Name: Live exploration of the real-life Mirkwood from Stranger Things
Uploaded: 2022-06-26T14:43:30-0400
Duration: 932760
Description: Did you know many of the spooky locations of major events in Stranger Things are based on real-life places right here in the Triangle? You can see them for yourself ahead of the Season 4 release next weekend.

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Did you know many of the spooky locations of major events in Stranger Things are based on real-life places right here in the Triangle? You can see them for yourself ahead of the Season 4 release next weekend.

Hey there everyone, this is heather, leah Wrl? S Hidden Historian and today I am actually out at the real life mirkwood. So if you are a fan of Stranger Things and you know that season for the rest of it is actually being released this upcoming weekend, um you might know or you might not know that a lot of the places mentioned in Stranger Things are actually here in Durham north Carolina. So um the Duffer brothers who wrote the show, they grew up here in Durham and a lot of the stories and places, especially the places that they mentioned in the show, are actually real places here in Durham and this is a lot of people are actually aware of this, but today I wanted to show you the spookiest place released in my opinion. So this is mirkwood. So if you're familiar with the show, mirkwood is the place where Will Byers vanishes or at least where they think that he vanished. The Children in the show tell the police that will disappeared near mirkwood and that mirkwood is where curly and cornwallis meet. So this patch of woods right here is at the place where curly and cornwallis meet and I apologize there is a lot of traffic out here, so hopefully you can hear me, let me know if you have any trouble and a lot of eagle eyed viewers, especially people who grew up in the Durham area, they recognized that even as far back as season one, they were like curly and cornwallis, that's an actual intersection here in Durham and then more references to Durham came out in the show, they've referenced Jordan's Lake, which they call it lake Warden in the show. Um they also referenced the river uh and then of course there's the rock quarry where they quote find will's body. Um Several people who grew up here in Durham and we're very familiar with the area. I've done a lot of research into this. They believe that that rock quarry was very likely based on the river rock quarry and one of the reasons they think that is because the river is mentioned a few times in the show. Um but also the Duffer brothers went to Jordan high school and one of the um traditions at Jordan high school at least according to the people that I've spoken with from when they were in high school is that you would go to the river quarry for senior skip day. So it seems very possible that the Duffer brothers would have been familiar with that tradition and the quarry might be based on that childhood memory. So I wanted to take you here today to one of the locations, there are several um if you want to go to other locations that are mentioned in the show, Enzo's um that's one of the places where two characters go on a date. Joyce and Hopper I believe or who go on the date, there might be, it might be Joyce and her boyfriend Samwise. Um but they go on a date at Enzo's and in the show it's a fancy italian restaurant. Um But here in Durham in real life it's it's a pizzeria, very popular one. So there are many places and if you want the full story of all of the list of places that you can visit here in Durham that are referenced in the show. I have linked the article in the description of this post. So here we are, here's where curly and cornwallis meet. This is the intersection. Now, I'm gonna be honest with you. I mean look at how tall this grass is. We are very close to Duke Forest and it does look a little creepy. Um I could certainly imagine, I'm sure all of you growing up, you know that every neighborhood has its own its own ghost stories, its own legends. And I know my neighborhood where I grew up in. The, the only people who know the ghost story of these individual neighborhoods are the kids who live there kind of like in Stranger Things, right? The Children are the ones aware of the ghost story only in this case it's real. Um so in real life, I think that's a common thing that there's a ghost story or a legend that only the kids in the neighborhood know about. I know my neighborhood, we had a legend and the woods near my house with a creek in the back. The Children came up with a legend that a man lived in those woods and he had a machete and he lived in a cabin and at night you could hear the machete clinking off of his belt and so as kids, we would stay away from that area. It scared us. It wouldn't surprise me, given that the Duffer brothers grew up, from what I understand, probably pretty close to this intersection, that I I do wonder how many of the stories from Stranger Things are actually just these childhood ghost stories that they either heard. We're kind of made up themselves growing up this intersection, especially, I mean today is a very bright day and it's the afternoon. It's a little bit less creepy right now, but and some of the pictures I've seen of this intersection, I can see why kids might come up with a scary story that you know, if you can imagine being a kid riding your bike past these woods at night, I could certainly imagine a demo Gorgon or two hiding in there. Um so this is it, this is the one of the first references from stranger Things that relates to Durham, the curly and cornwallis and it really alerted people that there might be other references. Now, I'm gonna take a look in these woods a little bit. I don't want to get chased out by a demo Gorgon. So, but I wanted to show you when you look into these woods and I show I just showed you the full intersection, doesn't it almost look like Stranger Things now. Stranger Things was not filmed in Durham. However, a lot of fan made and even official maps really show a lot of Durham locations have a lot of Durham references and names. And in the latest season season four, they actually finally just straight out reference Durham north Carolina where the characters are trying to hide their location and so they pretend they're calling from Durham north Carolina. It actually shows a map of north Carolina with Durham. So there's no question that there are references to Durham and that a lot of these places are places that we're very likely the Duffer brothers we're familiar with growing up. Um I actually spoke with a gentleman, look at this yikes. Um and he said that a lot of these places already have spooky stories attached to them in real life. So, I mean when you look through here and I know from looking at the overhead maps there's a little stream that goes through this area too. Can't you just picture, can't you just picture the shrinker things, kids running around in these woods deep in the woods, calling it mirkwood looking for, will it just, it does look like the set of Stranger Things. It really feels like they pulled from their memories of living in Durham. I spoke to a gentleman who grew up in Durham, who's a big fan of Stranger Things And he grew up in the 80s here in Durham and he says he was doing many of the things that the Children in the show we're doing, He said, oh another location in Durham. The Children in the show go to a neighborhood called Luck Loch Nora or maybe Lock Nora, Please forgive me if I pronounced it incorrectly. Um and that's where the Children in the show say, is the wealthy neighborhood with the Good Halloween candy there, the neighborhood that's got the full sized bars, candy bars. I know I grew up in Raleigh and we had a neighborhood like that that we would always go to that neighborhood to get the good candy bars and Loch Nora in the show, it's spelled a little differently, but there is a lock nora neighborhood in Durham, not far from here. In fact, most of these locations referenced in the show are within a 1-2 mile radius of curly and cornwallis, which makes sense again, this is very likely where the brothers were having their, their childhood and their memories and they're pulling from that. Um so there is a lock Nora, if you're from Durham, I would absolutely love to hear if Locke Nora does give out Good candy if it lives up to its reputation. Uh they did a, we did a comparison looking at the sign of Loch Nora from the show comparing it with the sign of the real world Loch Nora and the font is even very similar, The curve of the brick and the sign it. Uh It definitely looks like they modeled the loch Nora in the show after the the Loch Nora in real life. So I wanted to share one last quick story. So if you've watched season four I don't want to give any spoilers if you haven't seen it. But one of the main plots surrounds the dungeons and Dragons Panic Of the 1980s. If you were around in the 1980s you might remember this. Well I have been wondering, no I haven't asked the Duffer brothers. I would love to find out from them If they were referencing the General Dungeons and Dragons panic of the 1980s. Or if they grew up hearing about the urban legends surrounding the north Carolina NC State University steam tunnels. So there's an urban legend at N. C. State that survives to this day. Um And it's got many different forms as many urban legends do. And that is that the steam tunnels that back in the 1980s there was a group of Children college students playing dungeons and dragons on campus and they used to go into the steam tunnels. Now the steam tunnels were dangerous. They were off limits. They weren't allowed but they'd go in there anyway and play D. And D. And the legend says different different things. It says that they lost. There's no reference in your article about the mall in season three being modeled after the old South Square Mall. I didn't know Wendy. I didn't know. Um If if by the way if you guys know any references that are missed in the article let me know because I'd love to add them and I'd love to go visit them. So uh take a look at the article that's in the link that's got the full list of locations and you can send me anything that I missed because you know I'm not perfect. I certainly might have missed something and that you guys are seeing. Um But anyway the urban legend at N. C. State and the steam tunnels of course are still down there Still off limits very dangerous winding easy to get lost. But the legends said a variety of things from the students lost their minds playing dungeons and dragons. They kind of got lost in their characters and by getting lost in their characters they became either overtaken by magic or by spells or just kind of lost their sense of who they were. Other legends say that the students got lost in the steam tunnels and never came out. Um There's all kinds of legends. They do seem to be based on a real life true crime story where there was a group of students at N. C. state back in the 1980s. And this is in the article if you want all the details because this is just from memory. Um but there are several articles about this happening in the 1980s and even a mini series. Um But there were students at N. C. State who one of the students playing D. & D. With his group wanted to kill his parents with the idea that he would get their inheritance. And he actually worked with his dungeons and dragons group to achieve this and and actually try to have his family killed. And for a while it was a mystery. They didn't know who did it because he stayed back at NC State and had a great alibi. So that is a real story that happened to N. C. State. But many urban legends kind of spun out of this story. There was another D. And D. Panic story at michigan state where someone went missing. A student who used to play D. And D. As well. Um And they thought that he was missing in the steam tunnels and had possibly died in there. I believe it turned out he was okay and he wasn't lost in the steam tunnels. Said oh I think they eventually found him. But again that was michigan state. The urban legend that centers around NC State continues to this day. I remember in the 1980s and 1990s you know my own mom being concerned about me playing dungeons and dragons. So uh this was a very real panic that happened in the 1980s And I'm certain season four is based on the nation wide panic, but I am very curious to know, were the brothers aware of the local urban legends and the local true crime story. And is that in any way being referenced, if you read the newspaper articles from the 19 eighties, they put so much focus on the dungeons and dragons element as if this game is what triggered the Murderess planning. Um which I I don't think is what happened, but But this is this is very real panic happened in the 1980s and and the new season is is kind of focusing around that and I'm curious how much it has to do with local urban legends, just like so many of these others. But anyway, there are other locations that I didn't mention in the livestream. Um Take a look at the story, it's got a whole lot of them listed and you can visit all of them ahead of the Rest of season four being released this upcoming weekend. So, and again, you can even eat at these restaurants. I've seen comments of people who were eating at Enzo's and then they saw the episode and they almost looked up to see if it was in there with them um or looking for the kids. So um you certainly can visit these locations including these pretty spooky woods here at Mirkwood. Um and by the way, Mirkwood is a reference to Lord of the Rings that the kids were making in the show because Mirkwood is a giant forest in Lord of the Rings, in case you needed that extra nerdy explanation. Um from me, your extra nerdy hidden Historian. So anyway, that is some of the real life locations as well as some of the history behind these locations. I hope you'll come take a look for yourself but be safe and um watch you know, I hope that you'll send me any of your thoughts. If I missed something, please take a look at the article and send me anything I missed so I can take a look at it. Thank you for exploring Mirkwood with me today. Glad we didn't have any damage. Organs attack. And I'll see you next time for more hidden history by everyone.

Heather Leah

Live exploration of the real-life Mirkwood from Stranger Things

Stranger Things: Visit the spooky real-life 'Mirkwood' in Durham - and other real spots from the show 

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Hey there. I'm meteorologist, Brian Schrader in the Wrl Sevier Weather Center, whatever you have planned today, it is gonna be gorgeous to be outside, maybe a hurricanes watch party. You're gonna be doing some tailgating out at PNC arena this afternoon ahead of tonight's game. We're looking at highs in the mid seventies with a lot of sunshine, maybe a few clouds as we head into the evening hours, we do have a chance of seeing maybe a couple of light showers. I want to take a look at Futurecast, putting it into motion through the rest of the day. You can see those mostly sunny skies again, maybe a few clouds later this afternoon. And then as we head toward the dinner hour, this version of future cast has some showers perhaps moving in as early as seven or eight o'clock into our northern counties, maybe through the triangle around nine or 10 o'clock and lingering till midnight into the early morning hours of Sunday. So we can't rule out a light shower anytime from maybe six or seven pm into the overnight hours. Just want to keep that in mind if you have any plans to be outside later this evening, it will not amount, amount to very much, just something to keep in mind and be prepared for this all clears out of here overnight. And for tomorrow, it looks like an absolutely gorgeous Mother's Day with sunshine all day long. The humidity levels are gonna be really comfortable today. And again, tomorrow, highs tomorrow, right around 80 degrees and that humidity stays comfortable uh into Monday. And then by Tuesday it starts to get a little stickier around here. And with that extra moisture, we do have a chance of seeing some showers and thunderstorms. Those chances really start to build Monday night. Tuesday right now looks pretty wet with showers and storms. High temperatures in the mid seventies for Tuesday with all of that rain still have a chance of seeing some showers and storms lingering into Wednesday before a little bit of a lull in the precipitation. By Thursday, temperatures pretty close to normal as we head through the rest of the week. Normal. This time of year is about 80 degrees. We're not seeing any summer like heat. It's gonna feel pretty seasonable for this time of year.

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Good evening. I'm Gayle. Her, welcome to tonight's drawings for Friday May 10th, 2024. Well, let's get started tonight with our Carolina pick three. Our first winning number is a zero. Our second number is seven and our third number tonight is eight and our pick three. Fireball number is three. Joining me for tonight's drawing is our auditor from MC Connolly Jones L LP. Now let's move to the Carolina pick four. Good luck. Everyone who's that first winning pick four number. It's a one. Our second number four, third number tonight is two and our fourth number this evening is seven and our pick for fireball number is a three. Well, turning now to the Carolina cash five. If no one was the top prize tonight, tomorrow's top prize is estimated at $770,000. Good luck. Everyone is that first winning cash five number is 26. Our second number, it's 33 3rd number tonight. It's 22. Our fourth number is 39 and the final number in our cash five this evening is 17, the North Carolina education lottery has contributed over $10 billion education. Thanks to your support. Get your winning numbers right here every night in your exclusive station for the North Carolina Education lottery. Thanks for playing. Have a good night and a great weekend.

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>> ACROSS AMERICA WITH MEGA JACKPOTS, IT'S MEGA MILLIONS. WHAT'S UP JOHN COHEN IS FRIDAY MAY 10TH AND TONIGHT'S MEGA MILLIONS JACKPOT IS AN ESTIMATED A NEW TIES. 331 MILLION DOLLARS TO WIN THAT JACKPOT. YOU MISSED IT SEES 5 WHITE PLUS THAT GOLD MEGA BALL. NOW. LET'S SEE IF I CAN MAKE YOU A MILLIONAIRE TONIGHT. FIRST WINNING NUMBER TONIGHT IS 32. THAT'S FOLLOWED BY. 26. UP NEXT, WE HAVE 13 IN X NUMBER IS 22 IN YOUR FINAL WHITE BALL NUMBER FOR THIS FRIDAY EVENING. IS 65 NOW FOR THE MEGA BALL NUMBER. THAT IS 18 IN TONIGHT'S WINNING NUMBERS ARE 30 TO 26

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Carolina Hurricanes coach Rod Brind'Amour talks about facing a 3-0 series deficit against the New York Rangers and looks ahead to Game 4 on Saturday.

<p>Ok. Rock Sebastian was mentioned, the ac Sebastian mentioned today, it seemed pretty spirited practice that everybody got some got out of their system. Yeah, I mean, that's the only way you can do. It. Certainly don't want to feel sorry for yourselves or anything that it's a new day and you got a new challenge tomorrow, put our best foot forward, you reconfigured the power play units a little bit in practice today is that I'm assuming it's more about execution than personnel at this point. Yeah, it always is. It always comes down to that. We had good players and maybe it was two units doesn't really, you know, scrambling the players around. I don't know how much that's gonna change. You gotta get a little more, um, dialed in on, on, uh, the execution part. You had tr check here for a couple of years. Is there anything that he's doing this series of surprises? No, we talked about him. Yeah. No, and we knew he was a good player so we got him and tried to keep him but didn't work out. I mean, business and, uh, you know, he's certainly been a huge factor how difficult is Canar to deal with. I mean, you know, obviously scored as many points in the head but he's been hardly the only guy that's, well, they got, they got that. I mean, like some real high talent. I mean, that's, that's, you know, you, you could tend to shut them down or try to for a little while but they just need a, a hair and all of a sudden they make you pay and that's, that's why they're elite, you know, um, among the other things that they do, but that's, that's the separator, you, your top on everything we ask for that, you know, below them. They, they're generating all the other ones are generating chances but the goal is high. Is there any concern with that aspect of it? Um, well, yeah, I mean, it's definitely concern. That's why we're in a hole we're in as well. But it's, it's, you know, like, what are you gonna do? You gotta, we know that one area we have to be better at and then the rest side we can't fault around it because it's just, you know, otherwise you have no chance. So we're, we're, you know, in a tough spot. We know that, but it's the old story boring where you gotta just worry about one game and see where it goes, what's missing on the power play that was there and the amateur series there, we'll see what's not. Yeah, I think we're just a little off on. Um, well, it's, listen, you gotta give them credit. I think that's the first thing you do. They're, they're doing their system really well and they're knowing when the pressure and what not, and we just haven't handled that the way we normally do. And I think that's really the beginning of it. Right. Obviously you guys have had a high shot volume for the first three games. Do you think just Durkin's finding more confidence through the more shots he sees? Is there any, you know, adjustment to make under? That's a question for him. I mean, you, you, you know, I think he's made a lot of quality saves too. I mean, I looked at him today and there's a couple that are well, world class, I mean, that and that's a couple that go the other way. That's the difference. I mean, you're not talking about it all you got, you gotta get better shots. I mean, he's been the difference and there's, there's no way around it and you got to give him credit and, you know, you can say we're not getting good enough shots, but you're making some good saves too. Have you made a decision yet on where you're going in that? No, no. Yeah. Right back to and we keep going power for all these reasons. Just do you, do you guys need to make quicker decisions with party, party? I mean, it's the right decision. It's not quicker. I mean, we were good all year. It's just right now we have, uh, you know, really? Yeah, I didn't love it again. The is in this series, I thought it was ok. But we, we hit a three game snag here and the wrong time of the year to hit it. What is that? Is that comfort in routine as a hockey player? You do the same things all season and then things get difficult like this. Do you, do you find some comfort in the routines that you have? Yeah, that's a good question. Um, I think you probably do, you know, um, something you can rely on something, you know, it's that they always, that next day mentality that we have in this league. And, um, and what's done is done, you gotta worry about the next thing that's on your plate. So, and I think that's, that's a good way to look at it. How do you balance desperation and what that means for your guys versus overdo it a bit. Yeah, I think the one thing that I, I love always about this group is that they, and you watch this fight. I mean, we pretty much always play that way. So it's not about, you know, I try to do too much or too long and I think they, they, they do what they always can and I'm assuming I'll do that again tomorrow. Consider the circumstances where you're happy with where your team work today. Very p yeah, very good. I mean, we, we all are grown here, man. We understand the situation but what you have to also approach it the right way and it's a great opportunity. We're still, we're still playing and uh you know, I think the focus is just on trying to find that to get that much better. All right. Thanks a lot. Thanks for the great.</p>

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Live exploration of the real-life Mirkwood from Stranger Things

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