#42: Get a blue cup from He’s Not Here

Probably the most well-known bar in Chapel Hill is He’s Not Here, or He’s Not, as students like to call it. The bar is rumored to have gotten its odd name because it was popular with Michael Jordan, prompting bartenders to have to answer the phone as it rung off the hook with his admirers and immediately say, “he’s not here,” although their website suggests a couple other potential sources for the name. He’s Not is a half-indoor, half-outdoor bar that frequently hosts benefit nights or battle of the bands for student organizations. But what it’s really known for is its blue cups, which are oversized (supposed to hold 2.5 cans) Carolina blue cups branded with He’s Not Here’s logo. On a busy night, the picnic tables in the outdoor section of He’s Not will be littered with empty blue cups, and the cupboards of Chapel Hill apartments probably have more blue cups than actual glasses.

 My 21st birthday is later than most of my friends because I went to first grade a year early when I lived in England. I finally turned 21 on April 2nd and was excited to be able to get my first blue cup from He’s Not! I’m a huge fan of cider and so my first blue cup was of blueberry cider – though I hear they sometimes have raspberry or pear cider too.

Old Well Ranking: (7 out of 10) 

Recommendations:

• There’s always something going on at He’s Not, and often it’s a benefit night so part or all of your cover will go to a good cause. He’s Not is a quintessential college bar and is really fun for people-watching – it’s a great UNC experience to have. Blue cups are a good deal because there’s so much in them and you can take the cup home to use again! Definitely bucket list worthy.

 

#62: Rush Franklin after beating Dook — and run all the way there from the Dean Dome

Sometimes, these bucket list items overlap. There isn’t a happier overlap on my list than #29: Get tickets as a senior to the UNC-Duke game and #62: Rush Franklin after beating Dook — and run all the way there from the Dean Dome. 

I’m a senior and in my four years here, I’ve never rushed Franklin St. My freshman year we beat Duke at home, but it was over spring break, so I was not in Chapel Hill. I don’t even want to talk about sophomore year (if I never hear the name Austin Rivers again it’s too soon) and we lost to them again my junior year. Suffice it to say that I was pretty pumped for my senior Dook game, especially considering that I was basically guaranteed tickets through senior status.

On February 8th, I wrote a blog post about why I hate Duke. I created this beautiful Facebook cover photo featuring a crying Duke fan (I’d cry too if I were indoctrinated with devil-worship from such a young age), Danny Green’s famous dunk and my personal favorite, a despondent Austin Rivers crying on his knees.

I printed my ticket, put on my Carolina blue game shirt and was ready to head out the door when we got word: Duke wasn’t coming. After snow being forecasted for days and extensive planning ahead by UNC and the ACC officials, Duke decided that they weren’t going to plan ahead enough to leave earlier than their previously scheduled departure time of 6 p.m. for a game that was supposed to tip at 9 p.m.

I’ve seen a lot of Duke hate in my days at Carolina, but never as much as the hate that followed Duke’s postponement of our game (they say the ACC postponed it but we all know who was responsible for that.) It was the most Duke thing ever, and while no one was really surprised that Duke acted in a douchey way, we were incredibly disappointed to have the game canceled when it could have been the dream: the Dean Dome packed from floor to ceiling with students as we played our archrivals.

That being said, when the time came for the rescheduled game, every Carolina student’s energy was through the roof. I stood in an incredibly long line that was just phase 3 ticketholders and we ordered pizza to the line while we waited. By the time we got in, there were only upper-level seats left but I was in the Dean Dome so I didn’t care.

The first half was long and stressful, and I kept screaming and clutching at the people next to me as I suffered heart attack after heart attack at the hands of Carolina-Duke basketball. But in the end as we started to pull away, I couldn’t believe it. The atmosphere in the Dean Dome was completely insane – the floor was literally shaking (not an exaggeration, the concrete vibrated under my feet from all the noise and jumping up and down) and the sound was so breathtaking that for a few moments I wondered if I’d lost my hearing. We were ahead but it was so close. At any second, Duke could have made a couple three-pointers and knocked us off, and as someone who vowed to never take a lead for granted after the Austin Rivers debacle, I couldn’t believe that we were going to win until the time ran down and the clock stood at 00:00.

I don’t cry very often, but I actually teared up as I hugged my friends and screamed about how we’d just won, we’d beaten Duke. Ian Williams, the columnist who wrote the Daily Tar Heel’s “Why I Hate Duke” column was right when he said “to hate like this is to be happy forever.” I was so happy knowing that Jabari Parker, Rodney Hood, Coach K and that perennial Plumlee brother would be sitting in the locker room with their heads in their hands and that Roy and his boys were down on that court surrounded by jumping, screaming Tarheel fans.

I was too far up to join the mad rush onto the court that always follows a victory over Duke, but the sight of the court covered in Carolina blue was probably one of my favorite sights at UNC. After they played Jump Around and everyone jumped madly for endless rotations of the song, it was time for what I’d been looking forward to my whole UNC career: singing the alma mater after defeating Duke. And when we shouted “Go to hell, Duke!” everyone screamed it passionately because we had, in fact, just sent them to hell.

But then, finally, we ran down the stairs and out of the Dean Dome into the cold night air. Katie, Jamie, Marissa and I joined the masses streaming out of every exit and heading up Bowles Drive towards campus. You couldn’t actually run up the hill and across campus because there were so many people there, but once we passed SASB, we started sprinting uphill towards mid-campus. We met our friends at the Old Well and took a sip because where else would you grab a drink of water on campus during a sprint towards Franklin Street?

Franklin was absolutely packed with people, all cheering and all wearing Carolina blue. There were people standing on the telephone poles and street signs, leading chants and risking their lives simultaneously, and you could see the glow of at least one fire in the middle of the crowds.

 

I wish I had a better photo of the crowds on Franklin but I was way too excited to try to back up enough to get an all-encompassing shot. I fell asleep that night with a huge smile on my face, and if waking up the morning after losing to Duke feels like the morning after a breakup, waking up after beating Duke feels like remembering you just won the lottery.

Old Well Ranking: (10 out of 10) 

Recommendations:

• Being in the Dean Dome when we beat Duke and rushing Franklin afterward was possibly the best experience of my college career. I waited for four years to be able to sprint uphill to Franklin Street from the Dean Dome, and it was worth it.

#8: Celebrate Halloween on Franklin Street

Halloween on Franklin Street is a big deal. It’s been going on since the 80s and recently has had as many as 80,000 people in attendance (the entire population of Chapel Hill is a little over 50,000.) When you actually think about it, the only thing that you really do at this Chapel Hill celebration is walk up and down a street that you probably walk up and down most of the time anyway. However, it’s a fun opportunity to see other people’s creative Halloween costume and show yours off.

Police officers begin to close off Franklin Street at around 9 pm, usually, and the road is reopened just before midnight. That’s super early for a bunch of college students, but plenty of people host Halloween parties and though the bars are required to charge cover and have a set closing time, they’re open for business as well.

My freshman year, I was an angel and a bunch of my friends dressed up as Avatars (I’m not dedicated enough to paint my entire body bright blue but I respect their intensity.)

My sophomore year I was Dorothy from the Wizard of Oz – my roommate was Jessie from Toy Story and our friend Anna was a bumblebee. It was absolutely freezing that night and even wearing tights didn’t keep me warm in a dress.

My junior year, I was a basketball player because I’m not very creative when it comes to costumes and my roommate had a jersey in her closet. My friend Kelsey had the best costume idea of all time and dressed as a frat boy, complete with football and Solo cup.

My senior year, my roommate Melissa and I decided to be failed celebrities, dressed up as them in the height of their success complete with a mug shot placard. She was Lindsay Lohan because what other celebrity would a redhead be, and I was Amanda Bynes. I am by far the most proud of this costume as it made a ton of people laugh and take pictures with me on Franklin Street, and it pretty much just required a trip to Goodwill to find 90s-esque clothing.

 

Old Well Ranking: (7 out of 10) 

Recommendations:

• During my summer stint as a DTH city desk reporter, I wrote a story about Halloween on Franklin for an issue of the Daily Tar Heel that would be sent to incoming students before they arrived in August, and Chapel Hill’s public information officer told me that the Halloween celebration was not an official event of the town, but that “it’s always been a spontaneous crowd gathering that the town manages and anticipates every year.” For an unplanned, spontaneous event, Halloween on Franklin is wildly popular and a classic Chapel Hill tradition.
• Check the weather beforehand – if it’s freezing, a tiny little costume is not going to cut it as you’ll be outside the whole time.
• If you lose your friends, it’s impossible to find them again in the crush of people, and chances are their costumes won’t have pockets for their cell phones. Either stick together or make plans to meet up somewhere afterward in case you get lost.

Public Relations & the NBA: the Donald Sterling Decision

You’ve probably heard a lot about Donald Sterling in the last few days, and following today’s NBA decision, you’ll probably hear a lot more about him. People will analyze his remarks, debate whether or not the decision was fair and wait to see if he will be forced to sell the Clippers. A lot of these people will look at the situation from an ethical standpoint. They’ll discuss racism, or sportswriters will talk about his comments about how charitable he is to give players food and a place to live, despite the fact that they work for their paycheck. My first reactions following the decision, though, was how well it was handled from a PR standpoint.

1. Quick Decision

TMZ released the tape of Donald Sterling and his former girlfriend Vivian Stiviano on April 25th. It’s now April 29th and the tape has been reviewed, a decision has been made, and it’s been announced. While crisis communications often means that strong stances need to be taken and statements need to be made pretty quickly, especially considering the lightning-fast pace of the news cycle in the age of social media, the 4-day turnaround is exceptionally fast. While frequently companies, brands and organizations will stall for time, hoping to be able to make the decision when outrage has died down, the NBA addressed the issue head on with an initial statement that the investigation would be ethical, but a decision would arrive quickly – and it did.

The quick decision made by new NBA commissioner Adam Silver allowed for the outrage over Sterling’s remarks to solidify into support for the Clippers outside of Sterling’s ownership and turn into support for the NBA as a whole after the decision was handed down. Silver’s dedication to making a quick decision made it clear that players will be supported by the organization, and that Sterling’s racism will not be tolerated once clearly proven.

2. Strong Statement

It became clear pretty quickly that this was going to be big news. Sterling’s statement on tape mentioned Magic Johnson, a well-known former NBA star who made a statement very soon after the release of the tape, along with other NBA greats like Michael Jordan. Current and former NBA players flocked to Twitter to state their displeasure and LeBron James, one who some people call the current face of the NBA, said in an interview that “there’s no place for Donald Sterling in our league.” Even Barack Obama made a statement about Donald Sterling, condemning his words. In order to satisfy the public, the NBA needed to make their own strong statement, and they did with their decision. Lauded as one of the stiffest punishments to ever be given to an owner in professional sports, the NBA banned Sterling from the league for life, fined him the maximum amount of $2.5 million and NBA commissioner Adam Silver stated that he would do his best to force him to sell the Clippers, with the support of at least 22 out of the other 29 NBA team owners.

“We stand together in condemning Mr. Sterling’s views,” Silver said. “They simply have no place in the NBA.”

Silver’s clear condemnation of Sterling and willingness to back up that statement with severe consequences drew the praise of many, with countless players stating that they had full confidence in Silver as a leader.

 

I thought the crisis situation introduced by Donald Sterling was handled very well by new commissioner Adam Silver, who has only been working in the job since February 1st. Have any thoughts about the way it was handled? I’d love to hear them in the comments!

#51: Climb on the roof of a building on campus

UNC’s campus is beautiful. This isn’t news to anyone who’s spent time in Chapel Hill; the brick pathways, classic architecture and tall, strong trees look good in the height of springtime when flowers bloom all over the place and in the dead of winter, whether there’s snow softly blanketing the earth or the trees are bare and windswept.

And it looks even better from above. I’ve climbed on the roofs of buildings on campus a couple times, and though whether you’re actually allowed to be up there is questionable (okay, it’s probably not allowed – UNC can’t be responsible for that safety hazard) it’s one of my favorite experiences.

My freshman year, I went with a bunch of my senior friends who were taking graduation pictures. They wanted group shots with all of us in them – my hall had become really close over the year and our photoshoot is one of my favorite memories. In order to get cool headshots with the bell tower, we climbed to the top of Kenan Labs and sneaked out on the roof for some pictures.

My sophomore year, we climbed to the top of the Genome Sciences Building to check out the cool view from there. Campus looks beautiful at night with the lights twinkling in the distance and the chimes from the bell tower tolling out over a muted campus. I wish I’d been able to capture how cool it looked, but it was pitch black on that roof and the only photo we got is pretty flash-heavy.

 

I’ve heard that they’ve cracked down on roof-climbing on campus – most of the places I’ve been are now locked 24/7 so unless you have the hookup with someone who could give you permission, probably the only accessible rooftop on campus is at the FedEx Global Education Center. Take the elevator to the 4th floor and walk across to the door to get outside. There’s a beautiful patio and a rooftop garden that’s mostly made up of plants, not flowers. The view is pretty great though – you can see the bell tower from a distance and a good bit of campus. I also hear that the patio is a great place to study.

Old Well Ranking: (7 out of 10) 

Recommendations:

• While I totally understand the safety ramifications and why UNC’s security has become stricter, I enjoyed the fact that the rooftops of Kenan Labs and the Genome Sciences Building were open during my sophomore year. I highly recommend checking out a rooftop if you get the chance – the roof of the FedEx Building is a great option.

UNC Bucket List Food

It’s crunch time – graduation is coming up and my goal is to get through as much of my UNC bucket list as possible before I graduate. In the interest of consolidation, I decided to put all the food-related bucket list items together in one massive UNC food blog post. These are the best of Chapel Hill and definitely things that you should eat way before you graduate – so you can come back and eat them again and again.

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#4: Get frozen yogurt at Yogurt Pump

Photocred: Chris Waugaman of The Rush Online

The Yogurt Pump, or YoPo as everyone calls it (I can’t remember the last time someone said to me, “Want to go to the Yogurt Pump?) is a true Chapel Hill staple. It’s been serving frozen yogurt since long before froyo was cool – YoPo was founded in 1982 and plenty of people’s parents went on dates to the same place where their children now grab a snack on a hot day. YoPo is a pretty typical frozen yogurt place, with machines that mix different flavors and toppings that you can have sprinkled on top of your cup of yogurt.  The inside of YoPo is pretty tiny – there are maybe 3 or 4 tables and it always feels crowded because the line usually goes out the door. What people typically do is take their yogurt outside and sit on the curb – if you walk by, you’ll often see a line of students perched on the curb with a cup of dripping yogurt. YoPo is very active on Twitter, tweeting about what new flavors are in so you can run over if they have a rare favorite. Their website, on the other hand, is hilarious to look at because it reflects the fact that YoPo has been around since the 80s. It even features a links section with a link for both the Google and MSN homepage. YoPo is a Chapel Hill classic and absolutely everyone who passes through has experienced the deliciousness of its frozen yogurt.

Old Well Ranking: (9 out of 10) 

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#7: Eat a cheddar-chicken biscuit at Time Out after 2 a.m.

Time Out is another Chapel Hill institution (it’s been there since 1978) but unlike YoPo, where you’ll often see small children licking frozen yogurt out of a child-sized cone, Time Out’s big draw is that it’s open 24 hours – which means its biggest clientele is college students. There’s a reason this bucket list item specifies a time. The cheddar-chicken biscuits are okay before midnight but when it’s late at night and you’re starving, suddenly that crispy fried chicken and giant buttermilk biscuit sounds like heaven. I’ve actually never heard of anyone going to Time Out for dinner or lunch – just after midnight. They’re kind of like Boston Market with a Southern twist, offering mashed potatoes and other sides to go with your chicken biscuit. Time Out is famous for their chicken-cheddar biscuits, which have been featured on TV shows like Man vs. Food. I’ve only tried the chicken biscuit but it was pretty great…after midnight. Time Out is incredibly sketchy though. As you would expect from a 24-hour fast food place, it attracts a lot of creeps. I went there once at 4 a.m. with a couple friends, and we could hear the guys at the next table dividing us up – as in, which one of them got which one of us. If there’s any advice I could give you for Time Out besides don’t go before midnight, it would be this: don’t go alone. No chicken biscuit is worth that. If you go with friends late at night though, the chicken biscuit is giant, hot and delicious – a perfect late night snack.

Old Well Ranking: (3 out of 10) 

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#9: Eat lunch at the counter of Sutton’s Drug Store

Speaking of Chapel Hill institutions, Sutton’s is one of the oldest and best traditions in Chapel Hill. Founded in 1923 – that’s right, they’re less than 10 years away from their 100-year anniversary – Sutton’s has been serving students and families alike with milkshakes, hot dogs and hamburgers for as long as anyone can remember. The basketball players frequent Sutton’s and TV stars like Rob Lowe of Parks and Rec have been known to stop in for a quick bite. Anything you get at Sutton’s is going to be hot, greasy and delicious, and their creamy milkshakes go perfectly with some salty fries. Sutton’s is decorated in photographs – the entire wall is papered with pictures of student athletes, well-known Chapel Hill figures, families and UNC students. Signed jerseys hang from the ceiling and it’s clear that the people at Sutton’s are die-hard Tarheels. If there’s one restaurant that sums up Chapel Hill, it’s Sutton’s.

Old Well Ranking: (10 out of 10) 

 

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#39: Grill some hot dogs/s’mores at a residence hall grill

There’s always a grill and most likely a picnic table outside every residence hall on campus, but more often than not they go unused, because how many freshmen brought charcoal with them when they moved in? Grilling out beside a residence hall requires a lot of forethought, but it’s a delicious experience. I’ve used the residence hall grills a couple times with friends for burgers and hot dogs or a failed attempt at s’mores and the result is always slightly burned but incredibly tasty. When should you grill out? In that sweet spot between pollen-heavy spring and blazing hot summer, or in the fall when you can cozy up in a sweatshirt. It’s one of those things that you imagine yourself doing as a college student when you go on college tours, and though it’s not as frequent as you’ll imagine, it’s worth doing at least once.

Old Well Ranking: (5 out of 10) 

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#40: Eat a deep-fried candy bar at the State Fair

The North Carolina State Fair comes around every year and even though the mixture of crowds of people, rigged games, questionable food with enough grease to give you an instant heart attack and rides that have injured people always sounds like something I want to stay away from, I’ve been to the state fair almost every year I’ve been in college. Just walking around the fair gives you so much opportunity for people-watching, and it showcases some of the things North Carolina has to be proud of through animals, art, gardens and food displays. I can do without the turkey legs and funnel cakes, but the one thing you absolutely have to try is a deep-fried candy bar. You may feel your arteries slowly clogging as you eat it, but they have so many different things that are deep fried that you just have to try it out of curiosity. My personal favorite is deep-fried Oreos – they’re sweet, melty and bite-sized. But everyone has their favorite and some people swear by the fried Three Musketeers or Twix bars.

Old Well Ranking: (4 out of 10) 

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#50: Eat traditional Southern food at Mama Dips

Southern food is known for comfort and for being completely delicious. Fried chicken, buttermilk biscuits, green beans, fried green tomatoes…the list goes on and Mama Dips has it all. Founded in 1976 by Mildred Cotton Council, the restaurant was named after the nickname Mildred’s siblings gave to her – Mama Dip – because her arms were long enough to “dip” to the bottom of the barrel. Mama Dips is known as the place to go in Chapel Hill if you’re looking for Southern food, and its reputation is well-deserved. I’ve been here for brunch and for dinner, and I highly recommend their chicken tenders and buttermilk biscuits – washed down by sweet tea, of course. This photo is of me and my roommate Melissa, along with our suitemate from sophomore year, Yoko. She studied abroad at UNC for a year from Japan and we became good friends because we lived together. Before Yoko left to go back to Japan, she needed to have one last experience of Southern food, so we went to Mama Dips for a goodbye meal.

Old Well Ranking: (6 out of 10) 

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#57: Eat cheese fries/sweet potato tots at Linda’s on Franklin Street

The actual bucket list item says you should eat cheese fries at Linda’s, but I disagree. Their sweet potato tots, also drenched in cheese and accompanied by cups of ranch, are always piping hot and the perfect blend of sweet and salty. While I love their cheese fries as well, I crave sweet potato tots like no other. Linda’s is a bar on Franklin Street, sandwiched in between East End and McAlister’s. I’ve been to Linda’s a good amount because it’s a more casual bar that doesn’t require a cover or for you to be 21 to get in (and obviously because of their sweet potato tots.) While Linda’s is definitely a bar, I once read somewhere that the majority of their revenue doesn’t come from alcohol; it comes from food. Linda’s has a chef and is open for lunch and dinner, and is supposed to have really delicious food. I haven’t tried it yet but hope to go in for a meal before I graduate. Linda’s is a great place to go if you want to go out and relax, to have a drink and a delicious snack – and in case you haven’t gotten my point so far: get the sweet potato tots!

Old Well Ranking: (6 out of 10) 

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#59: Eat a bagel at Alpine Bagels

I’ve stumbled into Alpine both early in the morning and late at night to get a cup of coffee and a bagel to fuel my studying on minimal hours of sleep. It’s just so convenient to have a bagel shop in the bottom of the student union. The bagels are top-notch, too: I’m mostly a plain bagel kind of girl, but people await the weeks when cinnamon sugar bagels are the special at Alpine. I recommend the Southwestern Omelet, which is a breakfast bagel sandwich that I really never deviate from, and their hot chocolate, which is balm for the soul late at night when you’re sitting in Davis trying to make an annotated bibliography and instead banging your head on the table. The line at Alpine can stretch pretty far across the Union but it’s worth it.

Old Well Ranking: (6 out of 10) 

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#60: Head to the drive-through window at Sunrise Biscuit Kitchen and order a biscuit

When I’m not running to class or work in the morning, it’s safe to assume I’m sleeping in. For this reason, normally I don’t make it to Sunrise Biscuit Kitchen before the drive-through line stretches out the driveway and towards 15-501. But one early morning during my summer stint as a reporter for the DTH, I covered the same story as my roommate, who was the photo editor. On our way back, we knew we had to check out Sunrise Biscuit Kitchen. She had a sausage biscuit and I had a chicken biscuit and they were the perfect early morning breakfast for student journalists on our way back to bed. If you’re feeling brunch with a low level of commitment, I recommend SBK for their delicious biscuits that you can pick up at the drive-through in pajamas.

Old Well Ranking: (6 out of 10) 

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#65: Go to the Pittsboro Soda Shoppe

The Pittsboro Soda Shoppe, or S & T Soda Shoppe as it’s actually named, is a pretty far drive from Chapel Hill compared to the rest of this food. I didn’t check it out until my senior year for this reason. Why would I drive 20 minutes to get a burger and fries when I can get that at Sutton’s on Franklin Street? The answer is because of their Northern Flavored Sodas. You might have guessed because of their name but seriously: you need to try one of these sodas. You get to choose your favorite flavor of soda (and I’m not talking Coke vs. Dr. Pepper, I mean raspberry, chocolate mint, almond or peach.) And that’s just the beginning. You can mix it with any flavor of ice cream. The actual soda shoppe is adorable, with the decor of the old-fashioned soda shop that it is. Families sit in booths and college students crowd around tables. There’s a jukebox in the corner and a cash register that’s from a distant decade. Go here for a soda when you want to celebrate or if you need a place to kick back and relax. It may not be in the center of Chapel Hill, but it’s worth the drive at least once.

Old Well Ranking: (5 out of 10) 

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#69: Eat at Merritt’s (but not a BLT because I don’t eat bacon)

I was lucky enough to discover Merritt’s as early as my sophomore year of college, thanks to my church Love Chapel Hill having baptisms nearby in Morgan Creek and taking everyone back to Merritt’s for a celebratory BLT. I was even luckier to live within a quarter-mile of Merritt’s that summer. My roommates and I took countless trips to Merritt’s after wading in Morgan Creek and exploring the nearby park. Their BLTs are supposedly to die for. I can’t speak to that because I don’t eat red meat (no, I don’t like bacon and no, that’s not blasphemy.) But that doesn’t matter because Merritt’s has some pretty excellent non-bacon options. While their veggie sandwich is pretty good, I would kill for one of their chicken salad sandwiches on sourdough. Merritt’s is just enough off-campus, past the hospitals and right where 15-501 hits the road out to Pittsboro, that only about half of UNC students know and love Merritt’s. If you’re part of that half that hasn’t been to Merritt’s yet, find a friend with a car or figure out the bus system and get yourself a chicken salad sandwich. Or a BLT.

Old Well Ranking: (7 out of 10) 

#34: Attend a Zumba class at the SRC or Rams Head

I’m not the most dedicated to working out, so I have definitely not gotten my money’s worth of the part of my tuition that helps support the student recreation centers on campus. My roommate and I have gone to the gym once each semester, usually at the beginning when we think that we’ll make a habit of it and keep going. Sometimes I’ll go for a run around campus, but don’t be fooled: I can’t truthfully sing along with Sexy and I Know It during the line “I work out.”

But a lot of my friends have raved about the workout classes that UNC offers, and I know a few of the workout instructors who love what they do, so I knew I’d have to try it before I graduated. So, at the beginning of this semester, I went to a Zumba class at the SRC with my friend Caitlin. I was excited to see that my grandlittle Joann was training to be a workout instructor and helping to lead the class, but also nervous that I would embarrass myself in front of even more people (did I mention that I have close to zero coordination?)

Much to my surprise, I loved Zumba! The instructor played catchy songs that inspired you to dance and demonstrated the moves we were supposed to do with way more energy than I possess. While I felt like I was dying for about five minutes after the class, I soon began to feel more energy from exercising. I’ve gone a few more times this semester, even though my work schedule normally keeps me from going to most of the Zumba classes they have scheduled.

 

Old Well Ranking: (5 out of 10) 

Recommendations:

• Your tuition pays for the gym, so you might as well make use of it. I like workout classes because they become social events – often I’ll go with a bunch of friends or sorority sisters and we’ll commiserate during the class. Zumba is also more fun than just running on a treadmill. Though I definitely recommend Zumba, if you don’t go during your time at Carolina you won’t feel like you missed out on the Carolina experience.

#33: Go to a baseball game

My brothers have played baseball for the past 12 years, so I’ve been to my fair share of baseball games, all the way from t-ball through the levels of Little League. I knew we had a pretty good baseball team at Carolina but I’d never been to a game until today. I was driving home from brunch and noticed that there was a security guard in a lawn chair outside the parking lot near the baseball stadium, and I knew there must be a game tonight. It was a beautiful day so I grabbed my friend Michelle, and we headed over to Boshamer Stadium.

The sun was heading towards the horizon and the cute little kids around us were eating their Dippin’ Dots out of their Carolina blue baseball hat bowls, and our team hit run after run in the fourth inning. Michelle and I didn’t stay for the whole game and went for a Cookout run instead, but we arrived back in Chapel Hill just as they set off fireworks in celebration of our win over Virginia Tech. Baseball games in Chapel Hill mean that summer’s almost here – families and alumni and college students mingle in the navy blue seats of the stadium to watch those Carolina boys hit one out of the park.

 

Old Well Ranking: (6 out of 10) 

Recommendations:

• Go to an evening game, when the sun isn’t as hot on the seats and you can eat dinner from the concession stands. It’s a great way to enjoy the warmer weather and some Carolina spirit after football and basketball are both long over.

 

#15: Eat breakfast at Ye Olde Waffle Shoppe (and brunch at Elmo’s Diner)

I’m a huge fan of brunch – who doesn’t love eating breakfast food at that lazy time of day that could be either breakfast or lunch? Sadly most of the time I’m up early for class, work or some event that I have to attend, so I don’t brunch nearly as often as I’d like to. However, there are some excellent places for brunch in Chapel Hill, even though I haven’t explored a lot of them. Ye Olde is the classic bucket list item, but you can’t pass up Elmo’s – and the Carolina Inn does a mean eggs benedict as well. I’ve heard great things about some places in Chapel Hill that I’d love to try, like 411 West or Mint, but these are the tried and true classics that you just have to go to for brunch at least once.
Ye Olde Waffle Shoppe:

Ye Olde Waffle Shoppe has been around since the 70s – founder Jimmy Chris opened Ye Olde, as Chapel Hillians like to call it, in 1972 and they’ve been serving up breakfast food ever since. Ye Olde celebrated its 40th anniversary my sophomore year of college and offered their menu at 1972 prices. The line stretched down Franklin for dime pancakes and nickel bacon.

Ye Olde is somehow a cross between casual late-night breakfast chain Waffle House and a classy brunch place. It’s normal to grab breakfast there wearing your workout clothes due to the older, more laid-back atmosphere. They have egg dishes galore, pancakes, breakfast meat and of course, waffles. It’s a Chapel Hill tradition and you wouldn’t be a real UNC student without having tried brunch there once or twice.

 

Elmo’s Diner:

 I’m only mildly obsessed with Elmo’s Diner. I’ve gone there for Sunday brunch after church times without number and for lazy summer meals. Elmo’s is popular with everyone, though, and there’s often a wait for a table during normal brunch hours. Don’t let that deter you from trying it, because the food is well worth the wait. Last fall just after Thanksgiving, a friend of mine got cranberry granola pancakes, which were the best pancakes I’ve personally ever eaten. Which I can say because I definitely ate half of her meal. I was so sad when I came back a few weeks later and discovered that they were a seasonal special. RIP cranberry granola pancakes. That’s not to say that everything at Elmo’s isn’t delicious – they have breakfast plates which you can get a whole smorgasbord of breakfast food with, from eggs to home fries to breakfast meat. My go-to brunch favorite, eggs benedict, is spectacular at Elmo’s: drowning in hollandaise sauce and served with spinach and feta cheese.

 

The Carolina Inn:

I’ve been to the Carolina Inn for brunch twice: once with my extended family when they were in town, and once for a sorority mother-daughter event. Both were great, but in different ways. Brunch with my family was classy, delicious, and less expensive than I was expecting. We sat around a large table in the dining room and ordered from the menu, which had normal brunch options. The mother-daughter event had a buffet with ham biscuits, mini-quiches, fruit and cheese platters and raspberry tea. The food at the Carolina Inn is always delicious and if you’re looking for a classy brunch place to take the parents, this is it.

Old Well Ranking: (5 out of 10) 

Rise:

I knew I had to check out Rise when I heard that they had their own version of the New York craze that I luckily got to try at a taping of the Jimmy Fallon show: cronuts. Their imitation, cronies, weren’t nearly as good as the Dominique Ansel version but how much can you actually expect from a knockoff? Their homemade biscuits with scrambled eggs and cheese, on the other hand, were heavenly. I’ve been to Rise the past two weekends and can’t get enough of their biscuits. You can get pretty much anything you want on a biscuit: eggs cooked any way, different types of meat and different types of cheese. They have some pretty elaborate types of donuts as well, and they always make my mouth water in the display.

Old Well Ranking: (6 out of 10) 

Recommendations:

• You’ve got to try brunch in Chapel Hill at least once – and there’s a reason Ye Olde is on the bucket list. Check out why they’ve stayed in business for 40 years, and go to Elmo’s if you’re feeling some hipster brunch later on.
• Got any recommendations for me? Let me know in the comments if there’s a brunch place in Chapel Hill that I just have to try!

#22: Climb the Bell Tower on Senior Day

There’s only one time that you can climb the bell tower at UNC: during senior week of your final year at Carolina. From 10-4 on Tuesday, the GAA opened the bell tower for seniors to climb. You can buy a Fast Pass to just walk in and climb to the top by donating $20.14 to the senior campaign AND being a GAA member, but I knew that it wouldn’t be worth it unless the people I was going with also had Fast Passes, so I skipped that and decided to wait in the hours-long line with my friend Michelle.

At first, a nice guy bought us a water bottle and we had the genius idea to watch Netflix in line, so our wait didn’t seem like it would be too long. Then the WiFi went out near Kenan Stadium and it started to rain while Michelle and I stood under a particularly leafy tree hoping that it would block the rain because we had neither umbrellas nor rain jackets. All in all, we stood in line for about 2.5 hours waiting to climb the bell tower – and it was totally worth it.

   

We finally got that hot pink bell tower access pass and climbed the few flights of stairs to the first level – the level where everyone takes pictures and walks around the outside of the bell tower. Because it was still raining, we decided to take pictures afterward and just make the climb all the way to the top. There are three spiral staircases between the three levels in the bell tower, and even though we had to sign a liability waiver saying we were aware of the possibility of falls and “shortness of breath,” I wasn’t even breathing hard by the time we reached the top. There are just tiny rectangular windows on the top floor – you can’t climb up to the top level near the bell, unfortunately, but it was pretty cool to look out and see Kenan Stadium on one side and…sadly not campus on the other but just the back of Wilson Library.

One of the big themes that UNC has for first-years and seniors alike is our opportunity – no, responsibility – to leave our mark on the university. What can we do to change campus and, in turn, change the world? This is just the beginning of UNC’s passion for social justice and for doing big things.

As seniors, we had the opportunity to leave our mark in a more literal way: by signing the bell tower. It’s tradition for seniors to take a Sharpie and sign the bricks on the inside wall of the bell tower with their name and class year. Though it will probably fade – I didn’t search the walls but the only obvious markings I saw were from the classes of 2014 and 2013 – it reminds you as you write on the wall of all four years that you were at Carolina and the things that you did to leave your mark.