Some cities have very specific associations for all of us. Chicago evokes visions of eating deep dish while riding the El; Seattle compels images of lattes and the Space Needle; Tokyo might suggest sushi and a bullet train.
Durham has no such deep associations. From the way Durham is talked about on Duke's campus, most students probably assume that the City of Medicine is best seen from the back of an El Camino, riding on a rim and two flats. It probably bears noting that a lot of Duke students wouldn't venture off-campus in anything less than a Brinks truck.
The Bull City Carriage Company, however, is trying to give Durham its ideal means of travel by offering trips departing from near Brightleaf Square on Friday and Saturday nights. These trips, perhaps as a tip of the cap to Durham's happier days of yore, eschew all modern technology and provide anyone with a couple bucks a chance to get around the city in a horse and carriage, enjoying the fruits of the finest pre-internal combustion technology.
While the horse and carriage may be a mode of transport better suited to cities like London, Williamsburg or Charleston, the folks at the Carriage Company are determined to give Durhamites a chance to experience Durham as those in the 1800s did: without car-horns, gridlock or penicillin. While a carriage ride around a not-so-scenic city might seem odd, it represents a cheap, good time for any adventuresome souls willing to try it out.
The rides depart on the hour from the parking lot next to Fishmonger's at the corner of Gregson and Main. The fare is $9 for a single person or $15 for a couple, and going with a partner is recommended. For one thing, the driver is almost entirely occupied with giving the horse commands, such as "step up" (accelerate), "whoa" (decelerate), "step back" (reverse) and "how come we never talk anymore?" (pretty self-explanatory). The most terrifying moment of the ride came when we were in an intersection and were forced to back up to avoid a collision with oncoming traffic. Somehow waiting for a truculent animal to back you out of harm's way is worse than backing your car out yourself, even if it is a Kia.
Another reason that a partner (a nice-looking one, if you can swing it) is preferable to solitude is this: Durham runs out of scenery before the horse runs out of energy, so your attention is pretty much entirely focused within the cart for the latter half of the ride.
The tour begins at the refurbished warehouses of Brightleaf Square and proceeds from there up Buchanan St. to hug and eventually enter Duke's East Campus. The horse and carriage do a circuit of the Washington Duke Statue and leave East.
It is here that the tour takes a turn for the worse. The remainder of the sojourn gives us a glimpse of the Durham that everyone likes to rag on: One notable moment came when the carriage took us past two dumpsters sandwiching the Hall-Wynne funeral home.
If you do elect to take this carriage ride, it is also best to get a good conversationalist as your date, because there is really nothing to see outside. As the tour ends and you are dropped off back where you started, within a quick walk of dinner-options Torero's, Satisfaction or, if you really like her, Bread & Kabob.
The carriage ride, for all of its shortcomings, is likely the premier dating option for those of us without automobiles: It can be fun if you approach it with a goofy enough mindset, it sets you apart from everyone else and it beats sitting around watching SpikeTV all night.
I might add that one of the high points of my semester came when, somewhere on Buchanan St., I had a beautiful woman next to me, a strong horse pulling me and "Hey Ma" by Cam'ron playing on the carriage's lone concession to modernity, a little radio. I'm not sure, but I think the opportunity for moments like these were why my forebears left Ireland.
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