2011.05.05 through 2001.05.08 Reunion in Chapel Hill

We had a great time this weekend. I didn't see a lot of people I knew from my own class but met some I had not met before! Pam, my roommate came just for the Saturday lunch, picture, and evening party so I did get to be with her a little.

We went a day early so we could see the Carolina Basketball Museum for our first time. We really enjoyed this walk-through. Don thought it didn't have quite enough about some of the older teams he remembers from childhood. But there is no way to see everything. They have videos of many, many games and visitors have to pick and choose what they see of those. Otherwise, you would need to bring a sleeping bag and some food - and they'd run you out anyway at closing time. I have now decided that it is officially illegal to park anywhere in the city of Chapel Hill or on the college campus. There are a few pay lots available but some of them are nowhere near where you want to go. We finally asked one policeman where we could park in one restricted lot and he told us he wasn't after giving out any tickets that day. So we parked illegally right in front of him.

The reunion was very similar to Don's 50th a couple of years ago. I had looked forward to a professor of Comparative Literature (Joe Flora) doing a seminar on "You can come home again..." but this was led by another professor who was very good but not nearly as personable as Mr. Flora 2 years ago. I was a bit disappointed in that - but wait - Don and I decided to go to church on Sunday morning instead of graduation ceremonies (it was pouring rain early). I saw a Sunday School class called Christianity in Literature and we decided to see what that was like. WELL, there was my guy - Joe Flora - teaching the class!!!! It was absolutely great. A whole bunch of college professors were the students and it was a really high level, interesting, meaningful class. Wish I were there for that one every week. We studied a Yeats poem this Sunday (chosen to tie in to Mother's Day) and I don't think either Don or I would have understood a word of it without his explanation. Really fun learning experience.

On Thursday as I was unpacking, I looked high and low for the bag that had all my makeup and meds. NOT ANYWHERE TO BE FOUND. Oh, my goodness!!!!!!!!!!!! I told Don we needed to go to a drug store and let me get some basic (much cheaper) items to make it through a few days. HE DROVE BACK TO CHARLOTTE AND GOT THE BAG FROM MY LIVING ROOM......Hard to believe. I went with him and we really enjoyed this 6 hour sidetrack as much as anything else we did all weekend. It was his birthday and he got 2 Quik-Mart turkey and ham sandwiches for his fancy dinner. He particularly enjoyed the bag of potato chips we shared. We made the trip only for the missing meds combined with the length of stay. Still impressive I would say. More than a gesture as far as how I felt about it - it made my heart just sing for joy because this sort of oversight can surely ruin a weekend.

We went to a baseball game on Friday evening. It was rather cold but we stayed through all 9 innings of a shut-out against Maryland. Some guy near us was screaming to the top of his lungs for Maryland. He finally left as all his cheers led to strike-outs. I started calling him turtle mouth to the people around us. We had some pretty knowledgeable baseball fans behind us and we would ask them questions when we didn't understand some call (people boo-ed the umpire and he went over and apparently told some fans off - I don't think that is kosher at all. Then he calmed down and did his job the rest of the game.)

I sat next to a lady for Saturday lunch who was a member of the team of attorneys in the Butcher banking scandal years ago. She was QUITE an interesting conversationalist. We got into the discussion by telling her Don and I had both worked at a bank together. Don asked her husband if he remembered Butcher since they were from Tennessee. And the man said to ask his wife - SHE knew ALL about it. And she surely did. Pam came sometime during this lunch and I moved over to join her for part of the lunch event so I didn't find out all she had to say, but I can say I would hate to be on the other side of her determination. I enjoyed her lots and lots.

Much food was served every day but we used some sense about it. AND WE DANCED at the big Saturday night party. UNC combined my 1971 reunion class with the 1966 reunion class and had a dance floor set up between the two groups. They played music people our age(s) like and lots of people danced. Some of them had a pretty good looking shag going on for a while. When the music got a little more loud and fast and incomprehensible, Don and I left (around 10). The transportation back to our quarters stopped at 10:30 so 10 wasn't so bad.

We went to a little place for Sunday lunch called Time Out. They had been in business 30 years and neither of us had ever heard of it!! The Hatfields let us know about it and we wanted to go there sometime over the weekend. Great chicken (with cheese) biscuits and some good vegetables too. Every serving was so big, Don got a biscuit which we shared and I got veggies which we also shared. We were plenty full when we left and we enjoyed the food too. We recommend the place.

One other little fact is that the graduation gowns were newly designed by Alexander Julian and were made of recycled plastic bottles. They have a new white stripe that runs down the middle front. One of the 50-year veterans was upset that it was raining so hard about 8 a.m. and wondered if the gowns would be waterproof as a result of being made out of recycled plastic bottles. (I have my doubts about that.)

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