University of North Carolina and Duke University

Tuesday, May 19

Day 42

Headed out to Chapel Hill to visit the University of North Carolina. It was a beautiful campus with many brick buildings and wooded areas. 

 We went into the gift shop and made a purchase before visiting the football stadium first and then made our way over to the basketball court. 

 We were so happy we were able to get in. We were able to take many photos around the stadium and were lucky to witness a small portion of the Valor Paralympics for Veterans. 

Baby blue chairs

 We watched a volleyball game where all participants were sitting on the floor. These games apparently go on for 4 days in different venues, tomorrow will be at Duke. We saw a veteran in a track chair and met some people who were working the event.

Dean Smith Center - UNC Basketball court

Valor Paralympic Games for Veterans

 It was inspiring to watch. After UNC, we drove a short distance over to Durham and Duke University. Another amazingly beautiful campus. 

Duke University Chapel

The buildings appear very old, all of stone. Unfortunately the Duke chapel was closed for renovations for a year so were unable to get inside. We went into that gift shop  then went to discover the Cameron Indoor Stadium home of the Duke Blue Devils. We were amazed how old school it was, steeped in tradition. It was built in 1940 and holds 9300 fans. It would really be something to see a game there.

 It was really fun to go into their hall of fame and learn of their tenting traditions and rules for students trying to get tickets especially for the rivalry game of Duke vs UNC. 

 Their are 3 different categories of tenting in Krzyzewskiville. Black tenting is the strictest. You must have 12 people there at night and 2 at all times during the day for a whole week. After tent check there is a short break where people can leave but then must return. Blue tenting is less strict and white tenting even less so but fewer tickets are awarded. Grace is granted if the weather gets below 20 degrees Fahrenheit, there is more than 2 inches of snow or there is a tornado warning or thunderstorm. We were shocked how small the area really was that all these crazy students cram themselves into to get tickets for the coveted game.

Krzyzewskiville

 We were really glad we stopped in Chapel Hill and Durham to see these campuses. We drove on into Virginia and got to the south side of Fredericksburg in order to visit a couple of Civil War Battlefields in the morning before heading north into the feared chaos of the Northeastern United States.