Get comfortable because I’ve got quite the plethora of activities to discuss in this post.
I’ll start with the title of the post, I suppose. As I’ve stated before it has been really nice weather here but we have had a few cool days the last few days. By cool, I mean 60. So I clearly still think this is nice and have been warm whereas people here think it is freezing. A few days ago A and I were driving somewhere and I was melting because he had the heat on full blast. He goes “what’s wrong with you, you midwestern polar bear?” I thought that was a funny name to bust out and very true. That’s all.
Ok onto adventures. Last week was Comedy Fest in Greensboro. So last Friday we went to a comedy show at this place called the Idiotbox. I obviously have no idea what I’m getting myself into with any of these adventures so it was funny when we walked in for the show and it was in a tiny room in the basement of an internet cafe. If anyone has been to an internet cafe before please picture the crowd you’ve seen there and that’s what we’re dealing with here. Nothing against this crew at all but A and I could not have stood out any more. We had to wait about a half hour before we were able to go downstairs for the show so we got some wine and were just sitting amongst 100 people playing video games and board games. The people watching was most excellent. But aside from that the actual show itself was really good. It was only $12 to see 5 or 6 comedians perform and almost all of them were entertaining. It was a lot of fun. Prior to the show we went to Hops Burger Bar. It’s kind of like Stack’d in Milwaukee with all these different kinds of burgers. Really good. I had the nutty patty versus an actual beef patty. I was a little apprehensive but it tasted amazing and it was huge!
Early Sunday morning we ventured off towards Wilmington, NC. It was 80 and sunny so I decided I wanted to hit up the beach! Greensboro is in the middle of the state so it’s not really by any large bodies of water and I needed my water fix. Anyway, so Wrighstville Beach is this cute little beachtown on a barrier island just passed Wilmington. I really loved it. The houses on this island were so wonderful. These huge beach houses on stilts with porches that wrapped around the entire house and all these huge windows. Almost all of them had hammocks on the porches. I was v jealous. We walked through town a bit and ended up eating at this restaurant called South Beach Grill. It was just across the street from the Cape Fear causeway so it was nice to stare at the water and all the boats as we ate on the porch. Then we just went to the oceanside beach and sat there for a few hours. It was so nice out and I was SO happy to see the ocean!! Just before the sun set we left to go back home. I’d love to go back to Wilmington sometime and spend a day exploring that town. It seems like a really neat area. Also in typical Jen fashion, I got roasted. You’d think at some point in these 31 years of my life I’d learn to just put on some damn sunscreen the first time I’m out in the sun.
Something else. A and I were walking through town and a car drove by and yelled something. A asked if I heard them and I said no, but as a girl I typically ignore most comments being yelled out of cars anyway. I guess this group of guys yelled “traitor” to A. I asked why and he said “because I’m walking with a pretty little white girl.” The guys in the car were all black. It will forever be weird to me that this is a thing still. But, I digress.
Here is my current segment of “things I’ve learned” : Cut if off apparently means turn off. I noticed people saying this all the time. Example is “Can you cut off that light for me?” Weird. Next, Cookout is a fast food restaurant not an activity of grilling burgers etc. I had heard people saying they had Cookout many times while here and just assumed they grilled out. I finally figured this out last week. Third and last is that people REALLy love Jesus here. I work in a hospital system that is not religiously affiliated with anything and there are Jesus signs everywhere. One bathroom on a unit I’ve worked on has a Jesus themed bathroom. Like a bible verse is hanging on a banner on the wall. Also I had a patient’s family member come in with a denim bedazzled hat with “I love Jesus” in red jewels. The love is real you guys. So real.
So I had watched this documentary a few years ago called Searching for Sugarman. It was about this musician named Rodriguez who had been briefly popular back in the 70s. He even won a grammy. But then he kind of fell off the face of the earth. So this documentary shows the search to find him and they found him in Detroit, Michigan which is where he is from and still lives to this day. His music could be compared to Bob Dylan, Simon and Garfunkel etc. It’s really good and I really enjoyed learning about him and his music. So when I saw that he was going to be playing in Raleigh I decided to go.
I had mentioned this concert to A and he asked if he could come with me. I tried to warn him because it’s not really his music scene at all. But he really wanted to go so I was like ok man, this is happening. He was actually a really good sport about it. And the concert was pretty good. It was kind of humorous though. I’m not sure if Rodriguez has had some health issues but the dude could barely walk. He definitely could not see because he had to have these two guys come out on stage just to put his hand on the microphone. And despite there being a microphone you could barely hear him when he spoke. His encore though, he was loud and came out with a sleeveless shirt on. So it only took him 2 hours to warm up. 🙂
Prior to the concert we went to this restaurant called 42nd Street Oyster Bar. It was SO good! It’s this old school seafood place that had been opened since 1931. We sat at the oyster bar which was fun because they shuck the oysters right infront of you. I tried three different oysters and then had grilled shrimp and mashed potatoes for my entree. I highly recommend this place.
The following morning we went to checkout the State Capitol building and walk around a bit. It was a really pretty building. Although way smaller than I would have thought. After the little history lesson we went to get brunch at a place called Beasley’s Chicken and Honey. I threw aside the vegan thing for a second because there was no way I wasn’t trying the chicken and waffles. I also ordered a buttermilk biscuit. Everything was beyond delicious. The restaurant is one of a few that Ashley Christensen opened up in the area. She is a James Beard award winner for Best Chef in the Southeast. Definitely lived up to that at this restaurant!
Last activity for this post. Yesterday was my birthday so I went out with another travel nurse. We started at a brewery called Natty Greene’s on Elm Street here in Greensboro. Had a few brews and then went down the street to this dive bar called the Bearded Goat. Small place but I’m also down for the dives. I made the unfortunate mistake of asking this guy what beer he was drinking because it was like the color of molasses. This guy was like 50 years old and looked like he belonged in the internet cafe I had mentioned earlier. So when he took that as an opener to start talking to us I had immediate regrets. Needless to say we peaced out right after that first beer. I think that’s when we ended up at this club called the Boiler Room. I can’t even describe to you guys how out of place I was at this place. This is one of those places that has a dress code like “no baggy pants below your waste” and “no backwards hats.” Sooo you know the type of establishment it was. Now picture me walking into this bar wearing a chambray shirt, skinny jeans and loafers. SO FUNNY. Also I’m 31. But whatever. It was fun. We were dancing a bit and some guy for whatever reason pointed to his friend and said “that guy is a genious and a millionaire and he’s only 26.” At some point this millionaire started talking to us and he is from Northern Michigan. He somehow bought a development company down in NC and was down there for business. I don’t know. It was all so bizarre. Ok also. Some guy walked by me and goes “are you looking to get pregnant?” I was like WHAT. He goes “ya, that’s a new pickup line I’m trying out.” Dude. That is the worst. Toodles. Ugh.
So those are my adventures lately. I have to go try and drag myself to work tonight. I work quite a bit this week and have to move air bnbs on Thursday in the middle of a three night in a row deal so that won’t be fun. Stay tuned for next time. Next weekend I am going to visit Andy in VA so that should be good.
