October 26 & 27, 2025 -- To Raleigh For Duke @ NC State

Charlottesville

October 28, 2025

I'm having a great time following my great niece's first soccer season at Duke. What started out as me going to her games to have a familiar face in the stands has turned into bit of a fanatical experience for me. I've lost track of how many games I have attended (it's 11 of 17 plus two more games in the spring) but it's been a blast to see her do so well, watch the Devils, see how the team responds to the challenges of the season, and meet so many awesome parents of the girls.

The drives to Durham (and Raleigh, Blacksburg, Columbia, and Winston-Salem) have been fun and reminder that I miss most everything about my wanderabout. I have found several different routes to and from Durham and seen parts of Virginia and North Carolina that I had not visited previously.

This latest trip to Raleigh was no exception. Upon arriving in Clarksville, Virginia, I checked Google Maps to see if there might be a more interesting way to Raleigh than Google Maps was suggesting. Townsville caught my eye as did the other places that I have circled on the map below. I didn't have time to visit all of them (actually any of them but Townsville) but I smiled remembering how much of my wanderabout was my carefree (at least that's my memory!) wandering in search of places with amusing names.

The drive through Henderson, Louisburg and onto the suburbs of Raleigh reminded me of what a bubble I live in. The best days of Henderson and Louisburg seem to have been a long time ago. This is an area where there are rundown houses with vehicles parked in the front yard. Louisburg is home to a 2 year college where the students major complain is there is nothing to do. Someone with a much better command of words would write about how this area feels forgotten about and just survives. It was jarring to pass from this area into the exurbs of Raleigh with their new strip shopping centers, the new large gas stations/convenience stores and all the generic name brand fast food restaurants.

Here are some photos from my drive to Raleigh. The houses are located in Henderson and Louisburg, North Carolina. The church, as the signs say, was built in 1772-1773. There was as bit of color in the trees, although the hot and dry summer has resulted in below average leaf peeping. I had to take a photo of the cheapest gas I have bought in a while (prices in Charlottesville are around $2.80 per gallon. Reynolds Coliseum is where NC State played its basketball games for most of my life; is located in the heart of the NC State campus (best as I could tell, right by the student union). I understand now that the basketball and football stadiums are several miles from campus. That's seems odd/weird to me.

When I arrived at NC State, I had a flashback to when I was 17 years old looking at colleges to attend. I really liked Davidson, a small liberal arts college outside of Charlotte. They really liked me, too, although I can't remember why. Davidson had a joint program with NC State where I would have been at Davidson for three years and State for 2 years and graduated with a BA and a BS degree. I got caught up Sunday imaging how different my life would have turned out if I had gone that route. In many way, UVa was my birth place and my life has in many (most?) ways has reflected my experience at UVa. The academics at Virginia were hard and allowed me to realize that my career was not going to be as a "hard core" engineer. I did very much appreciate (maybe in hindsight) the discipline I learned from problem sets, labs, and the challenge of being around really bright students. The greatest gift UVa gave me however was the friends I made and the experiences we had together.

Yikes! I went far down that rabbit hole!

Instead of driving back to Charlottesville after the game (which has resulted in a "lost day" when I get back) I spent the night at a very nice Delta hotel in Durham and drive home yesterday (Monday).

Paris is everywhere! https://parisceramicsusa.com/

I took this photo to remind me of how many RV's I see on US 15 in southern Virginia and northern North Carolina.

Stovall, North Carolina.

Stovall is a town in Granville County, North Carolina, United States. The population was 418 as of the 2010 census.

Abrams Plains, Maurice Hart House, Hill Airy and John W. Stovall Farm are listed on the National Register of Historic Places.

John Penn, one of the original signatories of the United States Declaration of Independence, lived just two miles east of Stovall. His estate and former grave site are now maintained by the DAR.

As of the 2010 census, there were 418 people and 170 households. The population density was 418.0 inhabitants per square mile. The racial makeup of the town was 54.5% White, 41.4% African American, 4.1% from other races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 3.8% of the population.