For those of you following my exploits (hi to both of you), we’ve arrived in Durham and, with the connection of our cable, we’ve returned to the Dope. Some observations:
The cable company came early. An hour and a half early. What is this madness?
They actually closed the interstate down to one lane and traffic was still moving at a good clip. What is this madness?
Speaking of traffic, I’m not used to driving with so few cars on the road. And drivers here don’t treat driving as bloodsport. I’m losing my edge already.
Returning to the smaller towns of the South made me realize a few things, one of which is that a girl with one of those sweet Southern accents could get me to do anything.
You can tell we’ve moved. Our old mailbox place was a friendly, but very corporate store that was part of a franchise. The new one is a little shop in a shopping center run by a guy and his wife and their dog. The guy looks kinda like Steve Buscemi and talks like him, too.
What the hell is Food Lion?
Ok, so at I-40 and Fayetteville Road, there’s this intersection where you just kinda careen towards each other head on and then just kinda turn at the last second into the lane you want. And this works! Strange, strange place…
Flipping a U in a 15 foot Penske truck is one of those experiences that has to be seen/done to be appreciated.
Speaking of moving, I’m never, ever leaving the ground floor again. Living on the second floor had its perks, but wrestling those heavy boxes down the stairs is not an experience I care to repeat.
Welcome! You help me appreciate this fine state :).
One quick note: you ask what Food Lion is? That’d be the grocery store that (according to undercover news footage from several years ago) dunks old meat in bleach and sets it out for a few days longer. They’re not the least icky grocery store around; I’d stick to the Hairy Titty–excuse me, Harris Teeter–if I were you. Or, of course, Whole Foods or the Durham Food Co-op, whose official name is (or used to be) Intergalactic Food Conspiracy.
And now that you’re here, get your ass down to the Duke Botanical Gardens: at this time of year, it’s breathtaking.
The commercials might otherwise have you convinced that it’s a grocery store, but my friends and I call it Food Dog.
Might want to think about that. HT (Harris Teeter) is expensive but worth it IMO, if you’ve got a little more money to make sure your meat isn’t 15% bleach and new blood (to make it look redder and thus fresher).
Y’all gonna be able to make PADope? You could carpool up!
Harris-Teeter, eh? Haven’t been there yet. We’ll probably frequent the Kroger across the street. I thought I remembered something bad about Food Lion, though there wasn’t one near me at the time.
PADope? I’ll check the thread and see, though I suspect once we both start working we won’t have the time/money.
Oh, Kroger is fine. And Food Lion is fine for anything that comes hermetically sealed, too. We used to live within walking distance of a FL; we just made sure not to buy perishables there, and we never had a problem :).
We’re actually ok, most of the stores we used to use in Atlanta are here and, in an amazing coincidence, are about the same distance away. Both have Kroger across the street and another supermarket down the road. There’s a Target about 10 miles away at both. Our bank has a branch across from Morelin’s job and just up the street from us, as it was in Atlanta. Everything else we should be able to get at the mall (just across I-40), no?
Congrats on the safe arrival! I actually have been thinking about y’all and hoping everything was going well. I don’t know who the other person wondering about y’all is, though.
I’ve been the Designated Rented Moving Truck Driver several times. It’s an interesting challenge.
Harris Teeter used to be in Atlanta, but probably not up where y’all were. There was one down in Brookhaven. When we lived in Chamblee, I liked to go there, but they were more expensive than (e.g.) Kroger.
Have a happy time in the smaller town! Don’t forget to write!
Welcome, Doomtrain and Morelin! Glad you’re here. Durham is my second-favorite city in North Carolina; I think you’ll like it.
Unsolicited advice: After your trip to Duke Gardens, make your way to Francesca’s on 9th Street. Absolutely heavenly gelato and other assorted nummies. It’s a great place to people-watch, too, though the line tends to stretch out the door on weekend evenings.
