Durham Bulls Baseball Review

Durham Bulls stadium; Kari attempting to and succeeding at ruining the picture

 

I have been living in Chapel Hill for almost four years now and regretfully have not really ventured into Durham much until this year. Two of my very good friends, Andria and Chris, just got engaged (!!!) and lived together in Durham. They’re the reason I began exploring the city at all in the first place, and now I love it.

 

This past weekend, the three of us attended two Durham Bulls baseball games back-to-back on Friday and Saturday nights. My other friend Kari also joined us on Saturday. I have to say that I really do enjoy watching baseball live. The welcoming atmosphere, warm weather, and good company make it an all-round fun sport to watch. Not to mention, those vendors that try to sell you beer and peanuts liven up those lulls in the game. 

 

On Friday night, they had fireworks! To my surprise, the show was much more impressive than I had anticipated. Better than some of the 4th of July fireworks shows I have seen throughout my life. Sitting in the outfield has never been better either because the fireworks were almost right above our heads. Just beautiful. Here’s a little sneak peak.

 

On Saturday night, Barefoot Wines & Bubbly held a free wine tasting on the concourse right as you arrive. They were sampling their new Barefoot Refresh line for summertime. As bizarre as it sounds, Barefoot encourages you to drink it over ice. Ironically so, my mom would probably love this wine. She recently acquired a taste for it, mostly the sweet stuff like Moscato, but every time I see her drinking it, there’s ice in her cup. And every time I see her doing that, I scold her. You’re never supposed to put ice in your wine cause it dilutes the flavor. Well Barefoot is defying that rule big time. They even served the samples with ice at the ball game. I’m personally more of a dry wine kind of girl, but these wines would be pretty refreshing poolside under the sun.

 

 

After the game, we explored a bit of downtown Durham and had a few drinks and appetizers at Alivia’s. You must try the Firefly drinks. I know they look girly, but you can’t beat Firefly vodka with some peach schnapps and syrup in a mason jar.

Happy Saturday night 

Wow, I didn’t realize how long this post got. So I’ll leave you there, and if you’re in Durham during the summertime, I urge you to catch a game and head out on the town afterwards. There are so many places to try yet so little time. Good luck.
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Caffe Driade Review

Latte with barista in background making our milkshakes

After a hectic day of helping one of my dear friends and housemates move out, she and her family treated me to Caffe Driade, a cafe located on East Franklin St. in Chapel Hill close to Sunrise Biscuits. My friend had raved to me about this cute little coffee shop, and she was right about everything.

She suggested (and basically ordered me) the Driade Shake, which included a shot of espresso, freshly-ground coffee, I’m assuming some cocoa powder, and lots and lots of ice cream. This milkshake was honestly the best I’ve ever had, and I need to be able to replicate it! I will probably definitely try my hand at it in the very near future. Perfecting that recipe won’t necessarily in decreasing my jean size, but I could always just run an extra mile (or a few I suppose) when I actually do. Believe me, it’s worth every little calorie.

Driade Shake; I salivate just from looking at it

Three of us ordered the shake while my friend’s mom opted for a latte. I was able to taste some of hers, and I have to admit that it was better than DaisyCakes’. It was also a lot bigger as it was practically served in a bowl and also donned a beautiful artistic design. These baristas are no joke.

Latte at Caffe Driade in large mug

In addition to the café menu, Caffe Driade has so much more to offer in terms of environment and ambience. It has a ton of outdoor seating, tables shaded by trees, and strung lights hanging over the patio at nighttime.Not only are the patios beautiful, but they also have Wifi access (for $7/day) and outlets located near the tables. Down the hill a bit from the sitting areas is a walking path that can be accessed through a gate on the side of the patio. We didn’t venture down there on Sunday, but I’ll be sure to do it in the future; I’ve also heard that it’s quite long.

All in all, this little hideaway is perfect for studying or catching up with old friends or even a romantic date. Therefore, you should check out what I now like to call Chapel Hill’s hidden gem.

Front counter of Caffe Driade

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Daisy Cakes Bakery Dessert Room Review

Hey y’all. This past Friday, I was so excited to attend the Dessert Room at DaisyCakes Bakery & Cafe in downtown Durham, NC. I had heard about this bakery from some friends who had gone to the very first Dessert Room on Valentine’s Day this year. They had received 5 different courses of desserts (savory, sweet, tart, etc.) for only $15! Now that sounded like a great deal, right? Well for them, it was. Unfortunately, I was not so lucky…

I had made reservations for us three the night before. When I arrived in this cute but tiny cafe, not one person even looked my way, which might I add, is pretty difficult in such a small amount of space. I did notice our table was set though because it was the last one available and had three menus already placed on top. Only after almost causing a waitress to drop a glass of champagne by bumping into her did she lead me to my seat.

My friends were running a few minutes late, so I was able to browse the menu only to be disappointed by the options. Many of them sounded and even looked delicious as they were delivered to nearby tables, but boy were they small.

Dessert Room Menu, May 16

Once we were all there, we decided that the three of us would share three different plates. We ordered the Frozen Coconut & Chocolate Parfait, Mini Eclair Sampler, and Chocolate & Pistachio. I also ordered a latte because I thought it would pair well with the coconut and chocolate. The presentation was beautiful and the latte was quite large, so I really appreciated having that as an addition to the rest of the food. The latte was prepared perfectly, not too strong and not too sweet, so I would recommend ordering that if you ever go there.

Latte with leaf design

Before our full order was served, we were given a complementary lemon cream-cup bite: a nice preview to the actual dessert.

Complementary lemon bite

A couple of minutes later, we finally received our order. We each started off with a couple of small bites of our own plate, then proceeded to pass the plates around for sharing. FYI, sharing meant that we pretty much each got one bite of each. What I thought was supposed to be three courses desserts turned out to be one plate with three ingredients that made up one miniature dessert. One of my “desserts” (the almond foam) counted as the maybe 5 chopped up almonds next to the coconut and chocolate parfait. And let me just say that these pictures, as aesthetically pleasing as they are, do make the desserts look larger than in reality. Needless to say, I was far from impressed.

Frozen Coconut & Chocolate Parfait

Chocolate & Pistachio

Mini Eclair Sampler

Now, you better believe I finished my plate and almost licked it clean, but, had I known earlier, I would be hesitant to pay $9 just to look at a piece of what was essentially a rectangle of ice-cream the size of my pointer finger. Don’t get me wrong, the food was fantastic and I’m sure they have a great clientele base, but the Dessert Room could use some improvements. Maybe a return to the 5-course dessert would serve as a more unique experience, even if management does need to increase the price from its original $15. In my opinion, it’d be worth it.

Sad ending for such a small dessert

Overall, I did have high expectations (maybe too high?) for this quaint cafe. And it definitely did not live up to them, at least for this monthly event. The sweets were of course yummy, and the Dessert Room is a great idea, but I personally would not go back for the Dessert Room again unless significant changes are made. Let me know if anything does indeed change, but until then, I think I’ll explore my options in the many other bakeries located in the Chapel Hill/Durham area.

Intro: Chapel Hill Times Entertainment Review

This category is quite ambitious, but I’ll give it a shot. I’ll (attempt to) write book, movie, restaurant, and other odds and ends entertainment reviews. And I promise to post pictures to be the real source of entertainment here.