A Chapel Hill Labor Day

For Labor Day weekend, I took a short plane ride to see my long-time friend Katie in Chapel Hill, North Carolina. Katie and I met our freshman year at Auburn on a Navigator's retreat where we bonded over a shared interest in C.S. Lewis. Apparently we also both like to move. In the past three years, Katie has lived in multiple countries (including a stint in Costa Rica, Dominican Republic, and Argentina) while I've traveled to six different times; so what if they've all been within the Birmingham city limits!

Kylie, another dear friend who lives in Durham, picked me up from the airport and we were able to enjoy a much too short catch-up session over Chick-fil-A nuggets at her husband John's store. It was, as always, so good to see Kylie and John and meet their 18-month-old Wheeler.


Katie had a full agenda for our weekend including rock wall climbing at the community center, dinner at Crook's Corner and breakfast at Weaver Street. But perhaps the best was saved for Saturday night when we were charmed by the tunes of the Carolina Chocolate Drops, an African-American string band, at Cat's Cradle.


With song titles like Cornbread and Butterbeans, Two Time Loser and Don't Get Trouble in Your Mind, we were in for a real treat. According to Jeff Tamarkin from All Music Guide, the CCD's "belong to an era when music was not something to be sold but something from the soul." I'd have to say between their fiddle, banjo and vocals, they had me.

Visit utube.com/ccdrops for a sampling.

Did I mention we also stopped by the nearby Carrboro Farmer's Market?

Katie and I decided to make a late-lunch quiche using ingredients from the market.

We gathered some fresh basil.

Katie selected the perfect Roma tomatoes.

We chopped the tomatoes (around four small) and basil (a small handful) and mixed them with five eggs, salt, pepper & fresh, grated mozzarella cheese.

Then we poured all the ingredients into a Pillsbury Pie Crust set in a pie pan and baked on 350 degrees for 30 minutes.

Our late afternoon meal was complemented with whole wheat blueberry muffins (recipe coming soon) and fresh greens that were also from the farmer's market. It was the perfect meal for a perfect weekend. Thanks for a wonderful respite Katie; you're the perfect hostess!