It's Sunday morning, I'm sitting in my hotel room overlooking the city of Raleigh, North Carolina. After an uneventful flight to DC, that included a 2 hour stopover in Munich (and a pretzel and beer in the Lufthansa lounge), I arrived Thursday evening at Dulles airport, zipped through customs (you have to love Global Entry), and was picked up by my good friend Will Long. I have known Will since 1989, when he decided to move to Washington, DC after being laid off from a banking job in North Carolina (for those that don't know, I lived in DC from 1988 until 1995, and then again in 1999). Will's family has its roots in North Carolina, Will's dad Bill was a Presbyterian minister, and they lived in Mocksville, half way between Winston-Salem and Charlotte. Will went to Davidson for college, and then UNC for graduate school - his whole life up until 1989 was NC centric, and then he was laid off. He used that fork in the road to move north, and in the 20+ years since built a great life in Washington initially for himself, and later with his partner Ray, that included a spectacular turn of the century row house in Adams Morgan, complete with a killer roof deck. Over the years, Reinold and I have had a lot of good times with Will and Ray, they are two of our dearest friends.
My good buddy Will at Union Station in DC on Friday
I share all of this for context, because Will and Ray are in the process of leaving DC and moving to San Francisco - the beautiful house is sold, a swanky SF apartment is rented, Ray is already living there, and soon Will will have a California driver's license. As this was his last summer in DC, he and I decided to retrace our steps of 20 years ago and come down to Raleigh to attend a fund raising event called the Crape Myrtle Festival, that raises money for HIV/AIDS support organizations in and around Raleigh/Durham/Chapel Hill. 20 years ago there was still significant social stigma about this health crisis in North Carolina, and very limited funding and public interest for support organizations. The event was held outside in a field near Chapel Hill, we had a great time then, so we decided to retrace our steps (Ray and Reinold declined to join us...). It is a testament to the evolution of our society that this modest organization has in two decades become a highly sophisticated, well supported institution - the event last night was held in the lobby of the Raleigh civic auditorium, a long way from the field of 20 years ago.
We had lots of fun at the party, had dinner Friday night with some old friends, and Will and I got to have some good catch up time over the past couple days. On a sad note, a very good family friend of the Longs, Hugh, passed away last Monday, and Will had to make a day trip over to Winston-Salem for Hugh's funeral yesterday. While he was gone, I entertained myself by walking around Raleigh and finding a new suit case (mine busted, and was not going to survive another airplane flight), Will was back in Raleigh around 7:30pm last night, and we headed to the event which was just down the street from the hotel.
Tom, Will and Will's friend Brooks at the Crape Myrtle party Saturday night
Tom and Brooks in the photo booth....
To get here, rather than drive we elected to take the train down, and had a very funny trip Friday on a somewhat tired, packed Amtrak train called the Carolinian. Seated behind us was a woman and her 3 year old son, who very early on into the trip started screaming. When Will got up to see what was going on, his mother took offense, and began telling the little twerp he could cry and scream all he wanted to, because she had bought him his own ticket. Will had the good sense to grovel and apologize to the woman, however that child babbled on incessantly for five hours, frequently saying "Have a candy" and repeating everything his mother was saying in her phone conversations. "Have a candy" became a running joke line for the weekend. Mom had frequent cell phone conversations with various suitors, family members, etc. - I felt as if I knew her personally by the time we got off in Raleigh (candy boy and mom continued on to Greensboro).
The view from the train was fascinating, we went through beautiful farm country, tobacco fields, old towns in various states of decline - very different from California. Later this morning I continue the journey south to Charlotte on the train, and then rent a car and drive over to Greenville, South Carolina, where I am having dinner tonight with my in-laws.
View from back of the train on Friday Tobacco fields
On a botanical side note, the crape myrtle, for which the event last night is named after, is a beautiful bush/tree that grows all over the Southeast, thrives in the warmth and humidity, and in late July/early August blooms in shades of red, white, and purple. I wish we could grow them in our yard in Alameda, alas I don't think a crape myrtle would enjoy the foggy summer mornings of the Bay Area. One of many dividends of being down here this time of year is seeing these wonderful plants in full bloom.
The Crape Myrtle....
I just came back from the lobby, and said goodbye to Will, his train is at 10:20, mine is at 11:45, and the journey continues.... It has been 31 days since I wrapped up at Blue Shield, feels more like six months! More on that subject later, stay tuned.
Old Railway HQ building in Raleigh
North Carolina State Capitol with Polk/Jackson/Johnson statue
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