Red, White, and Bluegrass-The Fourth of July at the ATC

What it is: Several times on the blog, we have written about activities that only happen once a year.  Even though you won't be able to go to this event until next year, I wanted to include this one as well so that everyone would know about it when next year rolls around.  For Fourth of July our family headed down to the American Tobacco Campus.  They had live music on the lawn as well as an outdoor stand with food and drinks from Tylers as well as Locopops.  This is in addition to all of the restaurants that regularly surround the courtyard.  The campus was festively decorated and filled with people and an atmosphere of celebration.  Next door, the Durham Bulls was playing a game followed by a fireworks show at the ballpark.

What we liked: We loved the atmosphere!  There were a ton of people and families sitting on the lawn having a good time.  The price is also right--free!  It was fun to hang out on the lawn even if the little ones weren't up for staying for the fireworks.  However, we hear that the Durham Bulls Game gates were opened up to the public after the 7th inning for the fireworks show.  Even if you didn't want to watch the fireworks from inside the stadium, there were plenty of people sitting on the grass and in parking lots nearby to catch a view of the show.  I'd love to know how the views of the fireworks were from the various viewpoints including the lawn of the actual American Tobacco Campus lawn.  Let us know if you have a firework viewing spot to tell us about, good or bad.

What we would change:  We thought it was a little strange that the music ended at 8 and the fireworks didn't start until 10.  It might have been nice to have the music continue until closer to the time of the fireworks.  In addition, it was such a popular event that they were out of all of the flavors of Locopops except one by the time we had gotten there.

Website and other important information: Red, White, and Bluegrass took place on July 4th, 2010 from 4-8pm at the American Tobacco Campus in downtown Durham. 

Website: www.americantobaccohistoricdistrict.com

Photos:

1. Our View on the lawn

2. The Campus with all of its festive decorations