North Carolina, Day 5

I discovered today that North Carolina (along with many other places, St. Louis among them) still abides by the rule of "open for the weekend, closed on Monday."  Mom and I had a lovely breakfast of coffee, grapefruit juice, and leftover oatmeal bake, and spent the morning messing about her house.  We set off in the early afternoon to find a museum or fun something-or-other, as well as some pre-airport food.

Breakfast

First, the Nasher.  Closed.  Second, the Preservation Society of Chapel Hill's Horace Williams House.  Closed.  Lunch at Vimala's Curryblossom Cafe?  Nope.  Maybe Italian: Trilussa La Trattoria?  Dinner only.

So we did the next best thing and went shopping.  We stopped at several cute boutiques: Uniquities, Scout & Molly's, Monkee's.  And we had a rather late lunch and/or early dinner at that old standby, Weathervane, the cafe at Southern Season.  Despite being slow, our meal was quite tasty: yellow tomato gazpacho, tomato basil bruschetta, and a spinach salad with candied pecans.

We were a tad late heading to the airport, but mom navigated the traffic and I got there just in time!

One parting thought: bathrooms.

I have to say, while not spectacularly-appointed, the restroom at Weathervane was nice enough, but there are a couple of things that are great.  1) The automatic faucets work.  Which is to say, they turn on when you get your hands in the vicinity.  How many times have you stood there waving your hands around in front of the stupid faucet like an idiot and it just won't turn on?  They work.  Winner.  2) The water is the perfect temperature.  Small victory, but a nice touch.  3)  This is one of my pet peeves, and they got it right: the faucets are far enough away from the back of the sink.  I hate it, HATE IT, when you have to jam your hands against the dirty porcelain of the back of the sink just to get the soap off of them.  Doesn't rubbing your hands all over some public utility defeat the purpose of washing them?  Makes me crazy.  Props, Weathervane.

So imagine my surprise when I was also pleased by a few oft-overlooked qualities of the RDU airport bathroom (I drank a lot of water, okay?).  1) Stalls big enough to bring your bags into.  All your hear at airports is "don't leave your bags unattended," but then you walk into the bathroom and see these microscopic little stalls all jammed together, so you leave your bags in a pile on the floor by the door.  First, dirty.  Seriously.  I read a study where they tested purses that women had set on the floor in a public restroom.  Fecal matter, people.  Gross.  Second, unsafe.  Either your bags could be stolen, which would seriously suck, or you could be thought a terrorist, which would suck even worse.  So, thanks, RDU, for saving our bags from theft and ourselves from jail time. 2) Once inside the stall, there are hooks on which to hang your bags to avoid the aforementioned fecal matter on the floor.  Big tough hooks that don't break off when you hang your wristlet from them.  I hung a duffel bag and purse full of magazines from the same hook and it didn't even bend.  RDU, I love you!