Some People Won’t Like This

I’ve heard it said that cats always know the way home. It’s as if they have some sort of extra sense that allows them to the way back to their place of dwelling. They have a special connection with wherever their home is. Call it supernatural, call it an extra sense, call it what you will…but I’m fairly confident that in my human nature, I experienced this animal-instinct of feeling at home on June 12, 2009. Chapel Hill, North Carolina, I can now say that I have finally found my home away from home away from home. The Chapel Hill campus was absolutely stunning to both Rachel and myself, probably for different reasons. While there is no denying she was able to see the aesthetic beauty, I saw a beauty I have been dreaming about seeing since I was 7 years old and became a fan of North Carolina basketball. I have dreamed (literally and figuratively) of stepping foot on the UNC Chapel Hill campus for years and years. Words cannot describe the excitement I felt as Rachel and I passed sign after sign directing us to the UNC campus. Once there, it only got better because the Dean Smith Center, where the UNC basketball team plays their games, was open due to high school graduations going on. That meant we were able to see inside of the building. Hanging in the rafters were the retired jerseys of past UNC basketball heroes. Next to those jerseys were 5 of the 6 (yes, 6) NCAA championships that they have won. Simply put, it was gorgeous, and I can now die a happy man.

I also visited another campus near Chapel Hill, which will go unnamed as I do not want to ruin this blog by mentioning the name of a far inferior school. If you wish to say the name out loud, be careful or your tongue may fall straight out of your mouth. If you don’t know what school I’m talking about, just look online about 8 miles northeast of the UNC Chapel Hill campus and you will see this wretched place. Against my better judgment and because I can now lay claim to being the best friend in the world, I graced this other school’s campus with a Tar Heel fan’s presence, only to foolishly give them some of my money, all to make 3 certain people happy. Let’s just say, they are forever in debt to me regardless of the amount we spent in the other campus’s store. In fact, I kind of like the sound of “the other campus” instead of its true name – I may start using that on a permanent basis. With that said, I will still show some respect. Rachel and I went to a place called Krzyzewskiville, a place in front of the other school’s basketball arena that is named after the other school’s head basketball coach, Mike Krzyzewski. We decided to go in to that arena and there we were thrilled to see that a junior high basketball camp was going on which was being led by team USA and other school’s head coach, Coach K. Seeing as he is the epitome of class and genius when it comes to the game of basketball, we stuck around to listen to him speak and failed in our attempt to meet him. However, it was an honor to have seen such a respected and dignified basketball coach. With that, we went as fast as we could to leave this other school behind forever.

We did not realize until after we were in North Carolina that we did not have a Chapel Hill map from AAA – which stressed Rachel to the max. Thankfully, Chapel Hill is a fairly small town that centers around the UNC campus. We had a few extra minutes on our only night in North Carolina so we decided to “get lost” (there was only 1 or 2 streets to get lost on, so we weren’t that worried) and in doing so, came across some fantastic southern white picket-fenced middle-of-a-forest homes. Many of these homes were mansion-looking but there were a few that were somewhat quaint. However, regardless of their size, they were beautiful. These homes had to have been straight out of a Better Homes & Garden magazine. The landscaping was immaculate, the trees around the houses were lush with green leaves and pine needles, and the windows were adorned with shutters. While these houses, I think, excited Rachel more than myself, I could still appreciate the splendor of these Southern-style homes.

Our Washington D.C. hotel which was next on our list of cities did not have a check-in time until 3 PM. The drive to D.C. was only 4 hours though, so we had some time to kill in the morning. The previous night while on the UNC campus, we had seen a building that contained the UNC basketball hall of fame but it was closed, much to our dismay. With the few extra hours we had, we decided to go back to UNC and check this monumental site out – and oh man, I get excited thinking about it! The place was a holding-ground of all things UNC basketball related. As you enter the shrine, you are greeted with a dark room that has 5 cases spotlighting UNC’s first 5 NCAA championship trophies. The next room contains the numerous nets that the UNC teams have had the pleasure of cutting down from so many tournaments and championships won along with framed newspaper clippings, former players’ shoes and jerseys, and plaques and trophies from years past. The third and final room which is 10 times the size of the previous 2 rooms, was filled with everything you could imagine having to do with the UNC basketball tradition. From a wall that contains every name of every UNC player to play in the NBA, an enormous UNC logo that has numerous players’ signatures, to televisions with continuous highlights running from every moment you could think of that has to do with UNC basketball. But the best is saved for last. As you reach the last part of the room, there is a case that I would give my left arm, my left leg, a kidney, a lung and maybe even part of my heart to have. You can probably guess, if you know me, what this case may have held. I won’t go in to detail of all the MJ stuff this case had, but let’s just say I was contemplating how to fit this case into our vehicle for the drive home. Don’t worry, I left everything there *innocent eyes*.

I realized a childhood dream on June 12, 2009. While it revolved around a certain team in the world of college basketball, it was truly important to me to have experienced seeing this campus and this hall of fame. Some of you may find it silly to have such an obsession over a little basketball team – but I wouldn’t trade that dream and my fanicity of the UNC Tar Heels for anything. We all have our own dreams and whether they are silly or not, they are real. Everybody has that one thing they dream about and possibly have dreamt about since they were 7 years old, maybe younger. I truly hope that someday, you get to experience your dream, even if it is on a minor level. Our dreams, our aspirations, our desires, our deepest wishes, are what make life interesting and worth living. I still have many dreams, many hopes, and many desires that I hope I see come to fruition at some point in my life. But for now, I’ll take what I’ve been given. We come in to this world with nothing, we leave with nothing, but we leave behind a ton. Part of what we leave behind finds its form in the accomplishment of our dreams, so what are you leaving behind?
What are your dreams?
What do you love? What is your passion? If it’s a basketball hall of fame – so be it.
Just as long as it’s not that “other school’s” basketball hall of fame.

From the Road Less Travled,
Josh & Rachel

North Carolina Highlights: UNC campus, UNC basketball hall of fame, seeing beautiful homes, almost meeting Coach K (but getting lots of pictures), 6 NCAA championships, not running out of battery on the camera even though it was blinking at us!

License Plate Update: Idaho, Washington, Nevada, Arizona, Utah, Indiana, Texas, Florida, Oregon, California, Colorado, Montana, Wyoming, Illinois, Oklahoma, Maine, New Jersey, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Tennessee, Wisconsin, Nebraska, Minnesota, Alaska, Michigan, Iowa, New Mexico, Arkansas, Maryland, Massachusetts, North Carolina (go Tar Heels!), Virginia, Georgia, Hawaii, Louisiana, Mississippi, New York, Alabama, South Carolina, Missouri, South Dakota, New Hampshire, Kentucky, Connecticut, Kansas, Vermont, West Virginia, Delaware, Washington D.C. (49/51 … because we’re now counting D.C. as a “state” for this count).