Old Friends In Charlotte

From Tobacco Road, we drove southwest on some highways that took us to HJ Mai's place in Charlotte. HJ (short for Hansjuergen) was Peter's college roommate and fellow Journalism major at University of Oregon. We were surprised when Sam, HJ's girlfriend, answered the door. Sam was Peter's roommate for a month last summer after HJ left for his job at the Sports Business Journal in Charlotte. She moved in with HJ earlier this month and went on a cross country road trip of her own from Eugene to Charlotte. HJ was already "uptown" when we arrived at his apartment. We piled in Sam's Ford Explorer and drove to meet up with HJ. 

It was like we had never been away. HJ is a great friend and the laughs came easy. Here we are in front of a bar that we didn't end up going into.

The Bank of America Corporate Center. Nearly 900 feet tall. Charlotte has a beautiful skyline without being too overbearing. It's about the same size as Portland with buildings the size you would see in Seattle.

Peter telling a riveting story from the Ride to Sam and HJ.

HJ's coworker and friend, Tyler, came out with us. Coincidentally, on his travels in Peru, he met another guy from the University of Oregon, which happened to be one of our good friends.

We took a late night swim in the pool at HJ's apartment complex when we got back. This photo speaks for itself.

The morning after, we spent the majority of the day at the pool in the Charlotte heat. Wolf infamously lost his sunglasses in the pool.

"Nice dive, Pete."

HJ was able to get us free tickets to the Charlotte Knights triple-A game through his work. HJ is the Senior Staff Writer in the Global division of the Sports Business Journal. Here we are tailgating before the game. Wolf sunglassesless.

This ballpark is actually located in South Carolina, so we were able to check off that state. HJ told us that they are putting in a new park set to open next season.

View from our great seats behind home plate.

After the game we went to a bowling alley only to find out that they charged $4.75 for shoes and an even more outrageous price for a game. Luckily they had ping pong for free.

The next evening we made a full course meal of hot dogs, corn, salad, and chips. Great effort guys!

Peter, Black Sally, White Explorer, and HJ and Sam's apartment.

Simon and Garfunkel - "Old Friends/Bookends"

*Special thanks again to HJ and Sam who were kind enough to host us for three nights. It was great to see you guys and best of luck to your futures in journalism and daycare. Can't wait to see you guys next time you visit the West Coast.