Today we drove 3+ hours from Williamsburg to explore Tobacco Road — an area that refers to sports (particularly basketball) played between Duke and UNC Chapel Hill, rival Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC) universities which are located close to each other in North Carolina.

We started at the Dean Smith Dome at University of North Carolina. Even though the arena was closed due to renovations, we found a way to sneak in and admired the dozens of banners. The smell of polyurethane permeated the air as they had just resurfaced the court.

On our way out we stopped into the basketball operations office where we met Asst. Coach Hubert Davis, who played for UNC and the NBA. UNC is the reigning NCAA champion, and all kinds of trophies from the past season were there on the desk. The kids got to hold the NCAA National Championship trophy.
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After a quick stop on E. Franklin Street for some UNC merchandise, we then headed to Duke.

Big D has been a Duke fan for years, so prior to the trip we signed him up for a Duke informational session designed to give prospective applicants a taste of Duke. There were high school kids from all over the country, but D and Miss M were not the only young ones in attendance. The admissions woman who spoke about Duke was so fantastic that Paul and I wanted to apply when she was done. At that point, a number of Duke students were present to split the group up and take us around campus for a tour. Unfortunately, it was pouring, and we decided to scrap it. Instead we headed right to the spot on campus Big D wanted to see the most anyway: Cameron Indoor Stadium. 

Cameron is widely considered one of the cathedrals of college basketball. Again we were met with renovations being done and the floor being surfaced, but we convinced a nice worker to let us in and see the inside. This made Big D very happy. 

Afterwards, we were able to explore Duke’s basketball Museum, filled with trophies, jerseys and the guidelines to Krzyzewskiville (google it).  

After checking into our hotel, we met a friend and co-worker at The Pit, an authentic barbecue restaurant in downtown Durham. I went with the pulled pork, Paul with ribs and the kids with some salads, all of which was delicious.  

After dinner, we walked 2 blocks to the Durham Athletic Park, former home of the Durham Bulls, the AAA baseball team, and the site of filming for the movie, Bull Durham. It was a long, but fun day.