Winston-Salem

Work has been busy lately - with one supervisor out on a medical leave of absence and my other supervisor going on vacation. A supervisor from a hotel in South Carolina came to fill in the gap for nine days. Thursday the 19th was my only day off that week, so after work on Wednesday I decided to escape the hotel for at least a day to enjoy the day off. I was able to find the associate rate available in Winston-Salem and made the 90 minute drive north to historic W-S.

I didn't get into town until around 11:00 pm, so there wasn't much exploring to be done that night, but the next morning I decided to visit Bethabara Park just a couple of miles from the downtown area. The park is the site of the first Moravian settlement in North Carolina in 1753. The Moravians were a German speaking Protestant sect that predates the Lutherans. Bethabara ("House of Passage") was a center for religion, governance, trade, industry, culture, education, and the arts. The Moravians constructed over 75 buildings during the first 20 years of the settlement's existence. During the French and Indian War (1753-1762), Bethabara and its two forts served as defensive centers for regional settlers and a supply depot for the Catawba allies of the British.

Today the park is listed on the National Register of Historic Places with several original buildings still in existance. The most important one is the 1788 Gemeinhaus (church), uniquely the last remaining eighteenth-century German church with attached living quarters remaining in the United States, furnished with period furniture, some original to the building. Across the street from the Gemeinhaus is the house of the village's distiller and brewer. Behind the Gemeinhaus are several archeological digs that show the foundations and cellars for several other important buildings. The most notable are the apothecary and doctor's office. People would travel miles to visit the doctor - so much so, that outbuildings were also built to house the "strangers" who came to visit the community. Since all members of the community spoke German, one person who spoke English was chosen to be the greeter of visitors to Bethabara. Life of the community was very well documented, sketches of the buildings as well as a journal of daily life. Because of this they were able to reconstruct parts of the village as well. This journal also made it easier to determine where to dig for atrifacts and what they were finding when they did dig. I didn't take the tour this time around, but opted to roam around the site myself at my own pace. It was interesting to see the "walls" of the fort - the walls are comprised of tall wooden poles stuck into the ground very close together, nothing tying them together and able to be seen through - not exactly the image of forts that I had as a kid!

There are about 20 miles worth of trails that run through the park, originating at the historic area. They have maps the guide you throughout the park - there are two main trails that run at 10K if you take the full walk. I took the "lower trial" which runs along the creek to the site of the old mill then through the marsh to a beaver pond. They have piers that go out over the pond which was very relaxing to stand on. Near the beaver pond was a strip mall and the map recommended it was a good place to get water for the remainder of the walk. Since it was around 90 that day I decided it was a good thing to do as well. Well being hungry as well, I noticed a pizzeria/restaurant next to the Harris Teeter. I went in for some lunch and was pleasantly suprised to find a real italian menu offered. I went out on a limb and ordered a slice of pizza to start and eggplant parmesian for my meal. I was even more suprised to find that the pizza was good and the eggplant was VERY good (not as good as Mom's but still good). The eggplant was cut very thin and lot layered too thick nor over cooked or mushy. I left the restaurant very full and really not wanting to complete the walk back to the car, but I perservered and finished the walk.

Then it was time to travel back to Charlotte after a strenous but relaxing day in Winston-Salem.

Things to get used to...

Well, I've been here nearly 4 months now and there are a few things that I'm still not used to.

1. A major one that I do like is that you are able to make left turns here North Carolina. As the folks in NJ know, it is hard to find many places to make left turns especially on 4 lane roads. I haven't seen a single "jughandle" here in NC!
2. The next is the fact that you can make U-turns around medians at traffic lights here. A MAJOR offense across the state of NJ - I still find myself passing an intersection and trying to go around the block - which brings me to the next thing -
3. this section of Charlotte (SouthPark) is not laid out in a grid pattern which means if you miss a turn, it may take 5 or 10 minutes to get back to where you wanted to go - unless you make a U-turn!
4. You don't need to keep change in the car down here - I haven't seen a toll both since I've been here. Which I am not complaining about.
5. I miss 24 hour convience stores -- no WaWa's down here and hard to find a 7-11.
6. I'm undecided on pumping my own gas ... although it can be annoying, you get in and out a lot quicker!
7. And speaking of gas - get a load of the picture -- 100 octane gas sold at the Texaco station I usually go to --- sorry, I forgot to check on the price...

Well, I think I'm off to bed for tonight and should have a new post in the next couple of days to talk about my trip to Winston-Salem. Thanks for reading and blog to you soon!

The Birthday

So, here I am - a day after the rantings of my 43rd birthday. I decided to not spend the day doing laundry, but do something with the day.
I headed uptown Charlotte and checked into the hotel and got a room on the 16th floor with a nice view of an office building, a condo building and landscapes behind. Shortly thereafter I went for a walk to the Levine Museum of the New South. The museum looks at the history of Charlotte and the Piedmont Region from it's founding to today. Charlotte grew because it was at the crossroads of the two main Indian trading routes of the time which are now known as Tryon and Trade Streets. North Carolina was good for two different crops - cotton and tobacco. The environment around Charlotte was much better for cotton, so that became the crop of the region. After the Civil War, the business people in the region wondered why they were sending all the raw cotton to the textile mills of New England and began building their own mills. The mills would included villages of three or five room homes for the mill workers and their families. A company store, room for a garden, livestock, churches and schools were all part of these mills. More and more farmers came off the farms to the mill towns to work the mills because it was less backbreaking work. Cannon Mills and Springmaid are two of the mills that are still in existance today that started in this area during this era. As a matter of fact, the city of Kannapolis, NC was founded by Cannon Mills. Because of importance of cotton as the cash crop, Charlotte was an imporant city in the region, so as the textile businesses began to fade, then banking took over as the main industry of the city starting in the 70's. Many mills still exist but are being used for many other purposes. Today Greater Charlotte is the home of eight Fortune 500 companies: Bank of America, Lowe's, Wachovia, Duke Energy, Nucor, Sonic Automotive, Family Dollar, Goodrich and SPX - this ranks Charlotte #6 on the list of cities called home by the most Fortune 500 companies, tied with Philadelphia and Minneapolis. Of course, being the home of two of the three largest banks in the US - also makes Charlotte second only to NYC in importance in the financial world. It's a long way from a speech made by FDR in Charlotte where he called the South the largest economic concern of the country! The visit to the museum was very interesting and I learned a lot about my new home.

After the museum it was time for dinner - in the mood for seafood, I ventured out toward the Convention Center to dine at a restaurant named Aquavina. It is located on the second floor of one of Wachovia's office buildings in Uptown Charlotte. It was just a short 6 or 7 block walk from the hotel - and even though it was over 90 out, it was a nice walk along Tryon Street. Some interesting options on the menu and the presentation was gorgeous. I started my meal with a Peach Passion Martini (Stoli Peach, Blue Curacao and pineapple juice) which was very refreshing on such a hot day. For an appetizer I chose the Asian Pear Salad - greens wrapped in procuitto served on top of sliced pears with dressing on the side. Dinner was Surf & Turf Three Ways - when I read the menu it listed three ways the Surf & Turf is prepared. I thought that you choose which way you wanted it prepared, but it is served all three ways - three plates on a platter - each a miniture version of a full meal. It was very good and even cooked well done as I like! With dinner came the second martini - a Pom Pom which is Pomegranate Liqueur, Stoli, Triple Sec and Lemon Garniture - I enjoyed the Peach Passion better, but think of all the anti-oxidents I got in the Pomegranate Liqueur! Since it was my birthday I felt that desert was in order and had a Carmelized Banana and Chocolate Turnover with banana ice cream. Again, very good! Overall, a very enjoyable meal!

Just outside the restaurant is a little park called The Green that looks like it should be on the edge of a harbor or lake, but with no water in Charlotte, I knew that wasn't the case. In this park they put on Shakespeare plays on a small stage with a grassy area to sit. The whole park has a literary theme with pages out of books and directional signs that use city names to make literary names EMILY, Minnesota & BRONTE, Ontario.

It was then back to the hotel to rest a little while and then out to the bar for a couple of Newcastle's to end the night.

Other big news - I have signed a lease for an apartment - but more information on that in the next posting.

Thanks for reading and hope to hear from you soon!

June 9

Well, it's June 9 - the year is nearly 1/2 over - I'm still living in the hotel (at least 5 days a week) and it's forecasted to hit 99 today. Oh yeah, it's also my birthday.

I swore off birthdays a few years ago after several very poor birthday experiences. When I turned 40 I decided to go away for my birthday - that year I traveled to Toronto. I took myself out shopping and splurged at my favorite store up there buying myself some very nice stuff that I still wear today (you only turn 40 once!). The following year I had planned to travel to San Francisco for a week, but those plans were changed when I was asked to produce an event in Philadelphia - the only days that worked to have the event were June 9 & 10 - so my 41st birthday was spent in Philadelphia. Last year I returned to Canada but this time visited Ottawa and was able to have some great quality time with a friend up there. The usual routine is to spend the day by myself, have a really nice dinner then go out and if friends are out great - if not then it just goes with the rest of the day. This year I had made plans to spend my birthday in Atlanta at the Ritz Carlton - but some problems that popped up here at work have made me change those plans and I will stay here in Charlotte, but at a different hotel so I can have a change of scenery. I still plan to go out for a nice dinner, a couple of martini's and then see where it goes from there.

I've never been a fan of others calling the shots for me - those that know me are probably laughing because I also hate to make decisions. I had about five bad birthdays leading up to my 40th and that is why I decided to start taking my birthday on the road. I just consider age a number anyway - it doesn't mean a person is mature if they have a high number attached, it's all a state of mind. For that reason, it's not a big deal to celebrate a birthday for me. Yes, it's nice to get cards and a phone call wishing me a happy birthday - that people remember, but I don't like parties - I don't like being the center of attention. I usually don't even mention to people that it is my birthday - not wanting people to feel obligated to do something special or feel bad if they didn't. My reasons for this? It goes way back - I remember one birthday back in Bogota when my sister-in-law stopped by and didn't even remember it was my birthday. I wasn't saying anything, didn't want to make a big deal about it - but she found out and felt very, very bad about it. I felt worse that she felt bad, than her not remembering my birthday.

The final several years of my last relationship (years 7-11 probably) were not fun birthdays. Gifts that had no meaning or were just embarassing - half hearted attempts at making a celebration. My favorite was the birthday when I was driving back to Bergen County from the shore (just after we bought the deli) and for about 2o or 30 miles along the GS Parkway a person was hanging out the window of the car in front of me throwing up and it was splattering all over my car. It was lovely - a hot June Sunday afternoon in traffic on the GS Parkway and no way to get from behind that car. So I spent that night washing my car at the self carwash - the spouse down the shore and me at home.

So this year's plans had to be dashed - alternate plans made. Had to work a double shift (7am - 11pm) on both Saturday and Sunday. Get done last night with work, come to my room and log on. Get a great birthday wish from my best buddy in Texas. We start to chat and then after a comment that was meant in a joking manner he abruptly says good night and logs off. Then at 11:59 I recieve a text message calling me out for the comment I made after he was trying to make my birthday special. I sent an apology - no reply.

And so my cursed birthdays continue . . .

A note for next year for anyone who is reading this blog -- no cards, no gifts, no dinners on June 9th. If you want to call and say, "Hi, was thinking about you today and happy birthday" - that's great - but otherwise, just let this day be like any other on the calendar. I'm tired of it causing people harm. It's 10:20 am and I need to get out of bed, shower, check-out of the hotel and head off to spend my birthday doing laundry - just like any other day off.

Thank you for reading -