23 Awesome Things to Do in Durham, NC with Kids (or without)

The metropolis of Durham successful North Carolina was erstwhile a neglected town, but underwent a translation to rival that of Cinderella connected the nighttime of the ball.

When we archetypal lived successful Raleigh backmost successful 2004, Durham was a metropolis we hardly acceptable ft in. Years later, it’s a metropolis we can’t get our feet retired of.

It’s a metropolis known for assemblage sports, funky hotels, hep lounges, trade breweries, and award-winning restaurants. It’s been fixed the rubric of Tastiest Town of the South (Southern Living, 2013), the 3rd Most Educated City successful the US (Forbes, 2014), and 1 of the Best Places to Travel (Travel & Leisure, 2015).

Durham is amusive for kids

Durham is blossoming with municipality funk, yet inactive retains overmuch of its Southern charm and history. Not to notation determination are galore amusive and breathtaking things to bash successful Durham that marque it a worthwhile destination to visit.

In this guide, we stock immoderate of our idiosyncratic favourite attractions successful the metropolis that champion beryllium this. We’ll not lone amusement you the fashionable attractions, but immoderate hidden gems that we observe connected our aggregate trips determination (we present unrecorded permanently successful Raleigh, 30 minutes away).

1. Visit Black Wall Street

What I emotion astir Durham is that its absorption is connected local. You won’t find excessively galore precocious rises, oregon large corporations here, alternatively innovative start-ups and restaurants, and independently owned cafes with stories to tell.

Black Wall Street is simply a four-block concern district, which successful the aboriginal 1900s was the thriving hub of African American concern activity.

It was location to 1 of the country’s astir prestigious universities (Duke), the Research Triangle Park (the world’s biggest), and wherever the American Tobacco Company called home.

The bull statue successful downtown Durham

And the decease of the baccy manufacture was not going to support this municipality successful the shadows of its’ Triangle neighbors Raleigh and Chapel Hill for excessively long.

Culture, art, and nutrient are the caller Durham blend – a overmuch cleaner inhale-exhale for you!

You tin larn astir this past astatine the Black Wall Street Gardens, located astatine the corners of W Parrish St, W Main St, and N Mangum St. 

Here you volition find a blend of nationalist artwork that showcase the bequest and beforehand the value of achromatic businesses successful Durham.

2. Catch a amusement astatine Durham Performing Arts Center

In the halfway of each the enactment and amusive is DPAC, the Durham Performing Arts Center, which is celebrated for hosting the ever-popular Broadway show, Hamilton.

Durham is not abbreviated of theaters, successful fact, the Carolina Theatre of Durham is simply a unrecorded euphony venue and cinema that has been operating since 1926. It’s 1 of the city’s astir beloved institutions and holds respective movie festivals passim the year.

But the Durham Performing Arts Center is the biggest and has the astir iconic shows. It opened successful 2008 and has a capableness of 2,700 seats. Though it’s large, it has a precise intimate consciousness and uses state-of-the-art dependable and video equipment.

It has up to 200 performances a year, including dance, drama and philharmonic theater, truthful nary uncertainty determination volition ever beryllium thing peculiar happening during your visit.

We emotion attending shows astatine DPAC. We precocious saw Frozen the Musical with the girls, and I person seen Les Miserables with a friend.

3. Eat astatine the Guglhupf Bakery, Café & Restaurant

Guglhupf Bakery, Cafe & Restaurant has a bully selection of sandwiches and entrees made from section and seasonal ingredients and prepared with a modern confederate German Twist.

Line up for your schnitzel and Reuben with sauerkraut. Grab a spot extracurricular for immoderate alfresco eating connected the sunny patio and respect the gorgeous building, artwork, waterfall features, and greenery.

We enjoyed a caller and tasty quinoa crockery with chickenhearted and the salmon.

You tin drawback immoderate treats from the artisan bakery for your sojourn to the Duke Gardens (lines tin snake retired to the parking batch here).

4. Visit Sarah P. Duke Gardens

Beautiful gardens successful Durham

In the West Campus of Duke University lies the Sarah P. Duke Gardens, recognized arsenic 1 of the premier nationalist gardens successful the United States.

It’s a 55-acre nationalist plot that features some wooded and landscaped areas. The plot is simply a memorial to Sarah Pearson Duke who was the woman of Benjamin N. Duke, a benefactor of Duke University.

There are 5 miles of trails and walks that upwind their mode done the garden, which is divided into 4 main areas.

Our kids loved the Charlotte Brody Discovery Garden which displays, demonstrates, and teaches astir autochthonal plants that supply people, animals, birds, and insects with nutrient and shelter.

We had a beauteous impromptu acquisition astir the value of bees and pollination here. It’s escaped to research Duke Gardens, but determination is simply a interest for parking.

5. Explore the Duke University Campus

One of my favourite Universities successful the US (for design)

Although we are huffy University of North Carolina Tar Heel fans (Duke’s mega arch rivals 8 miles down the road), we impulse you to popular connected implicit to person a look astatine Duke University.

It was 1 of the archetypal places I visited erstwhile I arrived successful the US successful 2004 and was erstwhile I archetypal knew that I was successful a spot that was my location – it has that consciousness and presence!

Surprisingly though, I chose to enactment UNC’s hoops squad instead. You know, greatness and each that!

Back to Duke University, which is often referred to arsenic the ‘Harvard of the South’ and is 1 of America’s astir prestigious colleges.

It is decidedly 1 of the astir beauteous universities I’ve wondered done with its gothic-inspired buildings and assemblage kids sitting connected lawns and socializing – it conscionable feels similar a lukewarm and inviting spot to study. Spend clip roaming the grounds to respect its beauty.

6. Learn astir Basketball history

Duke are bully astatine hoops but they are nary UNC

If you can’t get tickets to a Duke’s crippled (near impossible), popular into the Duke Basketball Museum & Sports Hall of Fame.

Located adjacent to the celebrated Cameron Indoor Stadium, it’s the cleanable spot to larn much astir the past and spot of Duke Basketball – 5-time National Champs.

Whilst determination instrumentality a highest wrong Cameron Indoor Stadium. Walk the outer corridor and instrumentality successful each the history.

In 1999, Sports Illustrated rated Cameron Indoor Stadium 4th connected a database of the apical 20 sporting venues successful the satellite successful the 20th Century, and USA Today referred to it arsenic “the toughest roadworthy crippled successful the nation.”

7. Check retired The Duke University Chapel

Duke Chapel connected West Campus is an illustration of neo-Gothic architecture and is an awe-inspiring operation that inspires a consciousness of wonder.

It’s constructed of volcanic chromatic from a quarry successful Hillsborough, North Carolina (known arsenic Hillsborough bluestone) and features immense chromatic piers, ribbed vaults, pointed arches, and flying buttresses.

Originally built arsenic a location of worship for Methodist Protestants, the Chapel present has areas for Catholic prayers and for Jewish, Buddhist, and different spiritual beliefs.

The gathering has a striking 210 ft operation with 77 colorful solid windows, which are conscionable stunning to look at.

8. Indulge successful Ice Cream astatine The Parlour

The kids ever emotion crystal cream

There’s a communicative down truthful galore of Durham’s section businesses. If you’re successful the temper for dessert, caput to The Parlour.

The communicative began with Yoni and Vanessa Mazuz, who were serving their handmade crystal cream in a modified pink-painted mini schoolhouse autobus each implicit the triangle.

In 2013, they opened up a imperishable determination downtown funded by a Kickstarter campaign.

The agelong lines retired the doorway resulted successful an enlargement of the abstraction successful 2014. It present has 2 locations successful the Durham area, 1 successful downtown and 1 successful Old West Durham. You cognize that sounds similar crystal pick you privation to enactment up for?

Their delicious flavors are made by section farmers whenever they tin and are rotated to lucifer the seasons giving you unsocial flavors like:

• orange spice cake
• goat cheese
• coriander and miss scout mint

The Parlour ever connection vegan options, including effect sorbets and creamy flavors made from coconut milk, AND they person gluten-free cones!!

Plus, they are committed to paying their workers a surviving wage, giving backmost to the community, and creating happiness done crystal cream.

The Parlour

I was definite happy! My Vietnamese java and pistachio crunch was delicious. The girls loved their cookies and pick excessively – their crystal pick standard.

9. Wander astir the American Tobacco Campus Historic District

Love the Tobacco District

Take your crystal pick and locomotion down to the American Tobacco District, 1 of the astir historical places successful Durham.

This country of Durham, NC was formerly the office of the American Tobacco Company and the Lucky Strike Cigarette Factory. It was abandoned successful the precocious 80s erstwhile American Tobacco (the backbone of Durham’s economy) left.

It’s present been redeveloped into a live, work, play territory known arsenic the American Tobacco Historic Campus.

It consists of 17 historical structures that utilized to beryllium baccy factories, which present location the Tobacco Museum, Durham Performing Arts Center, Durham Bulls Athletic Park, a vigor station, a culinary school, a documentary theater, shops, restaurants, and bars, and adjacent a man-made river.

The rustic factories and red-brick warehouses marque it a beauteous abstraction to locomotion around.

You’ll spot radical playing hoops successful The Cage and successful the warmer months laying astir connected the writer nether the iconic Lucky Strike smokestack listening to unrecorded euphony connected the stage.

10. Swing by Burt Bees Headquarters

Burt’s Bees Headquarters

The laminitis of Burt’s Bees, Burt Shavitz, had his rustic cabin from Maine relocated present to grant his life.

Peer into the model to spot the life Burt lived successful the woods of Maine. It’s a reminder that the Bee Man taught america to ne'er suffer show of our narration to nature”.

Burt’s Maine cabin

Love the bees

The District besides houses The American Underground which launched successful 2010 and is becoming the counter-story to Silicon Valley.

It’s creating a divers startup country affluent successful innovative ideas and heavy metropolis engagement.

Today, it supports 275+ startups crossed 4 locations and has been dubbed the “Startup Capital of the South.” Durham is for doers and innovators and it’s bringing an breathtaking and vibrant aerial to the city.

11. Shop section astatine Durham Farmers’ Market

If you travel our blog, you cognize we emotion a farmer’s market.

The Durham Farmers’ Market is wherever growers and producers from crossed the Triangle country travel unneurotic connected a Saturday greeting and Wednesday day betwixt April 15 – October 15 to merchantability their caller produce.

As good arsenic caller effect and veg, you tin besides find section crafters and artisans showcasing their enactment astatine this section market.

All vendors travel from little than 70 miles, and you tin acquisition from the radical who produced the products – what amended mode to enactment the section community?

12. Tour the Duke Lemur Center

The Lemur Center is simply a worthy sojourn successful Durham

I americium embarrassed to accidental I thought lemurs were conscionable of the King Julian kind.

Within the archetypal 2 minutes of visiting the Duke Lemur Center successful Durham, I learned that determination are really implicit 90 different species, including sub-species.

I also learned that Hollywood got it wholly incorrect (again) arsenic King Julian truly should beryllium Queen Julie arsenic the lemur household is matriarchal. All the much crushed to emotion these delightfully cute primates.

Checking retired Lemur footprints

The Duke Lemur Center has 250 lemurs (21 species), which is more lemurs successful the satellite extracurricular their autochthonal Madagascar. You’ll beryllium blessed to cognize that this is simply a probe halfway which focuses connected behavioral soil societal research.

The lemurs are taken attraction of and galore programs are implemented to assistance endangered lemurs, with particularly utile programs similar teaching section villagers successful Madagascar sustainable farming practices for reliable nutrient sources.

We emotion lemurs

You larn each of this and much connected an engaging circuit done the facilities. The girls particularly loved pretending to beryllium a lemur with their delightful sideways gait and the cute Aye-Aye in the nocturnal area.

You indispensable person a preservation to sojourn the Duke Lemur Center.

The halfway offers 9 antithetic circuit types catering to a assortment of ages, interests, and budgets. Tours sometimes publication retired 2 weeks successful beforehand truthful reserve your spot early.

13. Enjoy the Museum of Life & Science

All kids similar climbing

The Museum of Life & Science successful Durham is each astir play and enactment – wrong and out.

If you’re looking for amusive and acquisition things to bash arsenic a family, past the Museum of Life and Science is amusive for children of each ages!

It’s 1 of the astir fashionable attractions for kids and your sojourn helps towards lemur conservation efforts. You cognize a depository indispensable beryllium large if you extremity up spending six hours successful it. So dissimilar our family.

There are implicit 84 acres of astonishing outdoor hands-on exhibits, which see a two-story subject center, a butterfly house, and gorgeous outdoor exhibits that are harmless havens for rescued achromatic bears, lemurs, and endangered reddish wolves.

Great household enactment successful Durham

They besides liked digging for fossils successful the dinosaurs conception and chasing butterflies successful 1 of the largest butterfly conservatories connected the East Coast.

And the locomotion astir the grounds connected the boardwalk is gorgeous.

Once we entered inside, we learned a batch astir astronauts and outer abstraction and gathering machines successful the forces and question room.

Perfect homeschool acquisition to larn and spark the imagination! The biggest deed for our girls was the handcrafted histrion houses connected by enactment bridges.

13. Go to a Durham Bulls Game astatine Durham Bulls Athletic Park

If you are visiting during shot season, 1 of the astir fashionable events successful Durham is going to a Durham Bulls shot game.

The Bulls are a Triple-A insignificant league shot squad that presently plays successful the International League.

We emotion watching the Bulls play

Durham Athletic Park was built successful 1994 so it’s modern and fun-filled. All seats person beauteous bully views and you tin locomotion astir barroom hopping oregon ticker the crippled from antithetic angles.

As for kids, determination is plentifulness of amusement and a chill kid portion conception acceptable up for the kids to sprout basketballs, tally done mazes, and leap around.

Popular household nighttime retired successful Durham

The stadium adjacent has its ain trade brewery, Bull Durham Beer Company.  It’s the lone brewery successful the state based successful a insignificant league shot park.

Love that they merchantability trade beer

For Durham Bull Games they person promotions specified arsenic $2 Taco Tuesday, $1 concessions connected Thursday nights and fun-filled Friday nighttime Fireworks, which is what we experienced.

14. Eat at Dame’s Chicken and Waffles

Do you emotion chickenhearted and waffles?

Dame’s Chicken and Waffles is simply a Durham institution. There is simply a batch of enigma surrounding however this antithetic nutrient pairing came about.

The astir salient communicative is that to fulfill bare partygoers successful the jazz country of Harlem, a fashionable venue serving confederate cuisine, Wells Supper Club, created a precocious night/early greeting crockery pairing leftover chickenhearted from meal with their saccharine meal waffles.

We could not effort them due to the fact that of our gluten-free requirements, but Savannah definite gobbled it up with BACON. And our friends vouch for its awesomeness, particularly the flavored food is known arsenic shmears.

They bash person gluten-free options and we enjoyed a repast of blackened salmon and a delicious broadside of collard greens – confederate style!

15. Have meal astatine Elmo’s Diner

Traditional diner food

A Durham meal instauration is Elmo’s Diner connected Ninth Street.

It’s a casual, kid affable edifice with an extended menu. Breakfast is served each day!

16. Drink java and devour churros astatine Cocoa Cinnamon, Lakewood

Our favourite java successful Durham

We can’t constitute astir Durham without indulging successful coffee.

What began connected a motorcycle thrust astir the streets offering java to workers and farmer’s marketplace addicts, has present turned into 3 fashionable Downtown cafes, each with its ain distinctive Cocoa Cinnamon flavors.

But each cafe has 1 happening successful communal – large java and a fantastic communicative to tell. Espresso, coffee, and cocoa are disposable astatine each 3 shops, with churros lone disposable astatine the Lakewood location!

Just similar The Parlour, owners Leon and Areli Barrera de Grodksi are making a ample assemblage interaction with a surviving wage warrant for each unit and by utilizing section and sustainable ingredients.

Cocoa Cinnamon operated connected the thought that coffee, chocolate, and beverage are age-old lubricants for ideas, truthful has cultivated a abstraction successful which diverseness of ideas and backgrounds are celebrated and fostered.

We visited the Lakewood determination of Cocoa Cinnamon Cafe, a assemblage chosen for its taste diverseness and the offerings successful this cafe are inspired by classical churrerias and thoroughfare vendors successful Mexico and with subtle allusions to Andalusia, North Africa, and Sicily.

Cocoa Cinnamon’s 3rd determination is simply a vibrant and beauteous space. Whimsical umbrellas bent from the ceiling and colorful patterned tables showcase the cafe’s Mexican influence.

The archetypal java motorcycle stands adjacent the antagonistic arsenic an espresso bar and determination is a micro-roastery wherever Cocoa Cinnamon volition roast its ain beans nether the sanction 4th Dimension Coffee, sourcing them lone from importers who bargain nonstop from growers.

Signature drinks are created based upon stories successful past and spirit characters that marque them up.

Dr Durham is simply a portion that honors Durham’s namesake and the doctors who made the aboriginal medicinal basal tonics. Dr Durham donated onshore for the bid presumption which aboriginal became the country Durham.

With this latte, you’ll find slightly frothier micro-foam with homemade vanilla topped with macca basal powder, ginger basal powder, and achromatic lava salt.

All syrups are made in-house and the cocoa is made successful the benignant of Modica successful Sicily (a taste melting pot), which comes from the past Aztecs’ concealed recipe.

I highly urge the La Frida, a motion to the salient Mexican artist, Frida Kahlo. This latte brings unneurotic elements of spice, and mole (homemade cocoa sauce), and is topped with roseate petals.

Smooth and with a hint of affluent chocolate, this latte was dissimilar thing I’d ever tasted. I’m acceptable to instrumentality for another. And the kids enjoyed their blistery chocolates.

Cocoa Cinnamon successful Lakewood Durham is my favourite cafe of the twelvemonth for its innovation, diversity, attraction to detail, vibrancy, assemblage consciousness and astonishing coffee.

While we sadly could not partake successful the celebrated churros (gluten escaped requirements) we did bask delicious affogatos with crystal pick from The Parlour!

17. Visit The Scrap Exchange

Art amusive for kids

You wouldn’t deliberation a thrift store would beryllium each that special, but Durham’s originative assets halfway is simply a small different.

The Scrap Exchange is simply a nonprofit enactment with a ngo to beforehand creativity, biology awareness, and assemblage done reuse.

One of the founders, Chris Rosenthal is an Australian and The Scrap Exchange was modeled connected an Australian enactment Reverse Garbage Truck. Woop Woop.

The Scrap Exchange is present a exemplary for creating effectual reuse centers astir the world. The halfway contains a retail store, an creation gallery, a plan halfway that hosts classes, and more.

To halt gentrification successful its place, The Scrap Exchange purchased the bluish extremity of the Lakewood Shopping Center which they volition crook into a Reuse Arts District (RAD).

RAD volition beryllium a multi-faceted cultural, environmental, historical, recreation, and community-based destination. Rad alright! I told you Durham was innovative, local, and cool!

Their creation

If you’re looking for unsocial things to do, for $5 you tin bask immoderate self-directed creativity successful the Make N Take room, wherever budding artists tin usage recycled materials to make works of art.

Our girls had a fantastic clip creating a h2o park. They demonstrated fantabulous teamwork and problem-solving skills.

18. Explore Duke University’s Nasher Museum of Art

The Nasher Museum of Art is located astatine Duke University and is the biggest halfway for arts successful Durham.

The abstraction opened successful 2005 and has been dedicated to showing modern art, arsenic good arsenic works from artists they consciousness person been underrepresented historically.

There is simply a peculiar absorption connected artists of African descent, arsenic good arsenic immoderate European medieval creation and past American art.

19. Admire the Art Installations astatine The Satellite Park

Kids volition emotion the quirky Satellite Park

The Satellite Park is different illustration of however Durham embraces modern art. The parkland features 8 stunning and vibrant murals connected decommissioned outer dishes.

The dishes are connected the grounds of the Duke Arts Annex since April 2018, aft they were painted during the Mural Durham Festival.

Each outer has been painted by 8 section artists from North Carolina, astir from Durham, and a mates from adjacent Raleigh, with the assistance of Durham students.

20. Learn astir Civil War History astatine Bennett Place State Historic Site

Bennett Place is simply a historical landmark located connected Bennett Farm, a emblematic American home, and is celebrated for being the tract of the past surrender of a large Confederate service successful the American Civil War.

The location belonged to James and Nancy Bennett, who were a middle-class household and yeoman farmers.

They worked for themselves and were self-sufficient, adjacent though it was communal to ain slaves astatine the time, the Bennetts ne'er did.

When James died aft the Civil War, the workplace fell into disarray, until it was restored and turned into a museum.

21. Learn astir Slave History astatine Stagville State Historic Site

Historic Stagville | Discover Durham

The historical Stagville plantation is 1 of the largest plantations successful North Carolina.

It was owned by the Bennehan-Cameron family, which claimed ownership of astir 900 slaves.

Many of the plantation buildings person been well-preserved, including the archetypal enslaved quarters, a barn, and the Bennehan household house.

Now you tin larn astir the lives and enactment of the enslaved connected the plantation.

It’s an important portion of American past that should not beryllium skipped connected immoderate travel to Durham.

22. Go hiking successful Eno River State Park

West Point connected the Eno | Photo: Discover Durham

Those looking for a spot for outdoor escapade with the kids volition bask a hike successful the Eno River State Park.

The parks is conscionable 10 miles northbound of the metropolis and is an country of outstanding earthy beauty.

There are astir 13 miles of hiking trails, and determination are besides immoderate fashionable camping spots.

You tin besides paddle oregon food successful the stream oregon person a picnic successful the Fews Ford and Cole Mill sites successful the park.

23. Try Local Cocktails astatine The Durham Distillery

If you’re looking for things to bash successful the Bull City connected a weekend, past you should cheque retired the Durham Distillery.

The micro-distillery produces high-quality spirits specified arsenic gin and vodka. In fact, the distillery has Conniption Navy Strength gin, the highest grant for gin successful the world.

A sojourn to this distillery is not conscionable astir tasting the spirits and touring down the scenes, but you tin larn astir the craftsmanship, the past and make your connoisseurship.

Where to enactment successful Durham NC

Unscripted Hotel

Unique spot to enactment successful Durham

What bash you bash with a mid-century centrifugal lodge making the downtown look a small bland?

Revamp it to beryllium a vintage taste hub for the vibrant community. Unscripted Hotel successful Durham blew maine distant with its funky elegance. It’s a edifice to get excited about.

The parking store and edifice introduction (and stairwell) are covered successful creation from hand-picked thoroughfare artists. It makes you instantly wage attraction and consciousness good.

Roof apical deck

Graffiti and typography are connected the walls of the lobby, which is tastefully decorated to grant the 1960 lodge but with a modern twist.

I emotion the invited mats astatine the doors reminding you to person amusive and the rooftop excavation and retro-inspired patio person an unscripted whitewashed benignant and grace.

Not to notation the unthinkable views!

The lobby and rooftop patio are unfastened to the nationalist successful summation to guests, making this abstraction conscionable arsenic overmuch astir the section assemblage arsenic it is astir visitors.

The rooftop patio volition regularly big movie nights, unrecorded music, and excavation parties.

The Durham Hotel

The Durham Hotel is simply a mid-century modern classical boutique edifice successful the bosom of downtown Durham. The plan is colorful and chic.

There’s besides a edifice by James Beard Award-winning cook Andrea Reusing and a rooftop barroom (the archetypal successful Durham), unfastened to the nationalist and precise fashionable with visitors and locals for its panoramic Durham views. It was the archetypal rooftop bar.

Hotel guests besides get escaped entree to rooftop yoga classes! Hello, Mommy’s clip out.

21 C Museum Hotel

Once the SunTrust Bank, this restored gathering is present the 125-room boutique 21 C Museum Hotel and doubles arsenic a modern creation museum.

Its eclectic and inspiring plan and the depository adhd to the innovative and breathtaking tone of Durham.

The depository information of the edifice is unfastened to the nationalist with plentifulness of artwork connected the walls. Be definite to caput each the mode down to the little level and bask the aged slope vault, which has been converted into a mini lounge.

The kids volition emotion the concealed passageway granting them entree to tally astir the vault successful the acheronian nark barrow hall.

Be definite to popular your caput successful the elevator to spot a fewer penguin friends successful there. I anticipation they haven’t gone!

More Eastern North Carolina Travel Tips

Need much inspiration for visiting Eastern NC? Here are immoderate different guides connected places successful North Carolina that you whitethorn beryllium funny in.

• Beaufort, NC- Pirate municipality and Place of galore Treasures
• Michael Jordan and the North Carolina Experience
• Why you should sojourn Wrightsville Beach, NC
• 2 time itinerary for things to bash successful Wrightsville Beach
• 48 hr itinerary of things to bash successful Durham, NC
• free things to bash successful Raleigh
• Reasons to Visit Johnston County
• Fun things to bash successful the Outer Banks, NC
• Favorite things to bash successful Raleigh NC – local’s guide

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