My favorite hideout is Durham’s abandoned urban garden

I found this secret garden hidden in downtown Durham a few years ago. It’s on the roof of the Durham Centre parking garage across from the Carolina Theatre. Head to the top of the parking deck and you’ll see a warped boardwalk winding in a labyrinth-like pattern covered in overgrown brush.

It’s a cool spot to eat your lunch, have some coffee or watch theater-goers file in and out of the Carolina Theatre. The garden is on the spot where developer Franklin Wittenberg once envisioned building another glass tower filled with luxury condominiums. I’ve been out of the Durham development loop for some time, so I’m not sure where that project stands, but my guess is it was abandoned long ago.

Anyone know more about what’s going on with Durham Centre? Are there any hidden gardens or spots you take a timeout in?

I’ll be live blogging Durham election results tonight

I’ll be live blogging from the Durham County Courthouse starting at approximately 6:45 p.m. tonight. That’s where candidates for Durham’s public offices traditionally gather to watch the returns come in.

So picture this. In the meeting room, many of the candidates stand around and wait for the returns to be streamed onto a screen. Soon it becomes apparent who has won and who has lost, so the winning and losing candidates are often finding out their fate while standing beside each other. It’s an interesting dynamic.

So hopefully the candidates for Durham County Commission, District Attorney and School Board will be gathered there and I’ll be able to tell you about their interactions through the live blog.  You’ll also be able to pose questions or post comments on the blog.

So check it out tonight, starting around 7 p.m. at MyNC.com

Go vote. No excuses. Just go.

If you live in North Carolina or Indiana and you haven’t already voted, go do it now. Log off your computer, step away from the Internets, leave work unfinished and go.

Your intentions may be good. You may say, “hey, I’ll do it at lunch.” But then lunch rolls around and your boss comes in and wants more of your energy, so lunch turns into after work. Then maybe you roll up to your polling place after work and there’s a line and you’re like: “Forget this line crap, I have stuff to do at home and my one little vote won’t make a difference anyway.” No. None of that. Unacceptable. Go vote. Now.

Polls are open from 6:30 a.m. to 7:30 p.m. and so long as you’re in line by 7:30 p.m. you’ll be able to cast a ballot. Click here to find your polling place in North Carolina and here to find it in Indiana.

OK. Now that we got that PSA out of the way, tell me about your voting experience. Was your poll super busy? Were the poll workers happy and sweet or tired and mean? Did you run into any long lost neighbors? Score a hot date? Fill me in.

Here’s why you shouldn’t plan your weekends

I had no plan when I headed to downtown Raleigh Saturday afternoon. I didn’t even glance at the Indy to see if anything was going on. I figured I’d find something on such a lovely day. Here’s how my random Raleighness unfolded:

First I saw signs for the Handmade Market on West Street, so I had to pull over and check it out. I’m glad I did b/c I snagged some rad, crafty jewelry, an awesome piece of art and this cool seahorse shirt from Sew Bliss Sew.

Then right up the street I noticed this huge beautiful American flag dangling over Dawson Street, so I had to see why it was there. Turns out there was a fallen firefighters memorial going on in the little square outside city hall. I was struck with how beautiful this flag looked as it flapped over the cars that passed by. It was entrancing. I started to head toward the Marbles Kids Museum because I wanted to check out that “Kids City Planning Day” meant to teach kids about the revision of Raleigh’s comprehensive plan. But before I got there, I spotted a rally on the Old Capitol grounds. Turned out it was a pro pot rally.

I finally made it over to the museum, and was impressed with the buildings the kids were creating out of boxes. Raleigh Planning Director Mitchell Silver looked like he was having as much fun as the kids building the box city. He’s the adult helping the kid attach the top of the building below: Then it was time to check out Vintage Nation, the new shop on Wilmington street that sells beautiful vintage dresses, skirts, shirts and pants at incredibly reasonable prices, along with houseplants and hip accessories. I was impressed. I’m told by the Raleigh Connoisseur that this marks the beginning of activity-packed weekends in downtown Raleigh. Sounds like it’s going to be a fun summer. See more pictures from my random Saturday on my Flickr.

I met Jimmy Carter at Wal-Mart today

I found myself in a Super Wal-Mart today for the first time in more than six months. I wasn’t there to pick up some cheap bread, deodorant or Tupperware though. I was there to see former president Jimmy Carter. No Joke. Carter was signing copies of his latest book “A Remarkable Mother.” I picked up a copy for $15.97 (a decent discount from the $22.95 suggested retail price) and stood in the long line, already more than 200 people deep an hour before the signing was scheduled to start. I met some nice folks who held my place while I went around to scope out the scene and interview some people. You can read the story I wrote and watch the video I made for MyNC.com here.

Carter was sitting behind a plastic folding table in the little room where they keep the restrooms. If you’re even remotely familiar with the layout of a Super Wal-Mart (I am b/c that was one of the only places to hang out after 9 p.m. in my hometown) picture this: The line stretched from the restrooms, down the aisle between the baby clothes and the regular kids clothes, then down the long aisle that separates the grocery section from the rest of the store and then all the way across the front of the store.

Event staff made sure everyone had their books turned to the cover page and handed out book signing instructions indicating that the president would not be personalizing books. The closer we got to the president, we were warned by the Secret Service not to shake his hand and that we couldn’t take pictures until after our books were signed. As I appraoched the president, it was a blur. A woman took my books from my hand, the president asked the little girl in front of me her name while he signed my book, he looked up at me and smiled and then slid my book down the table to another woman who handed it to me.I guess I should have been better prepared. I should have said: Obama or Clinton (he told the media yesterday that he would make his pick public soon). But it went so fast, and I really wanted a cool picture. I was ushered behind a chain and told I had 10 seconds to snap a shot. I tried to get a couple, but people kept stepping in front of the president. Then I was told I HAD TO LEAVE. I told the guy I didn’t even get a pic of the prez (which I hadn’t) so I pretended like I was leaving and then turned around and snapped this pic: If you’re like me, you probably think it’s strange that Carter was signing books at Super Wal-Mart (he was at the Sam’s Club in Durham on Thursday). The News and Observer explains why:

But organizers said Carter, a prolific author of more than 20 books, usually tries to fit in at least one Wal-Mart or Sam’s Club into his book tours. The former peanut farmer was buddies with the late Sam Walton, Wal-Mart’s founder.

So what do you think about Carter coming to Wal-Mart? Does it make sense since he used to be buds with Sam Walton? Or should he avoid helping out the mega chain?