More Triangle Tourist...ing

Part 2 of the Extended-Fam Shenanigans centered around field trips to points of interest in our friendly neighbor of Durham. As I mentioned in my last post, the first stop was Duke University, where the fangirl also known as my sister could...I don't know...squeal a lot and take a million photos, I guess. We began with the mandatory perusal of the bookstore (which contained nothing nearly as amusing as the cuddly bio-themed toys at UNC...I'm just sayin'...) and purchasing of yet more items of apparel and whatnot with the school logo (for the visitors, obviously...not those who support the local rival).

When we finally escaped, we trooped over to the chapel (a gorgeous, soaring, stained-glass filled must-see, I'll admit), where as my brother tells it, the most thrilling moment occurred when we were "kicked out" for misbehaving. Truth: we were politely asked to move back away from the alter area, because a group of kids was apparently "rehearsing" for something or other.

And then--even though we didn't expect to have a whole lot of success, given our past attempts--we dutifully trekked to Cameron Indoor Stadium, presumably so my sibling could reverently touch the exterior wall, take the same selfie she always does, in front of the sign, and bemoan the fact that we're not allowed into the actual building. But...miracle of miracles...when we pulled half-heartedly on the outer door...it opened! I thought my sis was going to faint right there, but she pulled it together enough to breach the inner sanctum--where she promptly began flitting amongst the exhibits and madly snapping away with her phone camera (and occasionally letting out a delighted giggle...or squeak).

Well...no one had come to bounce us yet, so we continued to test what we could get away with...I mean "explore". (Honestly, we figured this was probably due to the fact that we'd seen copious numbers of what appeared to be sports camp attendees...with which we were obviously not affiliated. But in a crystal clear moment of family unity, we came to the unspoken agreement that if we weren't gonna get in trouble...we were gonna continue to push our luck! And this should come as a surprise to...yeah, absolutely no one...) So, there were staircases that had nothing preventing access...and up we went. Aaannnnd then we were actually on the court level, but the openings through which you could reach the seats were blocked by hanging sheets of rubber, stating "Practice in Session, Keep Out".


Ahem...by peeking surreptitiously around one of these, we determined that the floor was in fact unoccupied at the moment...and whattya know, one of the entrances was completely unobstructed, so it definitely signaled that we should sneak in and take a look. (We're such rebels, right? Sure, we'll go with that...) After my sister thoroughly documented the experience to her satisfaction, we vacated the premises, because we did need to move on to our next event: Durham Bulls baseball. (The fun never ends around here, I tell ya...)

Although it had been a scorcher of a day, the sun was mercifully on its way down by gametime, so we gratefully collapsed in our seats and settled in for the evening's entertainment. We almost got more than we bargained for, however, as the contest got a bit wild in the later innings. Lots of runs, pitching changes, tie scores--and even the threat of extra innings, which was narrowly averted when the home team went ahead for good in the bottom of the 8th. This was critical, since it had already been a loooong slugfest....and there were fireworks still to come!

The next day our weary clan understandably agreed to keep it low-key, with the highlight of excitement being several restaurant trips. One of these was to...Bojangles, if you can believe it. You see, my younger nephew had gotten it in his head that this was some kind of required North Carolina thing, and no matter how much we tried to dissuade him (or convince him otherwise), he would not be deterred from his mission. (Of course, I excused myself from this...culinary adventure? Reportedly, the rest of them enjoyed it.) We also dined at a local eatery that no one except Derek had ever patronized before: Hickory Tavern (where again, a tasty meal was had by all).

Finally, for our last hurrah, if you will, I proposed a foray to the Museum of Life and Science. Not only had Team WestEnders only been there once before, 5 years ago during the very first Summer we lived in Chapel Hill, but the weather forecast was calling for beastly temperatures approaching triple-digits, and we desperately craved some INDOOR amusement. Therefore we loaded up two vehicles and caravaned our way to Durm yet again, where we...basically indulged our inner "big kids" by investigating all the interactive displays and super-cool educational materials. C'mon...climbing in treehouses, admiring lovely butterflies, watching bears and wolves (with pups!) and lemurs (oh my! sorry...), and finishing with a stroll through a field of mist...what's not to love?

Alas, all good things must come to an end...and it was time to bid our northern relatives adieu, so they could tackle their destiny...um...the 85/95 odyssey...and return to Maryland. But man, did we pack a whole lot o'frolicking into this 4-day weekend, y'all! For now, it's "so long"...until the next time we reunite...in December...and perhaps we can look forward to hot chocolate, rather than "melted humans"--ha! (Fingers crossed...)