TRAVELING ON THE EAST COAST

Every now and then, I just had to take a break and get away… right? Well that’s just what I am doing this week, revisiting local haunts, beginning at my old alma mate at, Chapel Hill, North Carolina. I try to get back to Carolina, several times a year, particularly during basketball season. But on my way up the East Coast, I couldn’t resist a least one day where I spent some happy and productive years. Can you believe that the little house I lived in is still standing? 48 years ago, I was hanging out on Church Street, a few blocks from the campus. Here I am, sitting in the same front porch.

I also paid a visit to an old friend who is now the head track coach at Carolina. Coach Dennis Craddick was not there what I ran the hurdles back in the late 50s and early 60s. He has been quite successful since coming to Carolina, and has trained a number of Olympic competitors. Here we are pictured below, then I sneaked off to the track to jog a bit, and try my hand at the hurdles. How do I look?

Besides my other vices, I am a bookaholic, and visited a number of bookstores throughout western Massachusetts during this journey. This area is called the Pioneer Valley and could arguably be the most author-saturated, concentrated area of bookstores anywhere in the country. Yu can find numerous bookstores in Northampton. (Smith College), in South Hadley (Mount Holyoke College), and Amherst (Amherst College). Amherst is probably my favorite college town, very similar to Chapel Hill. Below, I’m in front of one of the popular local bookstores.

By the way, you are definitely in WASP country when you are traveling through these eastern states. Until recently, all white, Anglo-Saxon, Protestants. But not anymore. Hispanics have located throughout this area, and hold a variety of jobs. I saw Mexican policemen, security guards, telephone techs, you name it. Below is a photo of yours truly dining at one of Amherst‘s most popular restaurants, right on the main street.