious. We had a yummy panini and the most delicious roasted beet, citrus and goat cheese crostini, as well as a honey and goat cheese crostini. Ben was able to meet us at Duke Gardens and it was fun to see the blossoms starting to appear and watch the boys explore. We picked up donuts (my birthday cake) at Monuts and then stopped at Scratch Bakery and tried their tangerine meringue tart which was divine. When the girls got home from school we had donuts and then saw Big Hero 6 at the dollar theater. Ben spent most of his time wandering the theater hallways with Simon who is not ready to sit through a movie yet. We had dinner at Five Guys and then headed home to open presents. Kids always make birthdays more fun and exciting and I was happy to spend mine with my favorite people who always make me feel loved. Ben arranged for a babysitter the following night and we went out to dinner in downtown Raleigh and then saw the play "Peter and the Starcatcher" which was fun.