North Carolina

We have just returned from a five-day trip to North Carolina. Having forgotten to bring my birth certificate I was mighty fearful the first time I approached a public toilet, but to my great relief - both mental and physical - no one attempted to ascertain my “born gender” and thus I was free to choose whichever toilet I wanted!  Everyone we encountered in either direct conversation or overheard conversation seemed truly puzzled at how a state with some pretty serious fiscal issues could expend any time worrying about toilets.

We were attending the wedding of our dear friend Tom’s daughter Sara in Greensboro, which was only about a five-hour drive from here, most of it quite lovely.  I had brought our 1998 Ford Explorer in for a complete check-up just before we left, and hundreds of dollars later it was declared fit for service.  It still only has 82,000 original miles on it and it zipped us back and forth without issue.

The wedding and associated celebrations were all glorious events and filled with lots of fun and laughter.  The actual service was in a lovely chapel on the Greensboro College campus, where both Sara and her new husband Nick were students at one time.  This was our first experience with a Quaker wedding, which was simple and for the most part silent.  I was impressed.

The reception was held at the Science Center and all of the tables for the 160 or so guests were scattered around the various exhibits of live animals.  There were sharks and other fish in an aquarium, there was a twenty-foot python, and a fishing cat who came down from his perch and gently tapped the water with his paw to lure a fish close enough to spear with his claws.  The best display, however, was the African penguins. Both Sara and Nick love penguins and Cindy found photos of Sara at one year of age, staring intently at a battery-operated penguin race game we had in our home in Germany. Not only that, but we also found and fixed up the original game she played with and presented her with blowups of the photos and the actual

toy.  She was a mighty happy bride.  (See, it pays not to downsize, ever!)

Many months ago Sara and Tom asked if I would be the emcee of the wedding so that Tom could simply relax as father of the bride and enjoy friends and family. (I personally think it was a way to cut his wine bill in half since he knew I would not drink until all my duties were performed.)  Being an emcee is like being a big meanie.  With so many people at a sit-down dinner in a spread out venue, it was necessary to keep things moving since we had to be out of the Science Center at an appointed hour.  Therefore I kept herding the cats until everything was served, toasts made, Father/Daughter dance completed, the bride and groom had sweetly serenaded the guests, and the penguin toy had been presented.  It was a lot of fun and I did enjoy some wine when the festivities were winding down.

From Greensboro we headed to Charlotte since we had never been and it was Cindy’s birthday city choice.  Since Cindy’s birthday was on the third and the wedding on the fourth, we couldn’t really celebrate for a full week, although we did have a lovely birthday luncheon on the third.  Starting on Sunday we spent two very enjoyable days in Charlotte, which is a really lovely and manageable city.  It was really very, very hot and humid, but we walked in the early morning and late evening and explored this pocket-sized bundle of surprises.  The biggest surprise was that most of the entire downtown is connected with skyways, just like Minneapolis but for different reasons. Up north it is because of the cold and snow and in the south it is for the heat and humidity. It was a gas to explore the city from the vantage point of the skyway system, but you do not want to get caught there during the lunch period, which jammed up everything.

Charlotte, if it were not for the taxes and heat, could be quite livable.  They have lots of lovely parks, a minor league baseball field right downtown, tons of great restaurants, bars, and cafes - many clustered together which made it easy to do a lot of menu reading in a short period of time.  For Cindy’s birthday dinner we ate at the Asbury, which had been recommended by Tom and did not disappoint. It has a very interesting and creative menu that is pulled off quite well.  The next night was at Sea Level, which advertised one-dollar oysters at happy hour.  We each had a dozen, and with the benefit of hindsight, should have been all we ate there.  The rest of the meal was rather disappointing since they tried to do too much with each dish. Instead of focusing on simple fish dishes, they kept adding silly ingredients that did nothing to improve the fish.  However, we did have one of the best bottles of wine in our lives, a Sauvignon Blanc from Chablis!  We had never heard of such a thing (thinking that only chardonnay grapes are grown in Chablis) but it is spectacular. It is called Domaine Sainte Claire Saint-Bris and you can read all about it by clicking on the name. 

In a first for the Embees, we were in the car and heading back to Charles Town by 10 am, which allowed us to get home by four. It was a great drive until we hit I-81 which was filled big trucks, but it is summer and I guess you have to expect traffic.  The brief looks I had at the views as we climbed I-77 higher and higher to get over the Blue Ridge Mountains were really magnificent. 

We hope the summer is getting off to a good start for all of you.  With best wishes,   Cindy and William