Hit Bull Win Steak!
Have you seen Bull Durham? I have, but don’t remember it at all. What I do know is that it has some mega stars, is about baseball and the setting is the good old days of the Durham Bulls – waaaayyyyy before they got their fancy new stadium. I am also pretty sure it is still considered not-quite-appropriate-yet for our barely-a-teenager. No need to worry though because the games are super family friendly!
We went to a few games way back when and I remember that it was the first stadium I had been to where there was a Chick-fil-a inside! It also has a super fun mascot – Wool E. Bull who we remembered running around on a 4-wheeler like a maniac, even flipping his vehicle as he rounded the outfield in high gear. The stadium is small, comfortable and clean. They have good beer on tap, chicken fingers and a popcorn stand in addition to LocoPops. It is located just across from the American Tobacco campus where we used to hang out for dinner before the games.
While most of this is still true, there are a few things that were not quite the same going back over ten years later. We walked through American Tobacco on our way to the game and while the old, renovated tobacco factory is still super cool, many of the tenants have either closed up and moved out or moved away. It appeared that some are being refitted with the intent to move in, so perhaps the dead-vibe was just temporary. Let’s just say that – on that particular evening – it wasn’t oozing with the vibrancy and life that we really enjoyed before.
Once we got into the stadium, I went searching for local beer – which I did find, but not the one I was looking for since the tap could only splutter. The Foothills Brewing Hazyum IPA that I ended up with in lieu of my original pick did turn out to be quite delicious though! Wool E. Bull did not put on the show we were hoping for and they closed the popcorn stand well before the 7th inning stretch, so we were a little disappointed with that. But, the evening was beautiful and you can’t ask for much more than fresh air, a delicious local brew and the crisp crack of a bat as the sun goes down.
Tips:
- We ate at the American Tobacco campus before the game. If you’re not in the mood for Chick-fil-a, chicken fingers or typical stadium food, then there are plenty of other options in the surrounding Durham area that are close enough to walk to the stadium from.
- Get your popcorn early! Those rolldown doors will not open back up once they go down.
- There is a restaurant just outside the stadium along the first base line that has an overlook of the whole park from its terrace. If you can manage to get in there, you can take a great photo of the park – including its famous “Hit Bull Win Steak” sign – from there.
punkTREKS 