First of all, Raleigh is our “big city.” It is the largest city of the Triangle in the largest county in the area. It has just about everything, both good and bad, that a big city has — professional sports teams, several major concert/event venues, “good” and “bad” parts of town and so on. Raleigh also tends to compare itself to other larger cities (usually Charlotte), before looking at the other parts of the Triangle.

Chapel Hill, on the other hand, is the quintessential college town. It is much smaller than Raleigh or Durham [Chapel Hill is a quarter the size of Durham, and a sixth the size of Raleigh], and University of North Carolina is by far the town’s major employer. Much of the character of Chapel Hill is defined by the University and it’s student body.

Durham is the happy medium of those two extremes. It has a college town area, just like  Chapel Hill (except with a darker shade of blue). It has many of the features of a small town, such as a vibrant Farmers Market and strong annual city-wide festivals. Plus, it have many of the features of a larger city, including a first class performing arts center and a professional sports team.

So, in many ways, the Triangle is like the beds in Goldilocks’ story. Raleigh is big, Chapel Hill is small, and Durham is just right.

[Although what really makes the Triangle special, in my opinion, is that the big city, the mid-sized city and the college town usually work together to solve common problems. Sometimes that doesn't happen in more traditional city & suburb areas]

Photo credits: Doug Kerr, Ildar Sagdejev

As always the biggest event of the weekend is the Festival For the Eno. The festival runs all weekend, and features over 80 performers on 4 separate stages. Plus it ends at 6PM, so you would still have time to make the fireworks!

Durham’s fireworks celebration will be in the American Tobacco complex. There will be live music starting at 5:30, a baseball game at the DBAP starting at 6:50 [the USA National Team vs. Guatemala] and fireworks after the game — probably around 9PM. Admission to the stadium will be free after the 7th inning stretch [around 7:30]

Chapel Hill’s fireworks will go off at Kenan stadium on UNC’s campus. The stadium gates will open at 7PM with live entertainment until the fireworks start at 9:30PM. Admission is free.

Have fun this evening, and remember what we are celebrating.

As the owner of a business that used to be on Franklin Street, I certainly understand the Stone’s position. It’s hard for a business model not tightly focused on the students and their unique schedule to succeed there. I wish them all the best in wherever they go from here.