Sept 17th and 18th- Durham, NC and Croatan Natl Forest

After returning to Raleigh-Durham from Boston, I stayed with a mutual friend, James B.


James was college roommates with my good buddy Keith Y. Even though I had only hung out with James a couple of times, he was super generous to act as host/tour guide during my time in Durham.


James lives between Durham and Chapel Hill, the homes of Duke and UNC respectively.  I got a quick driving tour of UNC with several stops along the way, including the Old Well (the domed thing), bell tower, and football field.  Their football field is open to the public and you can easily walk down to the field. There were plenty of people in the stadium running bleachers.  You would never see that type of access at A&M.  










UNC seemed like a very nice campus, somewhat similar in feel to Texas A&M, but not as isolated of a college town.  On the way out, he took me by Franklin St., which is their Northgate or Campus Corner.  They have a TON of shops and really nice restaurants.  Beats the crap out of Northgate in College Station.  


We stopped to eat at this place called Acme that was right off Franklin St (it was in the hipster district, but I cant remember what it was called).  It is a pretty nice place ($20 entrees), but Tuesday night was half price night!  So we ate like kings on a budget.  Over dinner we discussed agriculture, North Carolina, and James shared some photography stories with me.  James is a very talented photographer.  Check out his webpage.  
www.jamesbarrettphotography.com

After dinner, we drove through downtown Durham.  There is a lot of new development in this city.  Many of the huge tobacco warehouses from days past have been converted into bars, clubs, and lofts.  It gives downtown are very vintage feel.  James was also telling me how Durham is renowneed for its dining.  I bet it is.  I saw tons of interesting restaurants.    



Next we stopped by Duke.  James has clearly given this tour to many people and he began preparing me for the turn in the road that would reveal the noble bell tower of Duke chapel.  For some reason, the lights were off and the bell tower.  We both shared a laugh about the flat finish after the buildup.  Anyways, we parked and went inside (apparently in NC schools you can just walk around any building on campus....it was also 9:30pm).  



The chapel was huge and very gothic.  Based on the look, you would think that this chapel was hundreds of years old, but it was finished in 1920's.  



The chapel had two pipe organs with over 6000 pipes each.  



Also, I noticed several scultures of protestant theologians (the chapel was originally a methodist church).  I hadnt seen this before.  In my experinece, protestant churches generally lack ornate decorations, so it was new to me to see depictions of protestant reformers etched into the facade.  This might be common in the Methodist tradition, but it was new to me.


The rest of Dukes campus is incredible.  It was night, so I didnt get any good pictures of campus, but James puts it perfectly:  it looks like a Harry Potter school.      


James and Melanie:  thanks so much for letting me stay at your place.  It was a huge help and I really enjoyed seeing your beautiful corner of NC that you call home.  Many thanks!  

I woke up the next day (Wednesday) and spent a majority of the day taking care of business.  I worked on blog, did a lot of trip planning, and had some mechanical issues taken care of on the car.  


After a super late start (5pm), I made my way across NC to the Croatan National Forest.  Durham is near the middle of the state, and I was heading towards the coast.  The campsite where I stayed in the Croatan Natl Forest was called Neuses River campsite.  



The campsite was on top of a small bluff overlooking an inlet from the sea.  I put up my lawn chair, enjoyed the waves and gentle breeze, and ate my Subway sandwich.  The beach wasnt very nice. There were only a few feet of sand, and fallen trees crossing the beach into thte ocean. It wasnt bad, I guess, just a different type of beach. I had a nice converstation with Kayley as I enjoyed the view, and looked at the full moon across the water. Very relaxing.  



The next day:  the Outer Banks, NC!!

Sept 13-17: Boston, Mass.

So I hopped on a plane and headed for Boston.  


On the plane, just before we got to Boston, I saw this majestic lighthouse on a bunch of rocks in the middle of the ocean.



I know what you are thinking....isnt this supposed to be a roadtrip?  Before the trip, Kayley (my gf) said she would meet me somewhere along the way for a weekend.  It took me about 5 seconds to decide on Boston.  My sister used to live in Boston, and I had visited her several times.  I love Boston.  In a different life, I would have moved there after grad school.  Anyways, we purchased plane tickets for Kayley so she could visit when I thought I would be in the vicinity of Boston on my road trip.  I ended up leaving a week later than I had planned, so I had to hop a plane to make it up there.  On Thursday, I hopped a plane in Raleigh-Durham and headed to Boston.    



What a city!  Almost instantly, I got to experince the kind of weirdness that you only see in a big city.  In smaller cities, where public transportation is less common, you arent forced to interact with people.  To get from the airport to my hotel, I took the subway (called "the T" in Boston).  A boy (about 18-19yrs old) got on the T with his father.  This boy was probably mentally ill, although it wasnt superficially obvious.  He had a couple loud and whiny outbursts in an infantile voice.  A couple stops later, a guy gets on the T and stands directly behind me.  Its about rush hour, so people are crammed together pretty close.  All of the sudden, the guy behind me lets out an angry string of explitives and threats.  Everyone turns to look at him, and he appeals to the crowd "This guy just licked my arm!", and gestured towards the kid with his dad.  The father just hung his head and the kid explained that he did it because he wasnt happy.  They got off at the next stop.  The victim was actually a little embarassed.  He blew up at a kid (btw this kid was about 6'5" 300lbs) and after the fact realized he was mentally ill.  It occurred to me later, if that guy hadnt stood behind me on the T, I would have been the one getting licked.  I have no idea how I would have reacted.  

Later that night, I met up with my friend Christian from back in College Station.  She ran with the same grad student crowd as I did in college station, but recently moved to Boston to work in a lab at MIT.  I was super excited to see her, and she was an excellent hostess.  The first place we went was an old Italian restaurant/bar called Marilave.  We had a spread of excellent oysters ($1 each during happy hour) and had some vino.  After that, we headed back to her place in Cambridge (a suburb of Boston; across the river; home of MIT and Harvard) so that I could drop off my luggage.    




It was cool to see Cambridge. This was my fourth visit to Boston, and I hadnt yet spent much time in Cambridge.  It is similar to other areas in Boston (very similar to Brookline, where I my sister lived), but the general populace is younger.  Lots of cool shops and eateries along the street.     As we walked to her house, we discussed her experience with the Boston Marathon bombing.  A few of Christians friends were close to the blasts, and the manhunt several days later was very close to where she lived.  The surviving bomber lived down the street.  We walked through his neighborhood.  We passed his mosque.  I brough up the controversy about shutting down the whole city of Boston to catch him.  She said she was uncertain whether it was the right decision or not, but the consensus was that everybody felt safer because of it.    


We went to another couple bars to have a couple beers and talk about her work, H-town rap, and reminisce about the good ol days .  Afterwards, Christian (and her roommate Socrates) were kind enough to provide me a couch to rest my head for the night.  Thank you both so much!  



The next day (Saturday) for breakfast, we stopped by a place called Union Square Doughnuts (we picked up these ridiculously huge and tasty doughnuts) and Christian took me to brunch with some of her friends.  We went to this place called the Neighborhood Cafe.  They have a large outdoor patio completely covered with grapevines.  The temperature was perfect (mid 60's haha Texas).  We had a delicious breakfast (it came with complementary OJ, coffee, and baked apple!).  Her friends were really cool and we had a great, relaxing brunch to ring in the autumn season.  




A quick note: during my stay I heard all the locals trying to organize trips to go apple picking. Apparently, this is a popular fall activity in this region of the country.

After this I checked into the hotel that Kayley and I would be staying (she didnt get into town until 10pm, i guess somebody has to work).  We were staying at the Westin Copley Plaza.  I wanted to stay someplace in downtown so we could be close to everything, and our hotel was right next to the Green Line T station for added convienience.  After the hotel lady handed me the room key, I asked if it had a view.  She said it didnt have a view of the river, but a partial view of downtown.  I was a little disappointed....that was until I headed up to the 28th floor to see the view.  The windows took up half the height of the wall and wrapped around two of the four walls.  We got the corner room and the view was great.  I could even see Fenway Park, as the game between the Sox and Yankees was about to start.    





After I took in the view for a little while, I headed to a bar near Fenway called Jillians to watch the A&M vs Alabama game with the New England A&M Club.  I didnt know anyone that was going to be there, but I figured I would be welcomed.   I was excited to see Sara and Samir M.  I know Samir from the biology department at A&M and sara from way back in my fish camp days (she also did a phd stint in the Biochem dept).  They had finished school, got married, and moved to Boston.  I guess it made sense that they would they would be there, but I just didnt think of it.  I also stood next to a couple that was vacationing from Salado.  They both graduated in mid-90's.  We discussed their adopted children and the non-profit they work for that benefits Haiti.  I also saw Michael C. who was in fish camp with kayley and his wife, as they were vacationing in Boston that weekend and decided to watch the game with the local A&M club.  I was amazed at the number of people that I met that were vacationing in Boston that weekend from Texas (myself included).  After the game, I hung out with the local A&M crew at the bar for a bit.  I enjoyed the company.  Sara, Samir, and I discussed science and jobs, and I BS'd about Fish Camp with another guy in the group.    




Interestingly,  I felt like I randomly bumped into more people that I knew or had met in Boston than I would have in Austin.  In addition to the people I ran into at the game watching, I ran into Samir and Sara as I was doing the freedom trail through their neighborhood, I ran into a couple from the A&M club in the T station, and I saw Tyson and Kariss T. as I was leaving a subway car.  Tyson and I lived next to each other in the dorm freshman year.  I didnt have anywhere to be at the time, so I jumped back on the subway and talked to them until the next stop.  They are expecting twins in the near future, and they decided to take a trip to Boston before they were preoccupied for a while.    Crazy!  Smallest big town ever.    




Kayley flew in later that night, and we began our whirlwind tour of Boston.  The next day (Sunday), we did the Freedom Trail.  The Freedom Trail is a walking tour of Boston that takes you through several historical sites of Boston.   I dont know if this is cheesy, but the freedom trail is one of the reasons I first fell in love with Boston.  It helps you appreciate the profound role that Boston played in the birth of our country.  Walking though that city really gives you the sense that you are following the footprints of greatness.    






It takes about 4-5hrrs to do the entire trail.  The trail starts in the Boston Common (Boston's version of Central Park).  There was a band playing and lots of people sitting on the grass listening.  Speaking of grass, I almost instantly smelled the odor of cannibis.  There was a band playing, and I didnt think this was uncommon.  But then I smelled a lot of it.  At almost the exact moment I am encountering these smells, Kayley taps me on the shoulder and informs me that we are in the middle of Hempfest.  All of the sudden the rasta hair qulits and cannabis leaf shirts made sense.  Let me just say that there were quite a few booths set up selling a wide variety of munchies (funnel cake, pretzels).  



In the part of the Commons not associated with Hempfest, we found this guy making huge bubbles.  I remember having a similar bubble apparatus as a kid, but we could never get it to work.  This guy could have gone out to the Hempfest crowd and really blown some minds.  





Next on the Freedom Trail, we ventured through Beacon Hill (the fancy and historic neighborhood right next to the Commons). We enjoyed looking at all the quaint houses that have the classic New England look. We explored some back alleys and admired peoples gardens.





Along the Freedom Trail we stopped off at Faneuil Hall to grab lunch.  I always describe Faneuil Hall as the best mall foodcourt in the world.  We ate from a place that exclusively makes Mac n Cheese.  The Boston Harbour Mac n Cheese was on special (mac n cheese with lobster, crab, and shrimp).  It was delish, and fortunately it didnt destroy my digestives.    





At one point we had to stop and find a bathroom.  Establishments along the freedom are very strict about bathrooms being for customers only.  We saw signs for a public restroom, and we decided to take that route.  What we found was the port-o-potty from the future, and apparently port-o-potties are even more disgusting in the future.  This thing was about the size of a mall kiosk, but enclosed.  It required the payment of 25cents to use, and this sliding door wooshes open, like out of star trek or something.  The odor was terrible.  As you go in, this futurisitic music is playing the entire time.  Everything was automated and it reminded me of some sort of bizzare Japanese invention.  So gross and weird.  We both felt like it took a little bit of our dignity.    


In the North End (the Little Italy of Boston), we stopped in St. Leonards.  A beautiful Catholic church.  




Also, we found the Irish Potato faine memorial. This poor lady in the statue.  As if the potato famine wasnt bad enough....  




Towards the very end of the Freedom trail, we hiked up to Charlestown to see the Bunker Hill memorial.  We also took some time to hang out on a street that I remember from previous Freedom Trail hikes:  Pleasant St (aptly named).  Every time I finish the freedom trail, it is around sunset, and from the top of this inclined and narrow street, one has the perfect view of Boston.  The Boston skyline is framed by the historic and picturesque houses of Charlestown. A site to behold.










After the Freedom Trail, we had dinner in the North End (Tratorria il Panino); I got the lasagna (duh), Kayley got the Lobster ravioli, and the wine was great.  Afterwards, we got coffee and cannoli from Mike's Pastries.  Not a bad day.  

The next morning (Monday), we went for a run on the Esplanade (the park that lines the banks of the Charles River).  Afterwards we had lunch at Legal Seafoods.  Of course we got the lobster, and everything was super delicious.  I also very much enjoyed a rare early afternoon beer:-)  Next, we crossed the street and had a very delicious dessert at Finale.  This place specializes in desserts, and I had been introduced to this place by my sister.  We picked three ridiculous mini desserts: boston creme, dark chocolate decadence, and tiramisu (plus latte/cappaccino).    






Next we hopped on the T and did the fastest walk-through ever of the Isabella Stewart Gardner museum.  This is an art museum that consists of the personal collection of the heiress namsake.  The cool thing about this museum however, is that it is inside of her 1800's  personal mansion.  I dont have any pictures (they arent allowed), but it is hard to imagine that a person could live in such plush mansion filled with some much art.  There were a lot of Reinnasance paintings, including a Rembrandt self portrait, as well as numerous Roman sculptures that date to the first and second century (sorry no pics from the museum...not allowed).  Can you imagine having something like that in your house?   After like 45min in the museum, we rushed Kayley to the airport and we said our goodbyes.  




My plane didnt leave until the next morning.  I spent some solid time bumming around Copley square watching the sunset and people of the city.     After crashing at Christians house again, she drove me to the airport in her car so I didnt have to take the T.   Christian:  thanks so much for all the favors you did me by providing a place to stay and a ride to the airport.  It was so great to hang out with you and chat over some drinks.  Cheers!  




The next day: Durham, NC.  

Sept 11 and 12- Sunrise at the Atlantic to Sunset in the Smoky's

So I am camped out at this RV park outside of Hilton Head Island.  It is weird, because there are so many RVs and campers parked everywhere, but in the 7 hrs total I stayed here, I never saw a single person.  Presumably they were holed up in their RV, but I never saw anyone.  It felt more remote than some campsites.  


So I setup my tent in the dark, and I woke up at 6am in the dark.  I wanted to see the sunrise from the beach.  I tore down my campsite in record time and made my way to the beach.  I have to admit, the sunrise was super disappointing.  It turns out that the public beach that I went to actually faces south instead of East. Plus there was almost complete cloud coverage. Oh well.  


I actually liked Hilton Head a lot.  It was a pain to get there, but once you arrive, it seems like a pretty great place for families and adults to vacation.  Everything in the town was super new and nice, and I didnt get a trashy party vibe from the part of the island I mulled around (i am sure it exists somewhere else, though). I saw a lot of really fun looking restaurants for adult fun, too.  Prices were not nearly as steep as I thought they would be, and when I bought some food provisions in the Piggly Wiggly (grocery store for those who have never seen one), some of the items (cheese, beans) were cheaper than College Station.  I was suprised.   I sought out a coffee shop and worked on my blog for 4 hrs (it takes time folks!)  After that, I hit the road.  



I cut across South Carolina to the western-most part of North Carolina that lies in the Smoky Mountains.    

The part of the drive near Hilton Head took me through a region called the Lowlands, and man are they low.  If/When a hurricane blows through there, they will get stomped.  There is spanish moss in all the trees.  I love that stuff.  It reminds me of a voodoo bayou or something from the pirates of the carribean ride.    


While driving through South Carolina, I noticed a lot of south carolina pride.  I honestly had no idea what the SC flag looks like (google it).  It is a white palm tree and crescent moon on a blue field.  What a weird flag.  It reminds me of something that would be flying over an oasis in Turkey or somwhere in the middle east.  From what I can tell, the palm tree is actually a "palmetto" tree, as many town and business names use that word.  I dont know the difference between it and a palm tree.  I saw moon and palmetto decals, or just the palmetto, all over peoples car windows.   I had no idea South Carolinians had so much state pride.  Kudos.    



As far as the weather was concerned, I had been pretty lucky thus far.  That luck ran out.  Lots of rain during the 5hr trek.  It rained hard through the first hour of my journey.    


I had a pretty smooth drive through SC into NC.  There was greenery the entire way.   I have heard so much about how beautiful NC is, and my anticipation was pretty high.  





I saw this guy at a gas station outside fo Asheville, NC.



When the highway took a turn, and I saw my first mountain, I was excited and probably took too many pictures.   As I got further into the more remote parts of the Smokys, the roads got steeper (one of roads I took warned of a 10% grade!)  and more curvy.  It also started to rain....really really hard.  It would downpour for 3min and then stop for 3min.  Off and on for about an hour. It made me nervous to drive these tricky roads with so much rain.  I took it slow, but I was really amazed at how daring some people were around the downhill turns.








The campsite I was staying at was called Deep Creek.  It was inside Smoky Mountain National Park and right outside of a town called Bryson City.  I didnt have to pay entry fee to the park, and camping was only $17.  Not too bad for a National Park.  They had an automated machine that accepts credit cards. This really took the pressure off of me to arrive during business hours.  


When I reached my campsite, the rain had stopped for the rest of the night.  I was very fortunate.  Unfortunately, the camping sites were not nearly as remote as I thought they would be.  The sites were stacked right next to each other.  On the plus side, not many people were camping during the week.  I had neighbors about 50 yards away on both sides.  I guess I had become spoiled from staying at so many national forests where I was practically the only visitor.  





  I put up my tent and got ready for dinner.  I had decided that it would be nice to have a campfire, and I had purchased firewood at a gas station.  I got the fire started, and it was a beaut!  I take great pride in my fire making abilities.  It almost fizzled out the first time I started it due to a lack of kindling (classic mistake).  This was because I was under the impression that the collection of kindling on site was forbidden.  I found out later that it is totally legal, but i didnt know that at the time.  Anyways, I had to get my fire started, so I started wandering around the camping area with my headlamp at night as discretely as possible searching for kindling.  After that, the fire raged, and I was happy.  




For dinner, I had a turkey and cheese sandwich, a peanut buttter and honey sandwich, and a can of tomato, okra and corn that I bought at Hilton Head. All of it was uber delicious.  



After dinner, I sat and enjoyed the fire.  I brought a harmonica that I blew on for a while.  I dont know how to actually play it, but I can blow into it and make sounds.  It is always in key, so it doesnt sound too terrible.  



I went from sunrise at the Atlantic Ocean to sunset in the mountains in the same day.  Cant beat that.  


The next morning, I woke up and went for a hike.  I decided to take a 5mi loop trail.  It was awesome.  The first part of the loop had a trail that was like blacktop pavement.  Not exactly a forest trail, but the scenery was great.  There were little side trails every so often that lead to the creek.  I  spent a decent amount of time just taking in the creek/falls, and observing all the types of plants and fungus that grow on the forest floor.    











Further down the trail, the loop seperated from the blacktop trail and went up the mountainside.  It was steep, and I only saw one other person on the trail (and no bears).  This trail made up for the lack of solitude at the campsite.  It started to rain (which I was prepared for), but luckily it never rained very hard.  The forest canopy protected me from most of the rain, and what did get through was actually pretty pleasant.  It was very relaxing to hear the gentle spattering of rain on the forest leaves.  I did catch a glimpse of wild turkey when it crossed my trail.  Over all, the hike was success.  It satisfied my Smoky Mountain fix.




I found this crazy tree where the top part of the tree had been tangled up in a neighboring tree, but the bottom part had been chopped down or fallen away. It was this super tall tree with no part of it connected to the ground. An odd site.




As I left the park, I wanted to grab lunch in Bryson City, the quaint mountain town that was right outside the campsite.  I discovered that the Smoky Mountain Railway runs through Bryson City, and that the coming weekend was the beginning of RailFest : a festival for train enthusiasists (I was amazed how many train enthusiasts are also Harley enthusiasts).  Anways, the town was buzzing, and I decided to slip into this deli called the filling station.  I was blown away by the number and creativity of sandwiches they offered.  I got an italian panini that was the best I have had, and I was sad I only had enough appetite for one sandwich.  During the fall and winter (it actually snows in these parts), I bet Bryson City would be a cool place to vacation along with taking a ride on the Smoky Mountain Railway.    





I left the Smoky Mountains and headed towards Mooresville, NC to visit my cousin Matt K.     As I left the Smoky Mountains, I headed through the Blue Ridge Mountains, which are all part of the Appalachian Mountain Range.  



Just before I got to Moorseville, I saw a sign for the JR Factory outlet.  In college, my buddies Clint M. and Blake M. started the Texas A&M cigar club called Aggie Aficionados.  I remembered how we always ordered our cigars from JR Cigars, and I had to stop by and see where our cigars came from.  The outside was a dingy old warehouse ( i guess thats how they keep prices so cheap).  The inside had tons of knockoff clothes and assorted apparel, but they boasted the largest cigar shop in the world.  The humidor was huge!  It was the size of a walgreens, and cigars lined the shelves.  Pretty crazy.  





When I got to Mooresville, I met up with Matt and his partner Joe.  We had some delicious pizza at a place called the Salty Caper.  Afterwards, we headed back to the house, had some excellent wine, and discussed all things North Carolina.  Matt and Joe are trying to visit all 120 vineyards in NC. They have been to 80 so far, and they have amassed quite the collection of wine. What a cool hobby!



Thanks so much for the hospitality and advice Matt and Joe!


The next day:  Boston with my friend Christian and Kayley :-)