Doc Does Duke!

After letting the road trip gene run, I am back at the digital cottage.

I left late Saturday and first stop in Durham, NC was Hertz. At Hertz I picked up a great car cheap having availed myself of the wonderful services of Hotwire.com. Hotwire has a most interesting e-commerce model. What Hotwire does is that it allows you see what the best deal someone will cut you on a bunch of stuff, and before you know who the seller is, you pay, and then they open the kimono.

I had gone to the Thrifty site, but no cars! Alas, I figured there must be some NASCAR race in North Carolina and hence was screwed, but this would prove not to be the case. Moments later, Hotwire told me that I had wheels, and as the curtain opened it was a car from Hertz. What’s more a full size car was $59 for 2 days or about $41 less than the price for the same price at www.Hertz.com.

But the adventure had only begun, as in the car was a GPS device with a great sounding woman at the microphone whispering directions, and I was off. The device was called “Never Lost”, which made me realize that this was clearly a guy thing. Guys are never lost; I know that because we never ask directions. “Never Lost” and I were now a team. I was wondering if the driver is a woman, is the voice male?

Next stop, George’s Garage. When I got to Duke in 1968, the two best places to eat in town were Bullock’s BBQ and this little cafeteria across from the Lucky Strike factory. Bullock’s is still there, but the cafeteria has been killed by either the anti-smoking forces or by automation. I have found memories of my first hush puppies and fried okra. Two of the basic food groups that didn’t exist in International Falls, MN.

In NC from 1968 to 1971 there was no such thing as liquor by the drink. But there were state liquor stores, and brown paper bags, hence no need for mixed drinks. However there also weren’t any good restaurants, as no one could sell liquor to make a dime to subsidize decent food. The good news was that you didn’t have to worry about taking a girl out on an expensive date, the bad news was that when someone came to town and wanted to take you out for a great meal, there was no place to go.

Today that has all changed, and both George’s and another place in Durham called “Four Square” are outstanding restaurants. I would recommend both, but neither serves hush puppies or fried okra.

When we planned the road trip, Doc had asked if I minded if Jon Parker could join us. Jon and Doc had been friends during Doc’s days in Durham. When Doc mentioned Jon, this little bell went off in the back of my mind, but I couldn’t tell why it was ringing. As always when these bells ring I thought it was my imagination.

When I called Jon to announce my arrival, we were chatting about his Duke connections, and the next thing I knew Jon was reminding me that in 1970-1971 when I was a housemaster in the Duke undergraduate housing system, i.e. the immortal and aptly named “House H”, which was just across from House “G”, both under the clock tower, and the scene of the famous picture of Doug Clark and the Hot Nuts album shot on the Duke Campus. Doug and his band were well known in those days, and certainly well remembered by those who survived the 60’s.

I wasn’t immediately sure that I would know Jon, and figured that he was one of about five guys who lived on the fourth floor, and who had been assigned the task of going to class, and not blowing the roof of House H. Jon succeeded, and is a great guy, and one worthy of future road trips.

On Sunday morning it was breakfast at Elmo’s with Len Simon. (Note we skipped the grits…something that didn’t and won’t have in Northern Minnesota) Len is another Duke Law grad, who is having  a successful career with a NY/S.D. firm that has raised total hell with certain defendants. There is an only cliché that says if you can’t do, then teach. Len can clearly do both, and is having a great time doing it. He is also now the George Steinbrenner of the “The Lake Elsinore Storm”, and knowing the owner, and I have made a special request for a hat.

Next was lunch at the Washington Duke. The WashDuke is a truly lovely hotel that sits at the 1^st Tee of Duke’s spectacular golf course. Doc, Jon and I had a great brunch, and could have sat longer, eaten more, and clearly drank more, but then it was game time.

Doc and I headed to the mothership of college basketball, i.e. Cameron Indoor Stadium. For those who have not had the opportunity, or who have not seen the light. Cameron is the best place in America to watch a college basketball game.

Doc and I got to our seats, got settled, and as a group of Duke lovelies were singing the National Anthem, a roar came forth from the outer concourse.

Duke is one place where everyone in the gym knows, loves and understands college basketball. It is the only place where the crowd for the most part is completely choreographed. When the roar went up from the concourse, everyone in the gym concluded that Wake had beaten Maryland. Alas, a moment later word spread through the house that a Wake kid had pulled a “Chris Webber” (which is defined as calling a time out when you have none, and giving the other team the opportunity to shoot two free throws, one of which was the margin of victory). A potentially bad omen!

At the Eleven minute mark, Duke is down by 7, i.e. 20-13, and I am thinking, I came all the way here to see Duke loose. Bummer…

But then this big Blue semi came out of nowhere, and at halftime the score was Duke 48 St. John’s 21, or the boys in blue had scored 35 points while the visitors scored 1. The St. John’s coach, Mike Jarvis, notable for being bald, would have pulled out any remaining hair had there been the opportunity to do so.

Duke managed to outscore St. John’s by another 15 points in the second half so that the final margin was 42. Long day for the “Red Storm”!

As we left the gym it was one of those beautiful late North Carolina afternoons, with the sun setting, trees budding, and everything right in the world, except for the ghost of Chris Webber allowing  Maryland to escape.

Doc’s back in California, I’m back in Florida, and life goes on.

p.s. I have got to get this font stuff figured out...

8:55:20 PM