Chapel Hill (March 14th-16th)

Chapel Hill, the heart of Tarheel Country, reminds me of my college hometown. The campus is beautiful and they have a nice little downtown area with some bars, restaurants and shops. Franklin Street is the main corridor for the downtown area and would be similar to Broad or Clayton in Athens, however, they don't have 10 to 15 bars per square block. While the trip was originally supposed to be a laid back weekend traveling around the area to look at the campuses (Duke, UNC, NC State), things suddenly changed when the Bulldogs decided that they were actually going to play some basketball for a couple of days. The drive from Atlanta was about 8 hours with traffic, but it was alright, cause we had satellite radio and were able to listen to the basketball game (MSU ALA) and what turned out to be a Tornado that was hitting the Georgia Dome. I had tickets for the UGA UK game, but had to give them up due to the Chapel Hill travel plans. In hindsight, it was probably a good idea considering UGA didn't even play on Friday Night. It was the Tornado that changed the plans of what was supposed to be the relaxing weekend. My brother and I woke up early Saturday Morning to find out that the UGA UK game was to be played at Noon, which left us scrambling to find a bar in the heart of ACC Country that would have SEC Basketball. We called around and thought that we found a place in downtown, Carolina Brewery. We got down there, had a couple of beers (will discuss this more later) and found out they were not going to have the game. We then walked across downtown to Four Corners and found out that they too would not have the game. We were down to our last opportunity when Bailey's came to the rescue. After grabbing a Taxi to Bailey's, we arrived just in time for the last 30 seconds of the half. After what I considered to be a small miracle (UGA beating UK, we went back to downtown to grab some lunch), with a promise that we would return for the 2nd part of a doubleheader (UGA vs. MSU) at 8:30. Let's rewind a little now and talk about the initial trip to Carolina Brewery. We got there and they were celebrating St. Patricks Day, so I decided to celebrate with them in having a Shamrock Ale. It was basically their lightest beer dyed green. It was quite tasty. Although I had already eaten breakfast (terrible though) at the hotel, I saw their brunch menu and noticed that they had Biscuits n' Gravy. For those that don't know me, I am a complete sucker for that Southern low calorie delight. I must say that it was simply fantastic. Lari also tried it and was in agreement with me on it's superb taste. After the Shamrock, I went with the Copperline Amber, also full of flavor and a great beer. It was then that we decided to move elsewhere to try and find the game. Fast Forward now to lunch time as we arrive back at Carolina Brewery for Round #2. It was at this time that UNC and VT had tipped-off (I don't like UNC, but their fans are crazy, therefore Lari and I cheered). My mother, Lindsey (sister-in-law) and my brother all had lunch. My mom had a burger, my brother had Chicken fingers and Lindsey had a salad, all of which were considered good by the group. At this point, I had moved strictly to a liquid diet and was on beer #6 or #7 or maybe #10, but who's counting. I had another Shamrock Ale and Copperline Amber while they were eating. UNC had won on a Tyler Hansbrough buzzer beater, so the mood around the brewery was somewhat electric. The other 3 in my group decided that they wanted to go shopping and since I don't shop, I sat at the bar and watched the Duke Clemson game. It was fun, because they hate Duke, and Duke lost. I tried the Flagship IPA, very tasty and Santa's Special creation, a seasonal that was on special. It tasted like Pumpkin Pie and is probably one of the most unique and tasty beers that I have ever had. After about an hour and a half, they came back and told me it was time to go. Overall, Carolina Brewery ranks in my top 5, maybe even top 3 for local brewpubs. The food and beer were both excellent. After a quick nap at the hotel, it was back to Bailey's for part #2 of the miracle doubleheader. We pulled off another upset and we were simply amazed by what we had saw. I woke up the next morning with somewhat of a hangover, so we hit up a little waffle shop in downtown. I had an omelette and of course biscuits and gravy. It was nowhere close to what was offered at Carolina Brewery, but it was still good. After breakfast, we departed Chapel Hill for our return trip to Atlanta, stopping along the way to watch the last part of a very memorable SEC Tournament, and what turned out to be a non-relaxing but very entertaining weekend. For those that travel to Chapel Hill, there is also another brewery, Top of the Hill or something like that. The bartender (Adam) at Carolina said that I could put him on record as saying that they have some of the worst beer that he has tasted, hence, the reason that I didn't venture down there.