North Carolina - Feb 2024

For our next leg of the East Coast road trip, we spent about three weeks in North Carolina.

Charlotte

Our first stop was one night at Lee and Judy's apartment in downtown Charlotte.  Keith worked with Lee at Aimco many years ago.  Before we met them, we visited the Nascar Hall of Fame in Charlotte where we quickly realized we know nothing about this sport!  After we arrived at Lee's place, we chatted for a bit and then went to dinner at 300 East where we shared a couple of apps for the table and then we split a fish dish for our entree - all very tasty.  After dinner, we watched the Super Bowl with them at their apartment and Judy made us some yummy chocolate chip cookies with ice cream.

Dinner with Lee and Judy at 300 East

The next morning, we worked out in their gym and then made the drive down to Wilmington.

Wilmington

We stayed at Stephanie and Todd's house in Hampstead which is about 20 minutes north of Wilmington.  We arrived late afternoon and caught up for a bit before heading out to dinner at Sweet n Savory where we shared the tuna poke and roasted Brussel sprouts apps for the table, the salmon for our entree and the cobbler and cheese cake desserts for the table.  The place was cute and the food was very good.

At Stephanie and Todd's house

The next day, we toured the Battleship NC in Wilmington which took us two hours.  It was really cool as we got to explore multiple levels of the ship including seeing the sleeping quarters, mess hall, kitchen, operating room, dentist office, etc - they had everything you could possibly need on this boat!  We had a bit of time to kill before dinner so we walked along the waterfront and had one beer at the Front Street Brewery.  For dinner, we met up with Juli (former colleague of Keith's) and Tom at Kipos which was a cute place with delicious Greek food.  We shared the spicy feta and grilled octopus for the table and lamb chops with a few of the sides for our entree.  After dinner, we had a glass of wine with Stephanie and Todd at their house before going to bed.

Dinner with Julie and Tom at Kipos

The following morning, we chatted over coffee and yogurt and then packed up the car to head to Raleigh.

Raleigh/Durham

We stayed for 12 nights at John and JoAnna's place in Raleigh - it was so nice to stay put for a while.  While here we did the following:

• Cooked dinner a few nights - one night making pasta and another making gumbo.

Cooked gumbo at John and JoAnna's house

• Played trivia at House of Hops - fun place near John and JoAnna's with good beer.

• Attended the Mardi Gras Supper Club at Phil and Joyce's house - had a great time seeing everyone.  Joyce made a jambalaya and a cajun pasta dish while others brought a few other sides and desserts.  Shawna brought a bread pudding for dessert.

Mardi Gras Party at Phil and Joyce's House

• Had dinner at Ken's house.  Ken was Shawna's boss when she worked at BCBSNC. Ken made some chicken with veggies.  It was nice to have a home cooked meal and catch up after all these years.

Dinner with Ken

• Went out with John and JoAnna to Drive Shack where we met up with Annie and Adam and the two boys to hit a few rounds of golf. We then all went back to John's place and ordered pizza and played a few games.

JoAnna, Annie and Eli at Drive Shack

• John cooked us dinner one night - a yummy salad and pasta.

And ate at the following places:

• Waraji - Met up with Keith for lunch and shared several rolls. We also ordered in from here one night. It is our favorite sushi spot in the area. 

• The Pit - Met up with Krissy (Keith worked with her at Steak and Ale many years ago) for dinner.  We shared a meat sampler platter - food was OK. 

Dinner at The Pit with Krissy

• Seraphine - Met up with Julie for dinner. This place is located near the ball park in downtown Durham.  It's a Louisiana themed place - really nice inside and food was yummy.  We shared a salad, a shrimp appetizer and blackened scallops for our entree.

Dinner with Julie at Seraphine

• Angus Barn - Had dinner with Ryan (Kim and Tom's son), John and JoAnna. We were shocked at how many people were there on a Tuesday night.  We all had steak with salad and potatoes.  Quite good given it's been around for such a long time.

Dinner with Ryan, John and JoAnna at Angus Barn

• Undercurrent Restaurant - Keith drove to Greensboro to meet up with a former colleague, Cindy, for lunch.  

• Buffalo Wild Wings - We all met up here for dinner to watch a Duke game, eating lots of fried food!  JoAnna, Keith, Kate and the Artin girls, Phil, Joyce and Jonathan met up.  The game was a blow out (meaning Duke won) so we didn't watch as much and chatted instead.

• Glenwood Grill - Had dinner with Beth and Lisa (former colleagues of Shawna's from BCBSNC) and Lisa's husband.  The restaurant was great with really good food. We shared a salad and fish dish.  It was so great to see them both.

Dinner with Beth and Lisa at Glenwood Grill