I've been in Raleigh for five months now and other than a trip to minor league ballparks in Durham and Zebulon and a quick late-night drive to Chapel Hill to pick up an inebriated pal who was being refused her car keys, I haven't ventured outside of the city. Tonight, that will change. Despite the fury that was Ernie--a twig fell from one of our trees--I'm heading to Carrboro to meet up with the esteemed George Kaplan for fish tacos and Superchunk at the Cat's Cradle. Fish tacos would follow carne asada burritos on my list of things I miss most about San Diego and Superchunk will always remind me of some of my better times in Pensacola, those times that I can actually remember anyway, so it should be a great night of nostalgia for old Jeff.
Not to be overlooked, though, is the town of Carrboro which seems to be popping up everywhere these last few days. According to an article in the Chapel Hill News, Carrboro resident, fellow Alabama expat and the man who wrote Big Fish, Daniel Wallace has penned a 2,000-word user's guide to the city of Carrboro, which the town hopes to place in a national publication soon. Of the town, Wallace said, "You can see other professional writers at the grocery store, coffee shop, all around town. It brought the whole process down to earth, and [it seemed] doable. I thought: 'If they can go shopping at Harris Teeter, I can do it, too.' Because writing full-time seemed impossible."
And just so I can work a little of everything into this post about a small North Carolina town, I should mention that Eric Bachmann (Archers of Loaf, Crooked Fingers) is from this area and it shows on his most recent album, To the Races, which might be one of my favorite releases of the year so far. And one of my favorite tracks just happens to be one that mentions--you guessed it--Carrboro. Check it out for yourself:
+ Eric Bachmann--"Carrboro Woman"
See you when I get back.
Color me jealous. My nephews are in Chapel Hill, actually - one in grad school and the other is a freshman. Got to see a bit of the campus this summer and reminded Paul that the Cat's Cradle was close by.
Posted by: Justin | September 01, 2006 at 09:57 AM
You kids behave yourselves--I don't want to read about your exploits in the Herald-Sun tomorrow.
Posted by: Jimmy Beck | September 01, 2006 at 03:34 PM
I think we are going to be in Raleigh (with Miss Emma the dog) the next to last weekend of Sept. Would love to grab coffee or lunch or some such.
Posted by: Gwenda | September 01, 2006 at 05:30 PM
you can also stream Eric Bachmann's To the Races here
Posted by: tito | September 02, 2006 at 04:13 PM
also .. Bachmann will be appearing on KEXP this Sunday (Sept. 10)
http://www.kexp.org/
http://saddle-creek.com/nf_home.html
Posted by: tito | September 07, 2006 at 07:19 PM