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| The Old Well - symbol of Chapel Hill. |
Salsa on Wednesday night was really great - lifted my spirits and gave me some much-needed exercise! Thursday I met with some ladies for a luncheon and to take notes on their group - these 12 have been meeting since 1974 once a month for lunch and they were such a fun group! I can't wait to write the story about them. From there I left for Chapel Hill.
Unfortunately, my old Shakespeare professor was out of town so we were unable to meet up, but I parked across from my old dorm and walked through campus including the lovely Arboretum which is awash with greenery this time of year. Walking through campus - especially when it is so quiet and still - makes my heart ache with longing. Just the sight of an old building where I took classes made me yearn to be back to stay. It's hard to explain because it is like the school itself has its own identity and personality which beckons me. Yes, I miss my classes and my old friends, but the school embodies something unique and real that has buried itself in my being and, I'm afraid, will never relinquish its hold. The spell was broken somewhat when, as I sat reading in the Arboretum, the phone rang and Colene was on Franklin Street ready to get some dinner.
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| Dusk. |
Once back at her place in Raleigh, we met her husband and his friends out at a sports bar for an hour or so. They all work with the football team at NC State and work until about 10 p.m. every night since it is currently training camp.
On Friday, Colene and I got up and went to the gym in her apartment complex for an hour. Then we went to Shelly Lake park nearby and walked 2.5 miles around the lake. Then we came home and played tennis at Colene's complex (which we both rather suck at, but it was fun). After showering, we went to dinner at Tir Na Nog Irish pub. They had live music - first by an old Irishman, then by a group of drummers and bagpipers. It was pretty cool. After that, we went line dancing at a local saloon. Needless to say, I was exhausted that night.
On Saturday we played a bit of tennis but it was threatening rain and right before we finished up, I twisted my ankle. Luckily, Colene is an EMT so we went inside and she iced it for 20 min and it felt much better after that. We went to go see X-Men First Class at the cheap theater (which I loved just as much as the first time I saw it) then to Crabtree Mall for a couple hours. The mall was absolute chaos. I don't know who designed the parking garage, but they should be banned from participating in any type of architectural work ever again. It is absolutely crazy - and added in with the people who don't know how to drive and those who walk out in front of your car, it was stressful. Inside wasn't much better. For one, I've never seen a mall where one could not get to the next floor of the department store without exiting into the mall and going up on the main escalator then re-entering the store. How ridiculous is that??
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| The bagpipe and drum band at the Irish Pub. |
On the plus side, I did get two shirts that I love from H&M for really cheap. I don't think I've been to an H&M since I was in Europe in '09.
That evening, I drove over to my friend Jason's house who lives 5 minutes from Colene. His parents were visiting him from Charlotte and the four of us went to the Dutch club's Klaverjassen card came night (which just happened to be this weekend). It was really nice to see Lieselotte's parents, though being back at a Dutch club gathering made me miss her so much! However, I had a great time and came in about 5th place out of 17, which is pretty good I think. Jason's mom was the big winner - luck must run in their family because apparently last month Jason was the winner.
We didn't end up leaving the house where we were playing until after 12, which meant I didn't get back to Colene's until 1 a.m. This morning I got up at 9:30 and met my friend Aaron for brunch before heading back to Charlotte.
It was a busy weekend.
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