Fall break--Day 4--Adventures in Durham

There wasn't as much time in Day 4 simply because Arianna and Tim headed out at 2:30 p.m. Since they had missed their flight coming here, they felt it was important to get there plenty early (even though we assured them an hour was sufficient). Since we had to take them to the airport around 12:30 and everyone here likes to sleep in, we only had a small window of time in which to explore.

We decided to check out that other university: Duke. (I know, I am supposed to be completely against them, but after viewing their campus, I don't think I can be!).

The campus itself is beautiful and looks almost like it is taken from the pages of a fairytale with quaint buildings that look like they come straight from Snow White to historic, traditional houses with pillars and brick used as academic offices that offer a lot of charm. One major feature of the Duke campus is the Chapel. We knew this going in and were fortunate enough to find it. We didn't go inside, but that is something Shawn and I will do in the future.

We then decided to check out the Sarah P. Duke gardens. I thought I had heard something about them, but I did not remember anyone mentioning that it was completely amazing! We decided to park and take a short walk though, and in our short (30 minute walk) we didn't even cover half of the garden. It is absolutely beautiful and had a number of places to take great pictures. I also couldn't get over what a great wedding venue it would be. Below are a few pictures from the trip.

(Some of these pics may even make it up as art! The scenery was just beautiful!)

After the garden, it was time to head to the airport. Shawn and I dropped Arianna and Tim off with plenty of time to catch their return flight, and we then went to do the mundane tasks that need to get completed (even over fall break). After the shopping and such we did however get a nice treat. We got to go and carve pumpkins with our neighbors and their friends. Our realtor, being the amazing person she is, had given us a carving pumpkin, so Shawn created a Mario pumpkin from that. I created a dragon in mine.

Then it was time to head home, grab some dinner, and head to puppy class. Bella was very excited to be back with her friends and performed quite well even though her training had been delayed a bit by her surgery.

Sunday was certainly a busy day for us, but it was also a great one!

Fall break--Day 3--Adventures in Wilmington

Wilmington was an adventure we expected to take because of Arianna's love of the television show One Tree Hill. I don't actually watch the show, but it is filmed in Wilmington, NC, and we knew from the start that a visit there was on her to-do list. We headed out early for Wilmington--with Bella.

We decided to bring Bella because we knew the trip would be all day and we couldn't leave her at home the whole time. I was a bit concerned because it was her first trip longer than 15 minutes, and I wasn't sure how she would react to being around so many new people and places.

Turns out my fears were unfounded. She did great. She sat for the number of people who told us she was adorable and asked if they could pet her. She walked on her leash without getting completely underfoot. And she sat chewing on a  bone while Shawn and I ate a nice lunch in the park.

Let's backtrack though. We started off by walking down to the riverfront. Arianna immediately spotted the basketball court featured in the show and was incredibly excited. She and Tim then went and purchased tickets for a tour that featured the locations of various movie sets and television filming locations. Before their tour, we all walked around and checked out the various historic houses, some of which dated back to the late 1700s.

We then headed back so Arianna and Tim could take their 90 minute walking tour. Shawn and I decided to sit that one out and watch Bella together, so we grabbed a sandwich and found a nice small patch of grass down by the riverfront to enjoy a picnic lunch. The weather was beautiful--high 70s with a slight breeze--and we enjoyed sitting there then walking along the water before heading back to meet them.

Once we met up with Arianna and Tim, the four of us then decided to get some ice cream and sat in a shady spot to eat it. Bella was awfully tired from all the walking that we did earlier at this point and didn't even really try to steal a lick.

We then went back to the car so Arianna could visit some additional filming spots of One Tree Hill that were not covered on the tour, and after that it was back to Durham. At this point we were all tired, so Bella and I took a nap.

The car ride home wouldn't have been too bad had it not been for state fair and sporting event traffic. We sat on the freeway for about a half hour. Luckily, we made it home and were able to enjoy an evening of dinner and board games before heading to bed.

Fall break--Day 2--Adventures in Raleigh

Day two started off with a trip to the state Capitol. We decided to check out Raleigh after perusing the AAA guide of North Carolina my dad got Shawn and me before the move. We decided that there were a number of things that looked interesting, and so we headed out in the morning.

Luckily the drive to Raleigh isn't very long. Along the way we decided to explore a bit though, and we had Shawn drive us by the office that had hoped to work at (Update to this: ...the office he is going to work at! He got offered the job today and accepted!). After viewing the building, we drove around to some great houses that were right in the area. Here are a few pics.

We then got back on track and headed for the Capitol. We found it with a bit of help from the GPS and parked at a typical day lot. We had read about a historic house walking tour and wanted to take that, but when we went to the location that offered the maps, they didn't seem to know what we were talking about. Luckily, we had seen a number of historic houses on the drive in AND the place that was supposed to have the maps was a museum. This was beneficial because it meant we could spend time checking out the exhibits.

One exhibit in particular caught our eye. Thomas Day was a free Black furniture-maker who created some of the furniture that was in the plantation at Stagville, and a lot of his work was on exhibit at the museum. It was absolutely beautiful. I wish I had taken pictures, but I didn't, so you will just have to imagine the intricate trim work that went onto the various headboards, chairs, tables and shelves he created. He also created some of the most beautiful stairways I have ever seen with intricate, hand carved posts and scroll work along the bottom of the stairs.

After that we left the museum, but Shawn and I will be going back because they had a number of other interesting exhibits. We then headed over to the Capitol and looked at that. Here is a picture of Arianna and Tim in front of it.

Then we went on a hunt for authentic North Carolina BBQ. A neighbor and friend recommended a place, so we walked a number of blocks to The Pit. We did have a hard time initally figuring out where to go.

But then we were heading in the right direction.

And we found the restaurant.

Although the outside doesn't look like much, the inside is actually very nice and the food was great as well. Shawn was in heaven with his plate of BBQ chicken, chopped BBQ, mac and cheese, potato salad, hush puppies and biscuits. I am sure we will be heading back there as well.

After that, it was off to another museum, the Museum of Natural History. We had read that they had a fossilized dinosaur heart, but that may be a marketing ploy because we could find no such thing (or we could have just missed it). This does not mean the museum was a disappointment though. We did find a large cougar. Go Cougs!

And then we found whale skeletons that were incredibly impressive.

In addition, there were dinosaur exhibits to enjoy.

 Those dinosaurs sure had some big feet!

The museum also had a  live butterfly exhibit, but we are saving that for next time.

After all of this, we visited the gift shop so Arianna and Tim could get some souvenirs and then headed back to Durham. We then played board games and waited until it was dark to go to a haunted house. The haunted house was good, but not quite as good as the Haunted Palouse back in Washington, so Shawn and I may be on a quest next weekend to find a good haunted house. We then grabbed some food at Ruby Tuesdays and  called it a night. We had big plans for Day 3---check out the next blog to find out more!

Fall break meant lots of activities--Day 1

Fall break started Wednesday evening last week and lasted until Sunday. What is Fall Break? It is a brief time off from classes (but this does not mean the work stops!). With my Fall Break though I did take some time off, and it was wonderful and much needed. Now I am just struggling to get out of that break-mode and into serious work-mode.

For Fall Break, Arianna and Tim came over for a visit. We picked them up Wednesday night at the airport (they were a few hours behind schedule after missing their a.m. flight out of Seattle. Check our her blog for more info). Although they were a few hours behind, we still managed to squeeze a lot of fun adventures into the trip.

Here is a brief overview of Day 1--Thursday (Tune in for more in a later post!)
We started off with a bit of history. We went to Historic Stagville, which we had found the previous weekend with Cassie. It was still just as interesting, and while there we learned about some other historic sites we will likely be visiting in the future. Shawn and I plan to go check them out, so look forward to posts for trips to Duke Homestead and Bennett Place.

After Historic Stagville, it was off to campus to show off my building, office, and UNC in general. Before we could walk through campus though we needed some sustenance. We stopped at the oldest restaurant in Chapel Hill, the Carolina Coffee Shop. After enjoying lunch there (I had a delicious turkey club sandwich!) we headed up to campus. We took a brief break in my office for some sugar...

and then headed to the bookstore. Arianna and Tim came away with some great UNC gear.

Then it was time for a pic in front of the Old Well.

Although this tour and shopping spree took us a few hours, we managed to come home and make our own dough and pizza and then watch some television. It was TV night. Arianna and I used to watch television together on Thursdays so that we could enjoy Grey's Anatomy and Project Runway (It started though when we used to watch ER together--so that gives you an idea of when it really started). When Arianna moved back to Western Washington in 2008, we would text during our shows so we were still "watching" them together. However, with the three hour time difference, it hasn't been possible for us to watch together in any capacity, so it was a really nice treat to have a good old fashioned TV night. 

Look for Day 2 of our adventures in an upcoming post!