The Chapel Hill/Carrboro area is a pretty cool place. It's full of the kind of culture, eccentricity and diversity often found in college towns. I didn't go to school there myself (and think most of its graduates have an air of pretension I can do without) but I do respect the uniqueness of the town and the history of the school.
Places we ate and drank:
Spanky's: a little too yuppy for my taste, but they did have drink specials.
Pepper's Pizza: a C.H. institution known for its fab pizza and weird waitstaff....Laura from Superchunk even worked there back in the day! The food was great and the experience even better as there were children who entertained with pop n lock while we ate. Awesome!
The Reservoir: a dive bar that was perfect for a few before the show.
Bada Wings: another drink spot. Good live music.
McDonald's on Franklin Street: man, that was a good burger after the show!
Carolina Coffee Shop: a perfect Saturday brunch spot. Quiet. E-Roc was enthralled with his Bloody Mary.
Places We Browsed:
The Internationalist: hip, leftist bookstore. I didn't buy anything but I appreciate their efforts.
We stopped into several used bookstores and thrift shops whose names I can't recall. Even for used items, most of it was way overpriced but browsing was still fun. One bookstore had its own roaming cats! Bonus!
The People:
Lots of homeless folks, sadly. Many asked for change politely, which I don't mind. Many were cursing loudly on the sides of the streets as pedestrians crossed. Nobody wants to hear that.
Hotel staff and waitstaff of restaurants and watering holes were all nice but curt. Obviously the most fun were at Pepper's. That's just how that goes.
Our cab driver, Anthony, dropped us off and picked us up from Franklin street and was a hoot. As soon as he said "okay, we all grown in here, right?" I knew we were in for some of those fun cabby stories these guys love to share. We were not disappointed.
And yes, we did walk around the campus and look at the historic stuff like the Old Well and we did even snap some pics. Like I said, you don't have to be an alumni to appreciate that sort of thing.
I also was taken on a tour of E-Roc's historic sites: his old house, his old job at Papa John's, the places he used to ride his bike, etc. The walking tour of E-Roc was equally entertaining as Taxi Anthony's stories.
On the ride home, E-Roc and I entertained ourselves with mimicking our parents' voices. And no, I don't know why either. I guess we were just tired. But it helped get us back to G-Town, and that was good enough for me!
Places we ate and drank:
Spanky's: a little too yuppy for my taste, but they did have drink specials.
Pepper's Pizza: a C.H. institution known for its fab pizza and weird waitstaff....Laura from Superchunk even worked there back in the day! The food was great and the experience even better as there were children who entertained with pop n lock while we ate. Awesome!
The Reservoir: a dive bar that was perfect for a few before the show.
Bada Wings: another drink spot. Good live music.
McDonald's on Franklin Street: man, that was a good burger after the show!
Carolina Coffee Shop: a perfect Saturday brunch spot. Quiet. E-Roc was enthralled with his Bloody Mary.
Places We Browsed:
The Internationalist: hip, leftist bookstore. I didn't buy anything but I appreciate their efforts.
We stopped into several used bookstores and thrift shops whose names I can't recall. Even for used items, most of it was way overpriced but browsing was still fun. One bookstore had its own roaming cats! Bonus!
The People:
Lots of homeless folks, sadly. Many asked for change politely, which I don't mind. Many were cursing loudly on the sides of the streets as pedestrians crossed. Nobody wants to hear that.
Hotel staff and waitstaff of restaurants and watering holes were all nice but curt. Obviously the most fun were at Pepper's. That's just how that goes.
Our cab driver, Anthony, dropped us off and picked us up from Franklin street and was a hoot. As soon as he said "okay, we all grown in here, right?" I knew we were in for some of those fun cabby stories these guys love to share. We were not disappointed.
And yes, we did walk around the campus and look at the historic stuff like the Old Well and we did even snap some pics. Like I said, you don't have to be an alumni to appreciate that sort of thing.
I also was taken on a tour of E-Roc's historic sites: his old house, his old job at Papa John's, the places he used to ride his bike, etc. The walking tour of E-Roc was equally entertaining as Taxi Anthony's stories.
On the ride home, E-Roc and I entertained ourselves with mimicking our parents' voices. And no, I don't know why either. I guess we were just tired. But it helped get us back to G-Town, and that was good enough for me!