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Archive for December, 2011

Vacationing in Durham is fun and exciting, when it comes to a night out for fun or a quiet evening there are several Durham gay bars that can be visited. These are bars where the local gay community frequents and where the staff welcomes the visitor from out of town.

There is Annie’s Bar, this is a pub like atmosphere where having a evening of socializing includes the local ales. It is also a bar that on the weekends has live events to liven up the pub for its patrons.

Switch Bar is one of the weekend hotspots where music and dancing is on the list, along with drink specials. The local ales are available and many of the locals will be found at Switch Bar on weekends for a fun night out.

The Hallgarth Manor Country Hotel and Restaurant has a bar that is inviting and a perfect place for a quiet night out of drinks and conversation in a warm inviting place with a friendly staff.

Powerhouse is one of the Durham gay bars where live entertainment can be found, along with music and dancing. The bar holds different nights where a specific music genre is played and because it has so many changes weekly it keeps the bar fun and exciting not only to visitors, but also to the locals.

For the bar with a lot of excitement on weekends there is Gossip, this is a bar with a trendy atmosphere. There are DJ’s and dancing, the bar has drink specials and during the week there is karaoke or other live entertainment for the patrons.

Greg Paulus is a phenomenally gifted athlete who is one of very few people ever to be a star basketball player for a top tier hoops program before continuing his athletic career at another high profile university where he was able to win the starting quarterback job. In large part due to the underwhelming success from a win loss perspective in his encore football performance (4-8) the Greg Paulus story is not as well-known as it otherwise would be.

As a high school prep star at Christian Brothers Academy near Syracuse, New York the 6’1″ 180 pound Paulus won the prestigious Gatorade Male Athlete of the Year award for all sports after the 2004-2005 school year. The Ohio born athlete who grew up in Wisconsin (about 100 miles north of Milwaukee) received numerous high profile athletic scholarships while excelling athletically at the highly regarded private high school he attended in upstate New York. Among the notable schools that expressed explicit interests in having him play football at their programs included scholarship offers to play quarterback at the top notch University of Miami and with the storied Notre Dame Fighting Irish.

Ultimately Greg decided that basketball was the college career that he would prefer to pursue and he had a bevy of options to choose from including scholarships to play basketball at highly respected programs which included the UNC Tar Heels, Georgetown, and the school he eventually decided to attend, Duke University in Durham, North Carolina.

Greg Paulus made an immediate impact with the Duke Blue Devils. As a freshman guard he was an important element of a team that went 32-4 and won the ACC regular season and conference championships. The highly recruited talent continued to be an important member of the Duke University basketball program throughout his four year career there. What many people did not predict though (including Paulus) was that his playing time would dramatically decrease during his senior year when he was largely replaced in the lineup by sophomore Nolan Smith. The senior leader from Wisconsin by way of upstate New York only started a career low five games during his senior year.

After completing his four years of eligibility with the Duke basketball team Paulus surprised much of the country by declaring that he intended to again pursue football (after a four year hiatus) now that his college basketball career was over and the opportunity to play professional basketball was nonexistent. After meeting with a few college and even professional football coaches Paulus announced in May of 2009 that he would be joining the Syracuse University (SU) football team. The 2009 football season proved to be a disappointing one for Paulus and Syracuse as the team finished with only four wins and eight losses.

I am blessed to live in an area that has so much to offer. Raleigh, the state capital, is nearby with all of its Revolutionary War, Civil War, and Civil Rights significance. Durham, home of many tobacco makers, boasts Duke University while Chapel Hill is the home of the University of North Carolina. All three cities have so much to offer but it is nearby Chatham County that offers a charm of its own.

Founded in the mid1700s by Irish-Scot, English, German, and Quaker immigrants Chatham County is situated in the heart of North Carolina, just southeast of Raleigh. In its earlier years it was a summer resort for those seeking to escape the high temperatures and humidity of the Raleigh area. Today, the county boasts a combination of old time towns along with bustling suburbs. Indeed, Siler City at 7,000 people, is its largest “city” so the smalltown effect has yet to completely been moved to the side.

The seat of government for the county of Chatham is located in Pittsboro, a town peppered with restaurants and antique stores. The court house is a “can’t miss” destination as it was plunked down in the center of town in 1787 where it remains to this day.

While the early years of county life featured rabbit breeding the current county agri-business is now poultry. Beyond all that, the county is now attracting new settlers who want a taste of country while having accessibility to the city life of Raleigh. Indeed, new housing developments continue to spring up particularly in the area of the Fearrington Village development.

If you like outdoor activities, Chatham County will not disappoint you. My favorite spot is the Jordan Lake State Recreational Area, a 14000 acre park featuring hiking, bird watching, swimming, fishing, boating, and camping. You can spend several days at the park and still not be able to take in all that it has to offer.

Throughout the year other activities are held including an arts and crafts festival and a bluegrass music festival. The county also has an award winning winery, the Silk Hope Winery, featuring wine from American and French hybrid grapes, as well as a collection of gardens.

If you visit the central part of North Carolina, make sure that your travel plans include a stop in Chatham County. It may not be a Raleigh, Durham, or Chapel Hill, but it is a destination worth visiting in its own right.