July 14, 2026 — Tuesday Edition
Happy Tuesday, Durham. This is a big week for going out: a Broadway tear-jerker opens downtown tonight, The Durham's rooftop turns into an oyster festival Thursday, one of the great American dance companies hits ADF, and the Bulls come home Friday with fireworks in tow. We've even planned your pre-show dinner. Let's get into it.
What's Up Durham
🎭 The Notebook opens at DPAC tonight. The Broadway musical based on the Nicholas Sparks novel — music and lyrics by Ingrid Michaelson, directed by Michael Greif (Rent, Dear Evan Hansen) — runs July 14–19. Fair warning from everyone who's seen it: bring tissues. Tickets from $41.50, and $30 student rush at the box office day-of. (DPAC)
⚾ The Bulls come home Friday. The road trip wraps this week, and Charlotte visits the DBAP this weekend — with fireworks Friday AND Saturday night, plus Kids Run the Bases on Sunday. Details in Bulls Corner.
💃 ADF's famous final week approaches. Paul Taylor Dance Company dances Reynolds Theater Wednesday and Thursday — one of the defining companies of American modern dance, and one of the last big tickets of the festival's 93rd season (through July 25). (ADF)
🚧 Ninth Street relief is near: the sewer work closing the northbound lane is slated to wrap by Saturday. The Hillandale/W. Club intersection work continues — check before you route through. (City of Durham)
Restaurant Spotlight: Dashi
The Notebook is at DPAC through Sunday, which means downtown date night is officially in season — and the correct pre-show move is two blocks away at Dashi (415 E Chapel Hill St), Durham's two-story Japanese standby.
Downstairs is the ramen shop: rich, precise bowls that have anchored downtown dinners for a decade. Upstairs, opening at 4 PM, is the izakaya — small plates, yakitori, an excellent sake list, and a moodier room that feels built for the hour before curtain. Yes, we're recommending hot ramen in July; the AC is strong, the broth is worth it, and cowards can order from the izakaya's small plates instead. Either way you're out the door and in your DPAC seat in a ten-minute walk.
No reservations needed downstairs, open 11:30 AM–10 PM daily — the rare pre-show dinner that doesn't require planning three weeks out.
📍 415 E Chapel Hill St · Ramen shop 11:30 AM–10 PM daily; izakaya from 4 PM (Dashi)
Food & Drink Roundup
Oyster Fest takes over The Durham. Four nights of oysters at The Durham Hotel, Thursday through Sunday (7/16–19), with live music and a shooter bar running Friday and Saturday. Rooftop oysters in July is exactly the kind of thing this newsletter exists to tell you about. (The Durham Hotel)
Uwa Sushi check-in. The modern sushi spot at 620 Foster St has been soft-open since late June — early word remains promising, and soft-open is still the best time to go: kitchens trying hardest, rooms not yet discovered. (NC Triangle Dining)
Weeknight strategy: with the DPAC crowd downtown through Sunday, book ahead or eat early if you're headed to the City Center blocks Thursday–Saturday.
The Short List
🩰 ADF: Paul Taylor Dance Company · Wed–Thu, July 15–16, 7:30 PM, Reynolds Industries Theater. Post-show discussion Wednesday. (ADF)
🦪 Oyster Fest at The Durham · Thu–Sun, July 16–19, The Durham Hotel. Oysters, live music, shooter bar Fri–Sat. (The Durham)
🏃 Pony Run at Ponysaurus · Thu, July 16, Ponysaurus Brewing with Fleet Feet. Run first, beer after — in this heat, keep the mileage honest. (Ponysaurus)
🌭 4 FT to Hell Hot Dog Competition · Sat, July 18. The annual charity hot-dog showdown, plus the Squatwurst competition — exactly as unhinged as it sounds, for a good cause. (AllEvents)
🎆 Bulls vs. Charlotte + fireworks · Fri & Sat, July 17–18, DBAP. Two fireworks nights in one weekend. (Bulls)
🎧 Sunday DRIFT Rooftop DJ Series · Sun, July 19, The Velvet Hippo. Land the weekend on a rooftop with a good DJ. (The Velvet Hippo)
Bulls Corner
Home again, home again: the Bulls wrap their Florida road trip and host the Charlotte Knights this weekend at the DBAP, with fireworks Friday and Saturday nights and Kids Run the Bases Sunday. It's the first home baseball since the July 4 homestand — and with the club in the thick of the second-half race, a big weekend crowd should have plenty to yell about.
What We're Reading
NC Triangle Dining's running list of new Durham restaurants. The single most useful bookmark for tracking what's opening in the Bull City — it's where we first spotted Uwa, KatSushi, and Nerra. Scan it and you'll sound impossibly plugged-in at dinner parties. (NC Triangle Dining)
Durham Love Note
A love story runs at DPAC this week, but honestly, Durham's been running one for years. It goes like this: you move here half-sure it's temporary. Then one July you notice you have a regular ramen order, a favorite seat for the fireworks, an opinion about oysters on a rooftop, and neighbors who wave with their whole arm. Nobody writes musicals about falling for a city — but if they did, this week's program would make a decent script. Go see the show. Then walk out into downtown and remember you're living one.
Much love, Durham. 🐂
— Michael & Anne · Written from Trinity Park ☕
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