Tarheelin' through Chapel Hill

We did eventually get to North Carolina for our trip to visit friends.  That night is a bit of a blur, we were exhausted, but the next day is when the fun really started.

Tim and I were both excited to see Jessica's new campus, tour the Chapel Hill area and, most importantly, spend time with our friends.  Our first stop was an amazing neighborhood near the UNC campus, which features a real castle!

 

Gimghoul Castle has quite a few stories associated with it, including rumors about secret societies and a being the home of the ghost of a man killed in a duel out front.  Evidently there is still a rock covered in his blood on the grounds, but we didn't get out of the car to go and look.  

These other houses are one that Tim and I loved!  How much do you think we'd have to shell out to live here???

 Our next stop was downtown Chapel Hill.  Meal time was approaching, so after wandering down the main street a bit, we settled on a Chapel Hill establishment: the Carolina Coffee Shop.   

Supposedly, this is the oldest restaurant in North Carolina.  

 After leaving, we headed towards campus and passed a large mural featuring scenes from UNC...

 And we headed towards Carroll Hall, a communication building and home to Jessica's office. 

 It's good to know that even on the East Coast, WSU is represented...

 Of course, we had to see Jessica's office and where her portrait is on display!

 After hanging out for a few minutes (mainly spent raiding the candy jar), we continued our tour of the campus.  Here's the main library on campus...

And then we headed towards the Pit, the Student Center and the Bookstore.  Tim and I had to buy some Tarheel merchandise!  Side note: This was my first piece of college apparel that wasn't from WSU...Nice job raising us as Cougs, Mom & Dad! 

Our tour finished up at the Old Well, the iconic symbol of UNC, which is actually now a drinking fountain.  

Seeing as how most of the campus was closed for Fall Break, we headed back to their house to make dinner and relax.  Of course, we had to play with their new puppy Bella.  

And Shawn showed off his mad pizza making skills.  

It was delicious!