Gadding About in Chapel Hill on a Friday Night

What better than having a late lunch at Mama Dip's in Chapel Hill, followed by watching the UNC JV basketball team play their first game of the season.  I have two grandsons on the JV team---the Palmer brothers---Zach a junior and Brooks a freshman.  And I had a front row seat!!!!

Zach number 14 in the starting lineup.

Brooks number 15 had a great game.

I am indeed happy that basketball season is here.  There will be one of the Palmer boys playing for Broughton this year too.  Tyler a sophomore there.  I'm a basketball loving GrandPat.

Lunch at the Weathervane, Chapel Hill, NC

Marcia and I spent our day out Wednesday by first dropping Dan at his lab at Duke University and then doing a bit of shopping at Target before heading to Chapel Hill for lunch at the Weathervane. The Weathervane Restaurant is a full-service restaurant located adjacent to Southern Season in University Mall.

The Weathervane is a pleasant place for lunch especially on a nice day like yesterday when it was perfect to dine out on their patio.

Patio at the Weathervane.

 There are two dining rooms inside, a formal one and a more casual one.  But we enjoyed dining al fresco.

The more formal dining room at the Weathervane.

Casual dining room area in Weasthervane.

When Marcia and I go out to eat we often end up ordering the same items from the menu and that was the case yesterday.  We each had soup and half sandwich.  The soup of the day was tomato basil, and we selected as our sandwich egg salad with bacon, lettuce and tomato.  Both the soup and the sandwich were quite good and reasonably priced at $11.00.  For good food and pleasant ambiance I can enthusiastically recommend the Weathervane for lunch. And when the weather permits, by all means choose the patio seating.

Soup of the day, tomato basil.

Egg salad sandwich with bacon, lettuce and tomato.

After lunch we browsed through the adjacent Southern Season, a gourmet food store that specializes in local and international fine food, wine, specialty gifts & cookware.  Craig Claiborne, the late NY Times food critic, once described Southern Season as “wall to wall and floor to ceiling…a visual and gustatory delight!”

Eye candy at the Southern Season from the elegant to the......

...whimsical.

It's always dangerous for me to enter Southern Season, because rarely do I leave without purchasing something.  This time I found items that I really needed though---a pretty tablecloth, platter, and paper plates and napkins in the color scheme that I will use for a graduation/bon voyage party next week for grandson Zach and his girlfriend Claire.

Items I purchased at Southern Season for the graduation/bon voyage party for Zach and Claire.

A few days after graduation Zach will be traveling with Claire and her mom to Australia to visit her mom's family.  What an experience that will be for Zach!

A Few "Shots" at the UNC Hospitals

Aerial view of the Hospitals.  Main Hospital on far left and Cancer Hospital on far right. 

While Dan was a patient at the UNC Hospitals recently in Chapel Hill, I wandered around and took a few photos.  It's a lovely place, and he received excellent treatment,  We're happy he's home now and recuperating nicely.

View down the long lobby of the UNC Hospitals.

The various Hospitals share a long lobby with high ceilings--from west to east--The Main Hospital, The Children's Hospital, The Women's Hospital, Neuroscience, and The Cancer Hospital.

The ceiling of the lobby in front of The Children's Hospital.

Interesting wooden panels with triangular and circular metal inserts on walls of lobby.

There's a lovely little Chapel off the lobby in the Children's Hospital that looks out over a butterfly garden between the Main Hospital and the Children's Hospital.

Window in the Children's Hospital Chapel looking out over the Butterfly Garden.

A butterfly bench in the Butterfly Garden.

A fringe tree in the Butterfly Garden.

Pretty floral arrangement in Dan's room.

Dan recuperating back home now on his favorite sofa reading his favorite newspaper. 

If one must be hospitalized, UNC Hospital is a good place to be. 

A Morning Visit to the Dean Dome

 

It was such a beautiful morning I decided to drive over to Chapel Hill and get some photos of the Dean Dome on the University of North Carolina campus---the home of the UNC Tarheels.. Actually I wanted to "case the joint" to see where the Broughton fans will be sitting on Saturday night when the Broughton High School boys play Olympic for the 4A NCHSAA State Championship.  I want to be sure that I get behind the Broughton bench as I have for the last four years that Zach has been on the team. 

It was special being in the Dean Dome with no other person around.  I could soak in the beauty of the arena without the distraction of a crowd,  and it is beautiful.

The bleachers.  The uppermost ones aren't going to be used for Saturday's game.

I'll share some of the photos with you.

The front of the Dean Dome.

 

Broughton will be the home team and will be sitting where the Carolina team usually sits.

View from the end of the court.  It is hard to believe that Zach will be playing there Saturday night.

I was a college sophomore in 1957, and I remember watching on TV that Championship game.

Six national championships.  I didn't realize there was one in 1924.

The campus was deserted because of Spring Break.  When I was teaching in college I found it too quiet and a bit sad when students were away on Spring and Fall Breaks.  It's just not the same without the chatter of students around campus. 

Deserted campus with students on Spring Break.

Sidewalk between the Dean Dome and the Natatorium.

I am so excited and look forward to the game on Saturday night.  Win or lose it will be a special adventure for the team and for me. 

Gelato in Chapel Hill, NC

Sugarland store front on Franklin Street.

Helen and I were in Chapel Hill the other day having lunch at the Crossroads Restaurant in the Carolina Inn.  After lunch we walked down to Franklin Street and the Sugerland Bakery.  In addition to cakes, cupcakes, and other desserts,  Sugarland makes real authentic Italian gelato.  I became addicted to gelato in Italy, and I was hankering for some for dessert. 

Gelato at Sugarland.

Sugarland makes a variety of flavors of gelato.  I think this was peach.

Sugarland's cupcakes are said to be the best in the Triangle.

Wedding cake.

They make cakes for all occasions, especially wedding cakes.

Black and white cake.

One of my favorite designs they have on display is the intricately decorated black and white cake which would cost around $700. for this size and decorated in so much detail.

Mosaic at entrance to the bakery.

It's worth a trip to Sugarland just to see the beautiful mosaic at the entrance to the bakery.  And of course, you couldn't pass up a cup or cone of their wonderful gelato.

Twelve Days of Christmas at the Carolina Inn: Part One

Friend Marcia and I had lunch at the Carolina Inn in Chapel Hill the other day and while there we enjoyed strolling through the public areas where vignettes representing the Twelve Days of Christmas were on display.  These have been created by various artists during the 14 years of this tradition. 

Partridge in a Pear Tree (actually on a piano).

Two turtle doves (real birds in the cage).

Three French hens.  Notice the flag, the beret and the wine bottle.

These were created just this year by Betsy Vaden who works mostly in stoneware and porcelain.

Four calling birds by Larry Heath from Hickory, NC

There were five golden rings hanging from this tree.

Six geese a-laying.  Egg attached underneath each goose here.

I'll post photos of the other six days on my blog tomorrow.  Stay tuned.

Our Groupon Coupon at Jujube

Jujube restaurant in Chapel Hill, NC.

 Dan and I had a Groupon coupon for Jujube's in Chapel Hill, and we invited Laura and Anthony to join us for dinner there on Sunday night.  It was our first visit to this restaurant and we found a gem!  Jujube describes itself as being Asian fusion or "a modern restaurant rooted in the flavors of China and Vietnam, distilled and whimsically refined with western sensibilities."  We discovered a menu that did meld various Asian cuisines, and there were so many promising choices that we had difficulty deciding what to order.

Jujube is located in the Glen Lenox shopping center.

We each chose different starters so that we each could sample a variety of dishes.   Our choices included shiitake, carrot and soy dumplings, spring rolls, and tempura fried prawns and okra with heirloom tomato conserve.  For our entrees Dan and Laura each chose the Vietnamese coffee-encrusted pork tenderloin w/ potato, spinach, & plum caramel, Anthony chose the stir-fried rice noodles w/ NC shrimp, oyster mushrooms, and I had the lemongrass grilled hanger steak with cucumber salad and spicy peanut sauce.

 

Anthony's stir-fried noodles with shrimp.

My hanger steak with cucumber salad and spicy peanut sauce.

We were so full we really didn't need dessert, but we chose two to share.  The dessert special  a sort of ice cream sandwich with their homemade coconut ice cream between two crunchy cookies was especially good.

I was so impressed with this restaurant that when I was in Chapel Hill on Tuesday, I stopped in for lunch there. 

 

Hibiscus iced tea for lunch.

Roasted banana ice cream with chocolate sauce and candied walnuts, my dessert at lunch.

Two of the fine wait staff, Catherine and Eric.

Eric featured in one of their ads.

 Eating at the Jujube in Chapel Hill could definitely become a habit!