Travel Plans
How to get to Durham?
Duke Chapel and Hill House, where the wedding will be held, are located in Durham, North Carolina. The closest airport is Raleigh-Durham Airpot (RDU) and airports all around the US fly there.
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Traveling from Brazil there are a few options:
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- Copa airlines - fly from Rio de Janeiro to Panama City and from Panama City to Raleigh-Durham Airport.
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- United Airlines, American Airlines e Delta fly from many big cities in Brazil (SP, RJ, BH, etc) to other big cities in the US (Miami, Orlando, Dallas, New York etc) and all of those cities have direct flights to Raleigh-Durham airport.
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Where to stay?
If you want to stay close to Duke Chapel and Hill House, where the wedding will take place, look for a hotel or airbnb in the center of Durham.
Below is a recommendation for a hotel in the center of Durham that we have a room block with reduced rate:
21c Museum Hotel Durham
$189 dollars a night + taxes if you book via the email or link below.
If booking from Friday to Sunday, use the link.
If booking for extra days, for Thursday and Monday, for example, contact Emily by email, and please identify yourself as an attendee of the Pinelli-Fogarty Wedding Room Block group to benefit from the discounted rate.
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E-MAIL: emily.williams@21chotels.com
Link: Pinelli - Fogarty Wedding Room Block
If you decide to stay at an Airbnb or another hotel, I recommend staying downtown Durham, near where the 21c Museum Hotel is located. There is a Marriot, Aloft and The Durham Hotel in the area, which are excellent options.
What to do?
Where to drink?
Downtown Durham:
- Remy's Lounge - Offers a classic bar atmosphere. For food they only serve tacos.
- Kingfisher - A speakeasy downtown Durham that transports you to a funky hidden bar in NYC. No food is served.
- Hi-Wire Brewing - A very large tap room with lots of games such as soccer pool, corn hole, and ping pong tables. Although no food is served there, you can order a pizza next door and get it delivered to the bar.
- Pour Tap Room - Pour your own beer concept with a good selection of beer, cider and wine . No food is served, but you can bring your own.
- Corpse Reviver Bar & Lounge - This is a cocktail bar located within Durham Distillery, the birthplace of Conniption Gin and a pioneer in craft distillation located in the heart of Durham,
Where to eat?
- Elmo's Diner - Try a traditional American breakfast at Elmo's.
- Tabernas Tapas - Where Lorena and Tom had their first date. This is a wonderful Spanish tapas restaurant.
- Toro Pizzeria - Serves creative wood-fired pizza.
- Mothers and Sons - A warm, rustic ambiance reminiscent of a cozy Italian home.
- Fairview Dining Room - Located on Duke campus inside the Washington Duke Inn, the restaurant offers fine dining with its "regional neo-American" specialties and elegant ambiance facing a golf course. The restaurant is open for breakfast, lunch, and dinner.
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- Durham Food Hall - Great option for larger groups, as it concentrates different restaurant in one space. Casual and modern space with a chef-driven culinary and cocktail experience.
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- Blue Note Grill - Local BBQ place with live music in the evening.
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*With the exception of Elmo's, Durham Food Hal and Blue Note Grilll, it is recommend making a reservation for any restaurant in town for tables larger than 4.
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What to do?
- Duke Gardens - 55-acre botanical wonderland where the hum of cars and traffic disappear, birds serenade visitors from treetops and streams flow alongside pathways connecting people to more than 2,500 colorful plant species. Free admission.
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- Nasher Museum - The museum is dedicated to presenting contemporary art from around the world. The museum has a strong collection of Pre-Columbian art (3,300 objects), with particularly significant holdings of Mayan ceramics and Peruvian textiles. Free admission.
- Museum of Life and Science - The museum has over 35 indoor and outdoor exhibits for all ages including an aerospace museum, a science lab, a nature preserve, a conservatory, an old-time railway and more. General Admission: $23.
- Duke's Golf Course - Schedule your tea time or just shoot some balls at the driving range.
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- Hockey Game - Watch the local team, the Carolina Hurricanes, play at the PNC arena in Raleigh, which is about 30 minutes from downtown Durham. Make sure you take a jacket with you, it is freezing inside the stadium.
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- College Basketball Game - The area has 3 great college basketball teams, Duke, UNC (where Michael Jordan played) and NC State. The tickets at the Duke stadium are the most expensive, but closest to downtown Durham. As an alternative, you can still watch a good game at UNC or NC State (they play at the same stadium as our local hockey team). College sports in the US are very competitive and there are those who prefer to follow those leagues instead of the professional one.
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- Duke Football Game - The 3 main universities in the state also have football teams. The tickets are fairly cheap when compared with basketball, so if you are staying downtown Durham, it is convenient to watch a game at Duke instead of going to other schools.
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Where to shop?
- Tanger's outlets -Outlets 26 minutes away from downtown Durham.
-Southpoint Mall - Shopping mall 17 minutes away from downtown Durham.
- North Hills - Outdoors shopping center 27 minutes away from downtown Durham.
Tips
1. Call an uber or rent a car? ​​
Rent a car if you are looking to explore the area. Public transportation is not great here and taking Ubers can quickly add up. Renting a car may save you money and time. Where to rent? I highly recommend an app called Turo, Cheaper and less beaurocratic than a regular rental car company, as it functions like an airbnb. Yes, you can drive with a license from another country.
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2. Is it legal to drink and drive?
It depends on how much you drink. In North Carolina, it is illegal to drive a vehicle while noticeably impaired or with an alcohol concentration of 0.08 or higher. But if you are drinking, don't drive.
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