It's Carrboro! (And Greensboro!)

Hey! It's been awhile, huh? Well, that's because I've been away. As I mentioned in a previous post, I went to North Carolina to do a signing for the AWESOME comic shop in Greensboro called Acme Comics! And I had a GREAT time! Those guys over at Acme are THE BEST! They showed me around, fed me well and were just fun to hang with! They even drove me over to Carrboro on Sunday so I could spend the next few days with a good friend of mine who recently moved there to get her Ph.D. (smarty-pants)! Here's some highlights of my trip!

Stephen & Jermaine picked us (Jim McCann & Chris Giarrusso included) up at the airport and our first stop was KRISPY KREME! Woot! Love those donuts...and as you can see, I also like souvenir hats and trucks...





That night they took us to a restaurant called "Phoenix" and it was delicious. Here's the sushi roll I had that was awesome...and the "dessert" I made from Chris' duck sauce, broken up fortune cookies and some other stuff that came with the lettuce wraps! haha I was just playing with my food, but it would've been awesome if I could've tricked Chris into eating it...



Saturday was the big signing day at the store, I sat with Jim on one side and Chris was on the other with a much longer line. haha He was awesome drawing mini characters for everyone! These are the only pics I've got so far from the signing. Photographer Julie was kind enough to get me these quickly so I could show my mom. ;-)



A few highlights of the signing where a) the homemade cookies one customer brought us, b) the Cheerwine I got try (local soda) and c) Meeting Chris Daughtry!!!!!

Now I'll admit, I did not know who he was at first. I don't listen to the radio really and I've only ever watched the embarrassing try-out episodes of American Idol. But then I remember that my mom liked him and called her up. She requested the following picture. I will say, though, that he is one of the NICEST celebrities I've ever met. Super friendly and he LOVES comics...even if he's more of a DC guy... (his son asked for a Marvel sketch from Chris though, so hopefully that DC love ends with him...haha). And I have to admit, he's quite handsome! I will henceforth be buying all of his albums. :)



So after another fun night out Saturday night, Stephen & Jermaine drove me to Carrboro to visit my friend. It was a day of a big basketball match between bitter rivals University of North Carolina (The Tarheels!!) & Duke. Unfortunately we couldn't get it on stand-by tickets as it was quite a popular game, but we watched in a nearby bar and UNC won! Fantastic! There was a "riot" after in which a bonfire is created. Apparently when there's a bigger game (like a championship or something) and if it's at night, these riots tend to get much crazier with car-tipping and such. As it was, there was just the fire and chanting fans...



I got a few fancy drinks while there. The Tarheel chocolate martini was at the bar during the game. That pretty latte was made for me at Open Eye Cafe the next morning.



I found a couple of funny things around town. At Alana's school they have these water-saving toilets. I find the #1 and #2 flushing distinction quite hilarious. The other picture is of a local eatery where you can buy either a breakfast or a lunch plate. And that's it. Also, who knows how much the lunch plate is?!



This is my favourite pic of the trip. I love this statue. I'm building a collection of me with people statues. I'll have to post them soon...



In North Carolina, one must become a member (or be a guest of a member) of bars in order to drink at them. This, of course, made me want to be a member of all of them. I managed to get four. Two in Greensboro and two in Carrboro. The first one in Carrboro was the Orange County Social Club. Strangely, when we got there, they were giving haircuts at the front! (Apparently it's a promotion on the first Monday of each month...) The bartender there was quite nice and he likes hockey!



The other bar I am now a member of is Reservoir. I liked this place a lot. It had a cool USSR-style mural and the bathrooms had these cool girls on the stall doors! This is the only place that gave me a temporary card, and I'm hoping they let my friend pick up the real one for me...



Apparently, there's a band that plays there often called Fin Fang Foom!!! They're lucky Marvel's legal department hasn't found out...though they might, now!! :-P



I made a bunch of new friends (thanks to Alana having good taste in people) and I allowed them to share the frakkin' delicious red velvet cake Alana made for me. haha It's a good thing I did b/c this was how much was left by the time I had to go home! (How good does that look?!? Mmmm...I wish I took some home...)



And lastly, I have to mention the BEST friend I made on the trip...CLAUDE!!!!! Love you Claude, thanks for hangin' out with me!!! ;-) (Thanks for sharing him with me, Alana!)



There was more, of course, I went and bought a ton of stuff – including a UNC shirt and lots of rings for some reason – ate a lot, laughed a lot, saw some nature and learned about Ph.D.s. But the greatest thing I learned was all about Carrboro (this place is like a mini Portland (Oregon) with a bit of Williamsburg (Brooklyn) thrown in. A great place that has it's own rap about it, which is where the title of this post came from). Let me leave you with that, because I LOVE it:




The End!