North Carolina, United States

I recently drove down to North Carolina (it's about a 5 to 6 hour drive from where I live) to take a look at three colleges with my girls. It is the first time I have been to North Carolina since I was a teenager. Over the next few days I'll post here about our travels and try to answer any questions you might have.

To answer the obvious question... We went to University of North Carolina at Wilmington, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, and Duke University. If you follow American Basketball, you know that Chapel Hill and Duke are BIG bball schools and they are also part of the "Research Triangle" the cities of Raleigh–Durham–Chapel Hill, with North Carolina State University making up the third school in the triangle (some say it is Wake Forest).

In the past our family has driven as far south as Richmond, Virginia. We have traveled by train all the way to Florida. Driving to North Carolina is a very easy drive as there are no toll roads and the speed limit for a good portion of the way is 70 miles per hour.

Our first stop was University of North Carolina Wilmington (UNCW). This school is very close to the Atlantic Ocean and as a result it has a very different "feel" to it than many other schools. During warm weather, they usually are seen wearing "Rainbow Sandals"

https://encrypted-tbn3.gstatic.com/i...CRLH_oWXFl8PVS

The campus itself is small which lend the students to get around the campus on skates boards and bicycles.
http://mappery.com/maps/UNC-Wilmingt...ediumthumb.png

The student body is made up mainly of Whites and they are BLONDE. We so sooooo many blonde heads it was funny. And the students are very fit. They are not out of shape here. I guess with the ocean so close by, they want to keep their bikini bodies :)

Here is the actual diversity breakdown of the student population"
African American 5%
Asian 2%
Hispanic 5%
International 1%
Native American 1%
White 83%
Unknown 3%

Wilmington itself is very flat, no mountains or hills. So, the Dean of the school a few years ago added some "hills" to the campus and made it an area where the students can gather as well. This place in the photo with the clock tower and pond, used to be a parking lot:
http://uncw.edu/assessment/images/ae...us_commons.JPG

At UNCW, each of their Department Buildings, tends to have the "Georgian" style on the outside; however, once inside they have the feel of that department.

The Education build is like an old train station:

http://uncw.edu/ed/giving/images/LeghallCover.jpg

http://w2.campusexplorer.com/media/5...n-C08C659B.jpg

The Computer Science Information Building has a fully functioning stock trading room:
http://csb.uncw.edu/mscsis/images/042607cis_bot141.jpg

Their Nursing Building has computer patient "dummys" and the building can work as a fully functional hospital in the event of an emergency.
http://www.tju.edu/jmc/medicine/pulm...mages/icu2.jpg

As the are close to the ocean, UNCW is also known for their Oceanography & Marine Science programs.

The original $17.5 million UNCW Center for Marine Science was completed in 2000 with a total of 75,000 square feet of net indoor space including:

• Teaching auditorium for up to 150 individuals
• Classrooms and marine science labs
• Running seawater system which provides raw unfiltered and purified seawater at flow rates up to 600 liters/min.
• Greenhouse with running seawater
• Aquarium room and outdoor tanks with running seawater
• 900-foot pier with docking facilities

In the spring of 2008, the 24,000 square foot addition was completed. This one-story addition with a second floor mechanical loft adds:

• 37 individual offices
• Five shops (Dive, Oceanographic Instrumentation with 7,000 gallon seawater test tank, Aquaculture and Boat Repair)
• Four labs (Instrument Fabrication, Biotechnology (2) and NCNERR)
• A dive compressor room
• Conference room with full voice and data capabilities

In the summer of 2010, the $4.3 million 11,000 square foot Shellfish Research Hatchery was completed.

Outside of the campus, it is pretty much like what we think of as small to medium size town but more like a "beach" town. Most everything closed up by 10 pm, which is early compared to where I live. There was one place that was open late that we did go to, Slice of Life, it is more of a bar (or as they call it a "pub"), than a place to get pizza, HOWEVER, their pizza was pretty darn good and they are open until 3 a.m.!!

They also have a Sonic which not a lot of places have, we only have two in this area and neither of them are near us. It is an old style carhop drive in, with fast food, and it is VERY inexpensive.

Over all, the people of Wilmington were very nice. Everyone we meet was helpful and pleasant. We also noticed, no speed cameras or red light camera and people were not on their cell phones 24/7. When people were driving, no honking or aggressiveness either, that was nice too.

Это вы сами сделали все эти фотографии? А то часть заметки напоминает статью из Википедии или рекламный проспект :)

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Originally Posted by Inego

Это вы сами сделали все эти фотографии? А то часть заметки напоминает статью из Википедии или рекламный проспект :)

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Rockzmom does not know Russian. Погугли, если надо.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Inego

Это вы сами сделали все эти фотографии? А то часть заметки напоминает статью из Википедии или рекламный проспект :)

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Hi Inego:

I put your question into Google Translate.

I didn't take the photos, my daughters took some, but I haven't uploaded them to the computer yet. Once I do, I'll see what they have and try and upload some. I know they took photos of the Education building and the Clock tower area, I think one of them tried to do some panoramic photos, so if they come turn out, they should be rather nice. It would be rather difficult to get the aerial view of the place and of the medical classroom in action. Hopefully we can go through them and upload them in the next day or two. :)

As for the Wiki reference, no... none of the information here came from Wiki. The information about the Marine Science center came from UNCW's own web page and the diversity information came from another college website that breaks that type of thing down for prospective students.

Thanks for asking.

rockzmom

Very informative, thanks for sharing. Yet, I’m curious about the Greek system of American Universities. Could shed some light on the issue.

For instance, in accord with the abstract below, extracted from an ESL book of mine, first and foremost your girls should thoroughly peruse Greek alphabet in order to deliberate which particular letter of the alphabet unequivocally deserves “suicide”. Frankly, what is quoted hereunder, as well as some other excerpts concerning sororities and fraternities of American universities, is one of the most outlandish facts I’ve faced since Soviet Komsomol. Could you confirm or deny that these medieval “pseudo masonic” rituals , rites, and practices aimed at proliferating total mind control over younger generations really thrive and flourish these days?

Quote:

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When a person (usually a girl) decides she only wants to pledge
one house, she informs the other houses that she rushed that she only
wants to be in one sorority, and won't join any other. In other words, if she
can't be in the sorority she wants, she doesn’t want to be Greek. It’s called
suicide, because the girl kills her chances at another sorority

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Quote:

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Originally Posted by rockzmom

... the speed limit for a good portion of the way is 70 miles per hour.
Most everything closed up by 10 pm, which is early compared to where I live.

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Gosh, I guess that the civilization in US grows up North! In north California everything was closed up by 7 pm. You are a pretty darn lucky stranger if you found a coffee shop open till 8 pm. BTW, in Novosibirsk I've never had even a glimpse of thought that after a hard working day I could be cut off from a cup of coffee.

There was a 65 mph limit in California though while driving 75 I identified myself with a snail seeing all those cars overcoming me with the speed of Pacific storm. Nobody cared if there were cameras or not.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by rockzmom

The Education build is like an old train station

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That is amazing. The glass roof adds extra space making the place being like a home of ancient giants. If the only point to vote for was the beautiful atmosphere I would vote for this one even not seeing other two places.

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Originally Posted by diogen_

rockzmom

Very informative, thanks for sharing. Yet, I’m curious about the Greek system of American Universities. Could shed some light on the issue.

For instance, in accord with the abstract below, extracted from an ESL book of mine, first and foremost your girls should thoroughly peruse Greek alphabet in order to deliberate which particular letter of the alphabet unequivocally deserves “suicide”. Frankly, what is quoted hereunder, as well as some other excerpts concerning sororities and fraternities of American universities, is one of the most outlandish facts I’ve faced since Soviet Komsomol. Could you confirm or deny that these medieval “pseudo masonic” rituals , rites, and practices aimed at proliferating total mind control over younger generations really thrive and flourish these days?

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Ahh, Greek life... I never did Greek when I was in college, so I am by no means an expert; however, I will try my best to answer your questions and fill everyone in on the Greeks!

Greek "rush" for both girls and boys is simple, you choose one "house" that you want to "pledge" or belong to. You select this house because you feel some sort of connection to it. It could be that your mom or dad was in that house, it is of your religion (yes, they have Jewish, Christian & Muslim Greek Houses) they also have it by race or culture (Hispanic, Chinese & African American), or maybe your major or your likes in general.

However, once you select that house, you can only pledge and try to get into that house. If you don't make it, that's it. It's over and back to regular dorm life for you.

The Greeks do take a bad reputation here in the States in the press. We only hear about the negative side of them, when things go bad, each year students tragically die during rushes:
http://www.nytimes.com/2013/01/12/ny...nity.html?_r=0

listoflists

We never hear about the millions of dollars that they raise for charity:
2010 Sigma Chi Derby Days at Rutgers University raised over $95,000 for Children's Miracle Network and Pennsylvania State University's Dance Marathon raised over $12.3 million for Pediatric cancer, and Chi Omega chapters (girls) have, combined, raised approximately $2.3 million for the national Make-A-Wish Foundation.

The housing that the Greeks live in can be amazing though. We saw this one, the Chi Omega in Chapel Hill but couldn't take a photo as the traffic was too busy:
http://collegeprowler.com/images/sta...166/?v=331B188

Also the lasting bonds, I know an older woman who is on the Board of Education who still has lunch with her "sisters" from her sorority.

A little bit more about the area of Wilmington... as I mentioned it was rather flat. To add to that the buildings all seemed to not be over about 2 or 3 stories high in the town. Also, as the town is close to the beach, the dirt is more like sand.

At UNCW, the students were all dressed casual but still rather neatly. Around where I live, they are too casual and wear sweat pants to class and the boys wear their pants hanging down below their bottoms!! Not there, all the pants were pulled up!! The girls all had their hair nicely done and not in the messy bun look that we see everywhere!!:

https://encrypted-tbn2.gstatic.com/i...2a7CkS5jJJx-0N

https://encrypted-tbn1.gstatic.com/i...uY-WDsC34zClHj

EDIT: Forgot to mention, that Wilmington has about one church on every block! Seriously, there were even times we saw ones on opposite sides of the block and next to each other as well. I have never seen so many churches. Did not see a single Temple there the entire time. They joke that on campus the first question you are asked is, "What church do you belong to?". Even on the radio, religious stations up and down the dial and the top 40 songs, were more censored than they are up North. It was weird hearing a re-edited radio edit. It also seemed to have more of a bass sound quality, almost like a dance mix to it.

Coffee Cup, I thought about you a lot on our trip as you know my girls like their tea and hot chocolate but like to study in the coffee shops! We did find an amazing place in the Chapel Hill area, Caffe Driade. It is off a main road and we actually passed it the first time and had to circle back to it. It is behind an art gallery in a wooded area. It is a small little building nestled in the woods and they have tables outside so you can be one with nature while you drink your brew.
Their hours are:
M-Th 7a-11p
Fri-Sat 7a-12a
Sun 7:30a-11p

And every time we drove passed, their parking lot was PACKED!!

Here is a photo that is from their website from winter time:
http://caffedriade.com/wp-content/ga...nowwebsafe.jpg

and here is one of the entrance at night time:
http://caffedriade.com/wp-content/ga...ade-081023.jpg

here is a side view of the outside seating area. When we were their people had their laptops out!!

http://media-cdn.tripadvisor.com/med...ffe-driade.jpg

and here is the inside:
http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2774/...8d7247b781.jpg


On another note... sadly our local coffee house closed their doors after 10 years!! So we are on the hunt for a new place. :cry:

Next up, Chapel Hill, North Carolina and University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill or UNC. I previously mentioned Chapel Hill when I wrote about their Writing Center Handouts. This is a LARGE state campus and the students did remind us of the ones back home, wearing sweat pants and very, very casual.

We ended up not spending too much time on campus; however, we spent a great deal of time in the town of Chapel Hill as they had AMAZING food there. All of these places are on the main street, Franklin Street.

We arrived late and our first stop was a lace that is open 24/7/365 called Time-Out as in a sports time out. There is a video about their Cheddar Chicken Biscuits on Man vs. Food that starts at 2:22 minute mark:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D0o3GLFi3Ms

I must say, this chicken biscuit was hands down the best we have even eaten. We actually went back another night and the girls had another one!

The next place, Top of the Hill. This is a cross between a bar and a restaurant on top of a three story building. As with most of the places in Chapel Hill and Durham, they have MANY HD TVs to watch.... College Basketball games!!

http://media.dth.s3.amazonaws.com/881_topo.jpg

View from Top of the Hill after UNC won Championship
http://www.top-law-schools.com/uploa.../2010/unc4.jpg

Sadly, we didn't eat dinner there, but we did get dessert:
BANANA PUDDING: layers of fresh bananas, vanilla wafers and fresh vanilla pudding with house-made whipped cream & hot buttered rum sauce
and
TOPO BROWNIE: freshly baked, semi sweet, dark chocolate brownie with vanilla ice cream, toasted marshmallows, chocolate and caramel sauces and brownie ala mode. (It also came with raspberry and white chocolate sauces too).

The pudding was decadent, it was rich and creamy. The brownie... not so much. We think it needed all the ice cream and sauces to cover up the fact that it was dry.

Next up... Sutton's Drug Store...

Quote:

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Originally Posted by rockzmom

Ahh, Greek life..

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Sorry, my previous post wasn’t meant to be that serious “fire and brimstone” message, but rather an April fool’s day vituperation, prompted by a few passages from A. Bierce I had read before. ))) Actually, I have no particular bias against Greeks per se, well, because I know too little about them to pass any judgment. Nevertheless, after reading your links, Greek life in unis indeed seems to me slightly whimsical. What’s more intriguing,when I followed your link I found out that the latest accident took place in Moscow))) in 2012 …Ominously conspicuous, the Russian trace revealed itself in full bloom once again.)))

Sutton's Drug Store has been around since 1923 and is a combination pharmacy and old fashion soda fountain style diner. We had lunch here and as with most places, there was a line. Also, as we found with every place, they had Sweet Tea. Sweet Tea seems to be like water in North Carolina. They also made Lemonade either, sweet, sour or regular and great milk shakes. There chili was without beans for those of you who do chili.

I found this video about the place:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kEfRijCNSyc

We also learned quickly that most people don't mind waiting and are not in a hurry in North Carolina. They also do not use their cell phones while they eat. No one was checking emails or texting away. It was very interesting to just see people so relaxed and actually speaking with their tablemates.

The waitresses also usually had about 10-20 tables all by themselves and remembered all the orders perfectly. Example, one of my daughters likes her water without ice and back home this is not usual. Here, she usually will not get her water the way she would like it, in other words, it comes with ice even though she asks for it without. In NC, each and every time, without fail, her water came correct and was refilled correctly. It is something so simple but it meant a great deal.

The last place we ate at on Franklin Street was Ye Old Waffle Shoppe and as you can probably guess from the name, she serve breakfast type food, like... waffles. One daughter had the waffles and said they were delicious. They came with powdered sugar sprinkled on top. Another had M&M pancakes and also liked them. As with some of the other places, the hours of this place are way too early for us!
M – F | 7:00am – 2:00pm
Sa – Su | 8:00am – 2:30pm

If you are in class or working during the morning and afternoon, how can you ever hope to eat here? Only on the weekend??

As I was mentioning before about a waitress covering many tables, there was only one waitress for the entire place.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by diogen_

Sorry, my previous post wasn’t meant to be that serious “fire and brimstone” message, but rather an April fool’s day vituperation, prompted by a few passages from A. Bierce I had read before. )))

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No harm, no foul. I was going to write about the Chi Omega House anyway as it was such an astounding yellow house and it happened to be Greek so you got me to write about it earlier :)

Photos!! I have not edited these in any way from which my daughter took them. Some she took with a different color filter on purpose.

Wilmington, North Carolina

When you drive to Wrightsville Beach, there is the Intercoastal you have to crossover before you get to the ocean area. On the way back the sun was setting any my daughter took this panoramic of the marsh area:

http://i444.photobucket.com/albums/q...psd1f852d2.jpg


http://i444.photobucket.com/albums/q...ps931dfd9d.jpg

There are a number of condos and hotels on the beach:
http://i444.photobucket.com/albums/q...ps4b82f95a.jpg

Inside the Education Building at UNCW there are also quotes all along the arches. The first one says, "Wonder... Is the Seed of Knowledge" The one in the back says, "Education is Life. Not Preparation for Life." Also if you look way in the back in the top, you will see a school of fish mobile.:
http://i444.photobucket.com/albums/q...ps4a12ecca.jpg

Here is another shot of that amazing glass ceiling:
http://i444.photobucket.com/albums/q...psc6ee3de7.jpg

Yet from the outside, the building looks like this, a regular college school building:
http://i444.photobucket.com/albums/q...ps5479c64f.jpg

Here is one of those bikes I was talking about that all the girls use to get around campus:
http://i444.photobucket.com/albums/q...psbfb6bb7a.jpg

Still at UNCW:

Here you can see how flat the land is and the texture of the dirt.
http://i444.photobucket.com/albums/q...psb3d46d4b.jpg

Besides the many pine trees, we also saw flowering cherries and magnolias on campus:
http://i444.photobucket.com/albums/q...ps5c63e531.jpg

Remember how I said they were very religious in North Carolina? They had a handful of these types of billboards along the road:
http://i444.photobucket.com/albums/q...psa6a4b992.jpg

I've been up and down the Intracoastal a few times and have stayed in Wrightsville Beach. The marina has been wiped out twice since 1987. It's a nice area to "tuck in" if the weather gets bad on the ocean. Nice beaches, good surfing and fishing.

The geology is typical Atlantic Coastal. Very shallow top soil, lots of sand and "Scrub" trees (short because of the ocean wind).

Majestic vistas, I mean the sunset. Almost like those over Innsmouth.)))
File:Innsmouth at sunset - Wikimedia

Coming back to food and diners. They say an average first-year student puts on about 7-8 kg extra wait during his first year at college as a result of excessive consumption of beer and junk food in all those “grease pits” you mentioned above. It’s unofficially called "freshman 15". I wonder how true these stories about such college “dieting” really are?

diogen_°,
I bet the Rockmomanov girls will do well.
$20 says they can cook more than 4 different meals.
$20 more says they can separate Dark, White and Delicate wash.

If I lose (and I won't) I'll donate the $ to my local library. Katzner Dictionary....

Quote:

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Originally Posted by capecoddah

diogen_°,
I bet the Rockmomanov girls will do well.
$20 says they can cook more than 4 different meals.
$20 more says they can separate Dark, White and Delicate wash.

If I lose (and I won't) I'll donate the $ to my local library. Katzner Dictionary....

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Hmmm you talk in riddles, man.:crazy:

No denying, her girls can do everything you mentioned with ease, and impersonate ultimate chastity, probity, sobriety, integrity, and filial piety to boot.))) At least, I won't bet my bottom dollar to challenge it. But how's it all tied up with my “freshman 15” question?

Quote:

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Originally Posted by capecoddah

diogen_°,
I bet the Rockmomanov girls will do well.
$20 says they can cook more than 4 different meals.
$20 more says they can separate Dark, White and Delicate wash.

If I lose (and I won't) I'll donate the $ to my local library. Katzner Dictionary....

---

hahahahaha... well you have to split it! The older one... she already knows that she needs to marry a rich man as she needs to have a servant and a cook as she would rather not eat than get up and cook something. She won't even make tea for herself. She knows how to boil water and that is about it. Now, the younger one, who is graduating a year early (so the older one is hoping she will go to the same college with her and will wait on her hand and foot) she can cook and bake up a storm and do the laundry. She even makes eggs for her dad and sister and she doesn't even like them!

As for the Freshman 15, that has does have a little to do with it. I think if you don't know how to cook and have not really experienced "good" food, than you tend to put on the weight. I know my mom did not cook at all when I was growing up and as a result neither my sister nor I knew how to cook. My sister packed on those pounds at school as it was the first time she had decent FOOD on a regular basis.

Once I got out into the "real" world I started ordering appetizers just so I could try so many different things to see if I liked them. I found that things my parents had cooked and I hated, I actually liked. When I got to New York, I worked in an Italian restaurant and the owner was really nice about cooking special foods for me just so I could try them and he wasn't upset if I didn't like them. Those lesson helped me as a mom when I tried to teach my girls about trying new foods.

As I mentioned, Duke and Chapel Hill are big college basketball teams. One of the nights that we were there Duke was playing basketball so we went to get some pizza to go from a place were the college kids hang out to watch the away games. The area is Brightleaf Square

http://i444.photobucket.com/albums/q...ps46f4b790.jpg

As you can see, there are over 25 TV screens around the place!!!

http://i444.photobucket.com/albums/q...psc858bf01.jpg


I found this video online about the place, Satisfaction of Durham:

We stayed at the Washington Duke Inn and Golf Club, which is right across the road from Duke University.

This is the view from our hotel room!

http://i444.photobucket.com/albums/q...ps5e5cf3d0.jpg

These are the gates to the entrance of Duke:

http://i444.photobucket.com/albums/q...ps7949f90a.jpg.

Right after you get through the gates is the News and Communications Office: It works with the news media and others to highlight the activities of Duke's faculty, students and staff, both locally and throughout the world.

http://i444.photobucket.com/albums/q...ps8416a97a.jpg

Once thing about North Carolina, they do like their glass in their buildings! Here is the Law Building at Duke:

http://i444.photobucket.com/albums/q...ps00380a86.jpg

Duke is known for it's 55-acre Sarah P. Duke Gardens. It reminded me of a mini New York Central Park as it was right in the middle of the campus and all the students were there and also people from the area were there with their children.

http://i444.photobucket.com/albums/q...ps4d5520e3.jpg

http://i444.photobucket.com/albums/q...psed414bd0.jpg

http://i444.photobucket.com/albums/q...ps32493b8f.jpg

http://i444.photobucket.com/albums/q...ps42a8a269.jpg

Inside the visitor/library center
http://i444.photobucket.com/albums/q...ps26b6a227.jpg

http://i444.photobucket.com/albums/q...ps08112345.jpg

http://i444.photobucket.com/albums/q...ps9c937137.jpg

http://i444.photobucket.com/albums/q...ps9962a626.jpg