during my three weeks back home i asked my father to drive me around 'dad's durham'. we both grew up in durham (north carolina) and have had very different experiences there. i wanted to see all the things i'd seen before, but i wanted to actually take the time to document them and write down addresses so i would always have them.
we saw, among other things, my dad's schools, his old haunts, the ol' durham bulls stadium and the houses from the film bull durham.
(1111 mangum street, durham: 'rice house'. where kevin costner 'lived' in bull durham.)
(911 mangum street, durham: 'the manning house'. where susan sarandon 'lived' in bull durham.)
the hi-lite of our lil' tour, tho, was seeing the houses he grew up in, seeing the streets and imagining him as a mischievous boy, hearing him recount stories, some i'd heard many-a'time and some that were brand new, - my dad and i write letters (no emails) and i'm always pestering him to write these stories down.
we spent a good while in front of house 831 in mangum street.
we spent a good while in front of house 831 in mangum street.
my dad lived in the ground floor apartments (at one time in the left apartment and then they moved to the right one) from birth to his teens. seeing the house once more - and hearing the stories that i'm sure to hear again - made me cherish these photos on the stoop and sidewalk of that very house all the more.
my father surrounded by the ladies (including his mama savannah at left) in dainty playclothes and birthday hats in the late 1940s. can you imagine a sweeter birthday?
and my father with his sister bobbie, left, and again with his mama, and with his grandmother ('nana').
i'm gonna stop here before i get too too homesick. for all you fellow north carolina lovers (and converts), did you know the n.c. state archives have a flickr? it's heavenly.
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