As we pulled into Charlotte later than expected on Wednesday night we all were vey curious as to how the next few days would pan out. On our first night in the city we were greeted by Marguerite and Brian Gleason. Marguerite is an alum and now works as a veterinarian n Charlotte. Their hospitality was amazing and we loved getting to know their three dogs and one cat. The Gleason’s have a lot of Ohio State paraphernalia in their house but we left a few Wittenberg gifts with them that will hopefully rival that collection!
On Thursday morning we woke up bright and early (seems to be another theme of the trip) to head to a Habitat build. Our task was to put up siding and we were grateful that we had a lot of alums and friends who came to help (including the Ericksons). It was entertaining to see everyone in hardhats trying to pretend like we knew what we were doing putting up siding. By the end of the day we finally got the hang of it. There was no radio at the worksite but Brian entertained us with a few songs from his musical repertoire (Quote of the day: Brian- “ Am I a good singer?”). All in all we really enjoyed getting out of the van and swinging a few hammers.
After Habitat we showered up and headed downtown for that night’s social event. The turnout was great and we heard some incredible stories. I even met someone who used to live in the room of the old Phi Psi house that is now my office at the Bayley Alumni House. I am not sure that I wanted to hear all the stories he had to tell. We have become connoisseurs of spinach artichoke dip and are excited to see how Atlanta compares.

Thanks Charlotte for the southern hospitality!