Chapel Hill

Mistah and I spent almost 8 years criss-crossing the country in our awsome ol' Westy. During that time our eldest niece moved from Claxton Elementary School to Asheville Middle School to Asheville High School and went on to make her way in the world at UNC, Chapel Hill.

Mistah and I love North Carolina terribly, but we'd always found ourselves either in Western North Carolina -- in the mountains, and in our beloved Asheville -- or way out there in the East, in the Outer Banks.

But we told Chapel Hill Girl that although we never quite found ourselves in the center of that fair state, we would make a solid plan to visit her in Chapel Hill. Before she graduated. Guaranteed.

Fast forward a couple of years. We landed in New London in 2008 and haven't gone all that far since then. But all of a sudden in 2012 we could hear the dulcet tones of our niece way down there in central North Carolina singing: "Aunt Ellie . . . Uncle Bill . . . I'm graduating in a few weeks!"

So to Chapel Hill we went.

Actually, we thought we were going to Chapel Hill. But like the true Asheville-Girl she is, Colleen lives in Carrboro.

And Carrboro is where, after an awesome visit to Col's mom and sister and brother in Asheville first, we met our girl.

Carrboro is a really cool town.

And since it's in North Carolina, it has really good beer.

And really good old Volvos. Mistah loved this guy.

And oh how we both loved this girl.

Mistah, as usual, was Mistah Mastah Photographah, and in every photo, Colleen are I are yakking:

yakkedy . . . 

. . . yakkedy . . . 

. . . yakkedy . . . 

. . . yak.

We've got a lot to talk about, that niece of mine and I.

Oh, and we had some beers to drink. Plus Mistah needed to practice his awesome new beer-photography technique.

Colleen only had one or two -- she needed to go back home to, you know, study and finish college and all that.

But all that's behind her now. As of yesterday.

Congrats, Col!

The next day our darlin' girl gave us a walking tour of UNC Chapel Hill, where she's spent the last four glorious years of her life.

The campus is stunningly beautiful . . .

. . . and Colleen was an awesome tour guide.

Mistah and I kept comparing poor ol' UConn circa 1985 to Chapel Hill and, well, things in Chapel Hill are a lot more vivid and vibrant than things were in Storrs.

Poor Storrs.

And Colleen and I?

Well, we continued to yak.

Actually, "yak" is probably not a good synonym to use for "talk incessantly" whenst in front of Chapel Hill's Old Well.

I think the Chancellor lives here.

And this is one of both Mistah's and my favorite photos from that awesome morning.

Oh, wait. This one too.

And totally this one.

It's kind of embarrassingly gorgeous there.

It's so, like, "College Campus."

Aw. Colleenie and her Uncle Schleckah in front of the place she spends spent more time than any other on campus.

The place you go to Die Dey.

Aw, Col. How we loved visiting your campus . . .

. . . both of us.

Yakkedy-yak.

And now? Our darlin' girl? After this awesome tour whaddya say we go to your house and hang out with you and your housemates?