Short Trip to North Carolina

A quick trip to Durham and Wilson NC filled our past long weekend.  We were attending the wedding of one of Ben’s college friends. We can’t travel to that part of NC without a visit to our son and his family. 

We traveled on Friday afternoon arriving in Durham just before Jeff and Daniel left for their weekend Cub Scout camping trip. After a short rest we were off with Robin to visit a fantastic Fusion/Thai restaurant – Merlion – located in Chapel Hill. The food was wonderful. I only took a photo of my own dinner – Mango Chicken – it was fantastic but way too much for one meal! Could easily have split with someone. 

Ben had a beef curry dish and Robin enjoyed seafood in a coconut broth.  We walked around the very interesting and welcoming village green and then headed home to watch a movie. 

Saturday morning we headed out for shopping – primarily at REI – in preparation for our 50th Anniversary Trip.  After purchasing shoes, a new computer bag, security holder for passport etc; it was on to the mall for a few other items.  We had lunch and made arrangements for Ben’s college gathering in the fall and then headed out to Wilson. 

We found our hotel, had a nap, and met up with friends at the wedding.  The wedding held in a small country church outside Wilson was very nice. There was a FULL house – in fact we got the last seats.  After the service we headed out to the Wilson Country Club for an enjoyable evening visiting with friends and wishing the happy couple well. Sorry I totally forgot to take any photos!

The hotel was full of middle school age baseball teams – the ones on our floor had a party from midnight to 1:30. So I slept from 10 – midnight and then from 1:30 – 7:30,  Got plenty of sleep in spite of their party! 

Sunday morning we had breakfast with our friends – not the bride and groom of course – they were off to Charleston…. then took a short drive into downtown Wilson to see part of the Vollis Simpson Whirligig Collection.  He is a now deceased folk artist whose collection of whirligigs are being incorporated into the downtown area of Wilson. http://www.wilson-nc.com/whirligigs.cfm

When the whole collection has been moved it should be quite a display.  We headed back to Durham after stopping off in Raleigh for a quick lunch.

Back in Durham we enjoyed an afternoon of hearing about the camping trip, learning about Pokeman cards, and just visiting and relaxing with family. 

Monday morning we were up early and on our way home as the Durham clan headed out for school and work.  The trip home was uneventful.  We did stop for gas and a quick lunch in Abingdon before arriving home to unload the van and continue our battle with the new computer and Windows 8. I am determined to master it! Mostly under control – if this blog posts it is one more item I can check off my list!