carolinas in my mind

i know i am truly in the south now.

reason #1: on sunday, i drove from the dc area to durham, nc, home to duke university and my lovely friends mike and liz. and what did we have for dinner? chicken and dumplings. delicious!

not so delicious: mechanically separated chicken. i learned about what it was from mike and liz and have sworn off chicken nuggets of any kind forever. above is our reaction to that bleak reality that is processed meats.


above: a visit to duke university, mainly the chapel. liz and i looking more normal.

reason #2: on monday, driving from asheville, nc, where i stopped to visit my teacher friend, chris aitken, to simpsonville, sc, where my cousin heather and her husband james live, i found myself in dire need of a restroom, but on a country road that was NOT promising on the rest stop outlook. i also was not quite sure i was on the right country road, either. i saw a large faded sign that read ANTIQUES and figured i might as well stop and ask the store clerk, who was currently picking up the items off the porch for closing time (it was around 5 o'clock), whether i was on the right track to simpsonville. i pulled in and screeched to a stop, took out my atlas for a moment, was encouraged, but was literally squirming in my seat and could not focus on the map. i definitely drank too much water today! anyway, as she continued to clear the outdoor items, i asked the clerk about my general direction, and she said in her endearing southern drawl that i was on the correct route, and then i asked, sweetly, "do you know where the nearest place is that has a bathroom?" and she pointed to the restroom in her shop. THANK YOU, southern charm! i can't stand it when i'm in new england somewhere and i stop with a similar request and they say, "sorry, no bathroom" and faintly gesture at some unreadable sign near the door. i always want to say, "then what do YOU do when you need to go?" or, i wonder, are they saying "we have no bathroom," which, of course, is a blatant lie, or are they saying, "you no bathroom" like cave-man neanderthals, as an abbreviated way of saying, you cannot use our bathroom, even though we have one. needless to say, i am in the south, where there are no bathroom-hogging store clerks and no lies. (okay, that might be an exaggeration. you get the point)



above: photo of the mountainous drive to asheville (i'm kicking myself for not getting a photo of chris and i during our quick grocery-store-lunch-buffet-rendez-vous!) and a few snapshots of downtown asheville.

reason #3: people look at me funny when i talk. finally, i have an accent, somewhere!

my new friend, emmy! she is so cute and she loved me!

james, emmy, heather, and me at their lovely home in simpsonville. it was a great stop. except the fact that my car decided to freak out at the crack of dawn and start honking at everyone. well, i guess my car has the right to protest all of this. but i hope that's out of it's system for now. off to start my drive to ATL!