Tuesday, February 11th
We awoke early and I checked the weather. Looks like Charlottesville was going to get hammered, so we decided to bag going by James Madison’s home and head down 95 through Richmond. Sharon was nice enough to make us coffee, we didn’t heat up our breakfast sammies, and hit the road trying to beat the snow.
Once we were in North Carolina, the snow turned into rain! We were safe. I received an email from the Aloft in Durham our room was ready, so we headed there.
Once we were checked in, we headed out to find some lunch. We had scouted out several places to eat and decided on the Bull City Burger and Brewery. Just a short walk from the hotel. Along the way, there was some street art, I had to stop and snap pictures.
The beers and food was quite good. We ordered chocolate chip cookies to go, paid our bill and strolled back to the hotel. There was a quaint park along the way, and I squirreled to take pictures.
We decided since we were on vacation and we were retired, we would head back to the hotel for a little rest until it was time to venture forth again. Don’t you hate it when you are just about to fall asleep and a thought pops into your head? “I FORGOT TO GET THE COOKIES!”
Of course it had started to rain, but we were determined to a) get the cookies, I mean I had paid for them, and now I really wanted one, and b) it was getting close to dinner time. So off we go, 1st back to Bull City, hoping I didn’t have to beg for my cookies, which I didn’t because the bartender was still there and she remembered us AND she wrote my name on my cookies in case she wasn’t there when we came back looking for them.
Then we hightailed it over to the Bull City CiderWorks where we waited out the rain. There was supposed to be a food truck, but I guess with the rain, the truck didn’t show up. The cider was good. There were not many people when we arrived, but we were greeted by Barry the cider dog. He graciously showed us to where we could sit and was nice enough to show us where the treats were for puppy dogs. As we sat in the cider, enjoying the ambiance and wishing we had a place like this in Carthage, more patrons arrived, some with dogs, some with computers.
So now we have to decide what is for dinner. Lucky for us, Durham is full of restaurants, and they have a Mellow Mushroom. On the way over to Mellow Mushroom we pass this restaurant, Ekhaya. We don’t stop, but it reminds me of the African Bantu Tale, The Name of the Tree and I take the picture. Once inside MM, we sit at the bar, while we wait for our pizza and salad. The Bull Durham Kölsch is what we ordered. It was not our favorite. I mean I have had good Kölsch’s before, but this was not one of them. On the way back from Mellow Mushroom we walk through the American Tobacco walkway.
Back to the room, Jim has to move the car as there was a Chargepoint in the parking garage. Chargepoint allows you to pay for using their electricity. I run the pizza and salad up to our room. Jim has to dodge all the parents and small children in the parking garage. Our hotel is adjacent to DPAC and apparently there was a show there that night. I had noticed several school buses dropping off kids for a performance earlier in the day and no I do not know what the performance was. Jim made it safely back to the room where we indulged in pizza, salad, and yes! Chocolate chip cookies.
Guess I didn’t get a picture of the cobb salad! Imagine that. Off to bed so we can get the Gammy and enjoy Charleston.
#HowFortunateWeAre #TurningSnowIntoRain #MakingOurOwnSunshine #RetiredAndLovingIt