If you’re in the Raleigh/Durham area and are looking for a perfect budget friendly date night I have your answer: A Durham Bulls game! After a long week, we wanted to get out and do something fun and different with a few friends on a friday night and decided on a night at the ballpark! This wasn’t our first game but, as always, we had an awesome time and will be back for sure! We’ve got a few tips for making it even better!
We headed down to Durham with a few friends on Friday night to catch Bulls play! If you haven’t been, the stadium in located in the heart of downtown Durham right outside of American Tobacco Campus which is one of my absolute favorite places to hang out in Durham! We snagged easy FREE parking on the Willard Street side of ATC. Friday games start at 7 so we were already running a bit late as we strolled through the middle of campus on our way to the stadium. If you have time before the game, grab a beer or some dinner at Tobacco Campus or any of the restaurants outside of the stadium. There are a ton of choices! My personal favorites are Only Burger and Tyler’s Tap room. When you’re ready for the game head right over to the gates less than 100 yards from you at ATC and let the fun begin!
We grabbed our tickets day of online for just $10 each. Honestly, there isn’t a bad seat in the house and it’s tough to find a ticket that costs more than $25 so these games are perfect for a date night on a budget.
Tip #1 – Grab a ticket with built in Bulls bucks! You get better seats for pretty much the same price since you get money towards food/drink with your ticket!
FOOD at this ballpark is on point. There are plenty of local businesses that have stands popped up all around the stadium. You, of course, can find the classics too. Hot dogs, funnel cakes and cotton candy are around every turn and sold in the stands. We grabbed Makus Empanadas which you absolutely cannot go wrong. I highly recommend! There’s so many options from barbeque to slices of pizza all the way to local food trucks pulled right into the stadium. To make it more fun, grab a little something from a whole bunch of places instead of loading up at one. Just make sure you can carry it all to your seat! Hah! We all know how tough that can get.
Drinks are on point too not to mention the beyond grammable glasses and cans. Bull Durham Beer Co. recently set up shop right inside of the stadium and they offer their beers in these adorable cans right in the stadium. Besides that, there are a ton of local breweries that have set up shop in stands. If you’re looking for a cute little souvenir, head to the beer garden. Once you have a cup, any of the beer vendors will fill up for you! My recommendation – Bull City Ciderworks! They have stands set up and even had samples when we went. A trip to the cidery is on my list of things to try for sure. Their crisp, flovorful but not too sweet ciders were the perfect to sip on through the first seven innning. REMEMBER! No alcohol served after the seventh so get your drinks early!
My final piece of advice is to go on a Friday night! The Durham Bulls Stadium puts on a pretty spectacular fireworks show. I’m a sucker for fireworks but even Kyle agrees that theirs is good.
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