perfection weekend part 2

Perfection weekend continued with a mini road trip, to Pittsboro, NC. Steve, Jocelyn, Jocelyn’s kiddo Kane, and I hopped into a car and discovered the most adorable small town. Because Kane is extremely cute, when we made our first stop (at an exquisitely decorated antique store), the store’s owner, rather than paling at the thought of a five year old stampeding around, instead presented that five year old with an adorable mini pumpkin that he carried with him everywhere for the rest of the day.

Then we were off to the most amaaaaaaaazing old fashioned ice cream parlor.

And naturally Steve had to order one of Steve’s Super Shakes. He got a mix of I want to say Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough and Reese’s Cup?    

 

I helped :)

Jocelyn and Kane split a sundae (this was their SMALLEST SIZE!)

(Clearly Jocelyn and I think alike on the food photography!)

We had lots of fun browsing the parlor and admiring their extensive collection of antiques.

Then, after wandering a few more places, Steve decided that we hadn’t had quite enough sugar and stopped in a bakery.

Jocelyn, Kane and I were busy admiring their beautiful creations.

  

And Steve got a donut, which he forced, FORCED, us to have a few bites of.

Our main stop of the day was here:

For a brewery tour! I sometimes feel like a poser because while I love the nuances of food and appreciate the homebrewing revolution and the exciting developments in the world of beer, I just… really don’t like how beer tastes. Sad. Still, I was excited about the educational component of the brewery tour.

Different kindsa malts:

Various machines and steps in the brewing process that I have now compleeeeetely forgotten.

   

And, most people’s favorite part, the tasting! I was largely uninterested in participating in this process, as was Kane, so we wandered around the brewery and he shouted “bubbles!” every time he saw something forming bubbles. We had fun.

Note that the guy giving the brewery tour was adorable, and knowledgeable about beer despite appearing to be about twelve years old.

Then we went outside to enjoy yet another evening of live music!

Kane JAMMED. He danced unceasingly. Lots of jumping up and down. And a little flirtatious running around in circles with an adorable little girl who was dancing too. Adorable.

Along with some food that was surprisingly good for a place named for its beer. I got the special fall burger, which was a vegan creation that involved sweet potatoes and quinoa. With fries, the first I’ve had in a long time, on the side.

Steve got the regular veggie burger,which came with sweet potato fries (be still my beating heart!). I stole a bunch of those, in exchange for giving him a bunch of my burger.

Had we had enough live music that weekend? No. No we did not.

On Sunday, I did some volunteering sending books to prisoners (through an organization with which I’ve recently become involved. As in, I accidentally joined an anarchist group. Long story. I’m there for the prisoners).

Then I strolled from my volunteering locale into downtown Carrboro. They are not joking about Carolina blue skies. Sometimes it’s so beautiful here my heart hurts.

Weaver Street, the main strip of downtown Carrboro, was closed, and hoppin’.

 

More fun sidewalk chalk decorations! The bike lanes were beautified.

And there were lots and lots of fun bands! I was definitely in it more for the experience than the music, but the experience was a grand one. Quality people watching, quality hippie dancing, more jamming with Kane, with whom we later reunited (along with his mama!)

  

Quality lounging around looking up at more Carolina blue sky while listening to gentle riffs on the breeze.

 

Then, because I hadn’t quite had enough sugar (x_x) I heard the irresistible call of this food truck.

 

And ate THE MOST AMAZING BANANA PUDDING ICE CREAM OH MY GOD GUYS.

perfection weekend

Perfection, as I define it. That is, a weekend chock full of friends, food, and music.

It began on Friday with (can you imagine a more evocative phrase) Food Truck Rodeo.

An exquisite outdoor space, Christmas lights aplenty, happy neighbors of all ages. Live music. Food trucks. A last really warm and lovely night of Indian summer.

Sidewalk bedecked with chalk (can you tell they’re raising their kids to be hippies here in the Triangle?)

Bluegrass! We ended up sitting right next to the bandstand to eat.

I’d stumbled upon the scene during setup earlier in the day. And made a note of the more whimsically named food trucks for my pun-loving boyfriend.

(that says “baguettaboutit”!)

Once the rodeo officially began, enormous lines formed behind said trucks. Ended up stopping at neither of those (though they, and the crepe truck, are definitely on my to-do list).

Instead I took in the music scene and stole my friends’ baby for awhile.

Then got in a much more reasonable line for pizza and salad. This pizza was boss- it had wild mushrooms, caramelized onion, and entire cloves of roasted garlic *swoon*.

Let me note that this was the second live band of the day for me. After I got off work, I stumbled upon a New Orleans brass band that was lots of fun (particularly enjoying Saint James Infirmary, which was a depressingly themed song- about a woman discovering her beloved in a morgue- and is traditionally played at funerals, but which I found to be quite beautiful and somewhat oddly upbeat).

The next morning, I returned to the same outdoor space for the amazing Carrboro farmer’s market. This lady is my absolute favorite- she has delicious baked goods (many of which are gluten free, FYI) and yummy drinks (mint lemonade, anyone?) and she’s also just delightfully cheerful and lets me know about fun things like when Krishna’s birthday is.

Some of the goodies:

 

And what I opted to buy for breakfast:

Then there were cheese samples from Chapel Hill Creamery. Mmm.

Fresh ginger- so gorgeous!- was in abundance.

 

This was practically the same price as the grocery store, and farm-fresh garlic is something that is truly transcendently delicious if you can get your hands on it. I nabbed some up!

Steve selected this hilariously huge bunch of collard greens.

Someday, when I have some surplus money (so… not holding my breath on that one) I’m going to buy one of these gorgeous, wonderful-smelling, handmade cedar chests.

This particular morning, we strolled from the farmer’s market to my favorite brunch destination in Carrboro: Panzanella. I’ve been a couple of times, including during Mom Weekend 2013 (as dubbed by my roommate and I- the weekend both of our mothers coincidentally were visiting us and we all hung out together!).

The brunch menu kind of makes your eyes roll back in your head. Even better than the sublime-sounding combinations is the fact that they’re purchased through a co-op and mostly local.

They serve delicious Equal Exchange tea in individual teapots.

 

While we waited for our orders to arrive, we admired the interior. The outdoor deck is a WONDERFUL place to eat but it’s been a little too raw lately. The interior has art, a lot of it sort of fun and weird.

 

Soup sounded great to me, and though I wasn’t wild about their special (tomato-cilantro) I still ordered it and ended up LOVING it. I also got some really awesome cheesy grits on the side.

Meanwhile, Steve has become completely obsessed with their vegan wrap, which contains the most creative assortment of ingredients.

Along with being inventive, it is PRETTY and YUMMY!

This post is already quite bulky and we’ve only reached midday Saturday of an epic weekend, so part 2 is forthcoming!