We were both still full from the previous day, so breakfast was rather sparse. After all, the focus today was once again on barbecue.
Our plan was originally to drive to Lexington, NC and spend the night there. In order to see something other than barbecue restaurants, we first headed to Durham (population 280,000). We arrived around 10 o'clock, when we initially wanted to find a toilet. Unfortunately, it seemed that the downtown stores didn't open until 11 o'clock. Public toilets were nowhere to be found, so we had to hold it! There were no really great photo opportunities to distract us either. A nice resident took a photo of us and also gave us the tip to use a toilet in a hotel just a few meters away. There was also a museum there.
So we went to the entrance of the hotel hoping to just slip into the toilet, when the porter, named Dan, greeted us enthusiastically. He gave us some well-intentioned hints about the museum and the exhibits that could be admired there for free. We patiently listened to his enthusiastic speech. So close to the goal and yet still so far away...
Eventually, we were able to continue our journey. When we arrived in the basement, we finally found the toilet. It was a nice feeling... The building used to be a bank, so there were still some corresponding fixtures to admire. This was quite interesting.
We also learned that this building, 'Hill Building', was designed by the same architect who designed the Empire State Building.
Next, we went to the 2nd floor. There was modern art to see. Just the right thing for the two of us who are not very knowledgeable about art. In order to avoid having to flee back outside past Dan after only 5 minutes, we strolled through the corridors for a while and saw, among other things, George Bush depicted as Hitler and Obama as the Joker. Okay, that's enough now. So back to the starting point, exchanged a few nice words with Dan, and off we went onto the street.
We left Durham and aimed for the small town of Hillsborough with its almost 10,000 inhabitants. It was a nice place. After parking our car for free, we strolled through the streets a bit and enjoyed the peaceful atmosphere. Next stop: Outlet! Shopping! Steffi was already impatiently bouncing up and down in her seat when we finally reached the parking lot of the Tanger Outlets Mebane, just past Hillsborough. We headed into the outlet, which was only sparsely visited that morning. With discounts of up to 50%, there was no stopping Steffi. We stocked up and left the shopping place just two hours later. The rest of the day can be quickly summarized: we had barbecue in Burllington, Greensboro, High Point, and Lexington. After that, nothing! Nada! Niente! Nothing! The limit was reached.
By the way, on the way to Lexington, we decided to drive all the way to Mount Airy and book accommodation there. This way, we saved the drive to the Blue Ridge Parkway the next morning, which would have taken 1.5 hours.
Best regards,
Steffi and Stefan
