The South! Vacation part one: Chapel Hill, N.C..

After flying into Greensboro, N.C. and setting up post at my brother/sister-in-law/niece's house (aka-camp LaPlante), we took off Thursday morning in our rented Toyota Yaris for a quick trip to Chapel Hill. Our friend Adam is taking the summer off; he ended up being the most perfect host to fulfill our touristy needs. Adam covered all corners: swimming, rock climbing, museum strolls, and most importantly, a docent to our bottomless stomachs in search of vegan decadence.

This is a quarry somewhere near Duke University. Adam heard that it's roughly 60 feet deep which, right from the beginning, made it scary for me to swim in. From the point pictured, we swam across the the quarry to climb a cliff about 15 feet off the water. Adam jumped in with no hesitation, making the jump look easy. Ariel looked at me and asked if I was going to do it. I said no, took about a ten foot running start and dove feet first into the great wide open. My jump was off axis, my arms rotated a double wind-shield wiper in a lame attempt to straighten myself, and my landing was just plain terrible. Afterwards, my butt felt like it had been spanked by a dozen angry nuns. That's what I get for being a show-off.

From left to right: Adam, Ariel, and Matt. Good swimmer, great swimmer, doggie paddler.

Ariel and Adam. The Duke University Botanical Gardens.

I've never seen a Magnolia tree with a root system this wild. Lord of the Rings????

Someone spiked Ariel's vegan cupcakes with a shrinking potion. This was some off-the-wall yard art/plant nursery somewhere near Hillsborough, N.C..

-He Said

Not pictured: UNC-Chapel Hill's Ackland Art Museum. We visited the exhibit of eastern and western representations of the garden and saw works by Catherine Chalmers, Imogen Cunningam, and Edward Weston. If you're in the area in September, stop by the "Circa 1958" exhibition. Rauschenberg, Warhol, Lichtenstein, oh my!

-She Said