OK, I’m falling way behind schedule here on posts. Figure I owe one NC recap for you all:
Thursday:
What was orignally planned out as a three-man trek to North Carolina was turned into a solo outing by fears of the DC-area sniper attacks (one man bowed out on his own, the other had some gentle “coaxing” from his woman). Now if hold a human hair between your fingers and look at how much space there is there, that’s aproximately how close I came to not going because of all the last minute schedule bullshit.
I managed to sucked it up, threw my things into the Cavalier and start rockin’ down the highway. At least I knew I wouldn’t have to argue with anyone over who chose the next CD. ^_^
I did have a couple of suprises. The good suprise was the one night expansion of my cell phone callign area, which allowed me to make calls until about half way into North Carolina. Thanks VoiceStream (T-Mobile‘s…whatever)! The little bit of conversation I had on the way down helped keep me semi-sane on the road.
The bad suprise was finding that someone in the Virgina DOT thought it wwould be a wise idea to merge 4 lanes of traffic to 1 for some road construction. To move about 3/4 of a mile took nearly 20 minutes and I was cut off no less that three times. Three times!!! Ugh! Remember kids, it’s every-other lane when you’re merging! If you’re not considerate, Uncle Andrew might ram you off the road!
Where was I? Oh yeah. North Carolina.
I arrived sometime just before 3 am, leaving me with plenty of time to shoot the breeze with Dennis, have a beer or two, etc. You know, all the stuff you do when you see an old friend. He was ready to talk all night into the day, but I had been running arround all day getting my car fixed up and trip-worthy, so we had to cut things a little short. Day one done.
Friday:
Got out and about around noon, just in time for luck at the “Hawk’s Nest”, UNC Wilmington’s on campus cafeteria where Chik-fil-a and fresh salads were the order of the day (along with spying on all the campus co-eds ^_^ ). A quick sightseeing and photo trip around campus and then we were off to Downtown Willmington to play tourist by taking photos and buying stuff.
Thankfully, I managed to take more pictures than anything else, but I did not leave unscathed. While browsing through an art gallery Dennis pointed out a very nice print featuring an assortment of characters from Shakespear’s works. While the price of the framed work was scarry, the unframed price was just right. Now all I need is to find a shop near me to frame for cheap.
After a short nap (hey, I was on vacation after all), we hit a combo thai/vietnameese resturant called Indochine for dinner. The service was great, the Mai Tai‘s exquisite and the food trumped them both. I have not been that full in a long time, and I’ll be looking forward to dining in their outdoor garden on my naxt visit.
The evening’s activities included another trip downtown to hit some of the local bars and catch some live music. Band of the night that impressed me most was “Willie And Me“, a local act that I hope, pray and will be willing to trade in some karma points to see go national (or at least get a few gigs in NYC). Their playing was supreemly tight, as were the conditions of the stage they were pigeonholed onto.
And speaking of playing, I even had a chance to play some djembe in front of about 30 lushes at The Reel Cafe. I noticed a man playing up on stage and went over to watch (trying to learn though observation). Instead, he asked me if I played and when I said yes, basicly threw the drum into my hands and let me bang away while he got a drink. I only managed to fuck up once or twice, and no-one said anything…at all. A total of no comments one way or the other, which I take as they all being too interested in their alcohol and the oposite sex than a knock on my percussion skills.
Of course it turned out that the drummer, who introduced himself as Ryan, wound up being a certified nut case that Dennis and I were happy to flee from first chance we got. That about endeded night two.
Saturday:
This was beach day, though not it the traditional surf & sun sense. We made our way down to the North Carolina Aquarium at Fort Fisher, ariving just a few minutes prior to a scheduled fish feeding in one of the tanks. Of course, that meant we had to race through two thirds of the other exhibits to be in the right place at the right time, which meant we wound up viewing the aquarium in the exact opposite order the architechs and admissions people had planned. Here’s to being different! ^_^
With the aquatic portion of the day taken care of, we headed over to the local miniature golf course, where my mouth wrote checks that my playing abilities couldn’t make good on. Total cost was $5 and a little lost face, but still a fun outing.
We got back to the condo for a little breather. I proceeded to pick up a journal I brought down with me and did lots of wicked looking sketches, including saving one that I had given up for dead almost a year ago. Sketching is cool, and hopefully soon I’ll be able to share them with you.
But I digress.
After a quick bite to eat at Hooters (strickly for the food, mind you), Dennis made a few calls and we played the waiting game for his friend Marc so we could follow through with our plans to hit Carolina Beach for a little bon-fire type activities. Plans were set to get underway at midnight.
Midnight turned to quarter past. Quarter past to half past. Half past to quarter ’till. Usually this kind of tradiness would have driven me nuts, but it gave me a cahnce to watch getting a chance to watch Porn & Chicken on Comedey Central, which wasn’t half bad by my estimates. But alas, all good things must come to a begining, and sure enough Marc, Nichole and company showed up and we got underway.
After one quick stop by a construction site to load up on pallets (which had to be strapped half-in/half-out of Marc’s SUV with some thick gage scrap wire I found lying around), we made it out to the beach. And the weather could not have been any better for it! What a night for a beach party!
Of course it wasn’t all just fun and blazes — first we had to dig a fire pit (which I took to with gusto and a small piece of plywood), then there was the gathering of kindling, the stacking of wood…one of the girls there was taking bets on how many Jersey boys it would take to get the fire started (her bet was 7, actual was 4).
Yes, there are a lot of Jersey transplants down in Wilmington area. One of the keepers of the flame went by the moniker of “Yankee”, for his northern birthing and preference in Baseball teams. Of course this wound up sending the conversation onto a 9-inning tangent. I had some of the best baseball talk in a long while with a girl from vermont who knew more than some fans I know, though she professed to not know much of the game.
And then there was the girl from Jersey visiting her friends in North Carolina (damn, I can’t get away from Jersian — we’re like a disease or something!) who just couldn’t get enough of the southern accent of one of the group members. of course, I think she wanted more than just lessons on how to say “y’all”, but then again a blind man could have seen that.
Beyond those highlights most of the night was a blur, but I do have some video clips and pictures to help remind myself, which is good. By the time we buried the fire and headed home, the sky was already starting to lighten. I think I recall head hitting pillow sometime after 5am.
One hell of a last, lost night.
Sunday:
Get-away day. I woke up just as Dennis was ready to head off to work, which gave me precious little time to get my act together. Thankfully, I kept most of my gear in one place all weekend, so a rush gathering job was not required. A few minutes to load the car, a quick couple of goodbyes and I was off.
The trip home was a touch more uneventful than the trip down, though I did have a moment of panic when I realized how tightly I had strung out my gas budget. So much for the big Cracker Barrel breakfast — it’s Burger King and petrol for me!
The further North I traveled, the more colors I began to see in the leaves out my window. It was like watching fall unravel before me again, except at 85 miles an hour. The sky grew dark as I reached DC, shrouding the landscape from me, the tones of Galactic filled my speakers, pushing me on home.
All in all, it was a sorely needed rest and I came back feeling more in touch with my creative juices than I have in some time. Hopefully you’ll start to see some of that transpire soon enough….
