Trailer Trad College Days in Watercolor

Looking back after all of these years, my alma mater and the small, historic town surrounding it were a great place to enter adulthood. Goolrick's Pharmacy downtown is just one example of ancient family businesses downtown. The weathered brick buildings on campus and Victorian storefronts downtown added a lot to my experience and influenced me to this day because, there, people with a love and respect for tradition could be found.

Hamlet House Happy Hour by Trailer Trad

This is where I hung out most of time in college when I wasn't in class or at tennis/rugby practice. It was known as Hamlet House or the 'Men's Honor House.' -I guess 'House of Ill Repute' was taken. It's hard to believe that the campus (a mild-mannered, quite campus compared to larger schools during the 80's) had the fun that it had. Friday afternoons were occupied with securing beer for the evening's festivities. -Happy hour often started early at Hamlet in those days. Loud music, obnoxious behavior. The usual. It's sad to go by the campus on Friday afternoons these days because it seems like a monestary. These kids don't know what they're missing!

One Friday afternoon, there was a fire drill just as we were cracking open some cold ones. The German House next door was filled with coeds intent on learning Deutche through immersion. There was one young German House coed who reminded me of Natasha from Bullwinkle, studious yet strangely alluring. -Anyway, a buddy decided to add impact and drama to the fire drill excercise. So he took out his Speed Stick deoderant and proceeded to rub it up and down his arm. And then he lit it. Pretty blue flames proceeded to glow on his arms as he ran out of the house screaming in front of the horrified coeds. Funny...but do not try this at home.

Aside from the opening scene from Animal House, how many of you actually had a keg thrown out of your upstairs window in college? Been there. Seems that, one night, the resident Hamlet House 'Bluto' returned to his room after a party to find a little brown gift in his bed. Out went the keg. Seriously, he threw it out the upstairs window. -Ruggers were not involved in depositing the 'present.' Were. Not. Involved.

Cases of Milwaukees Worst and Big Audio Dynamite on the Stereo. What Could be better?

Speaking of rugby, there was this guy (we'll call him 'Pob Rike') who was both a rugger AND a sailing bum who hung around the house with us. A buddy was doing laundry one day and said "Hey, I found a tooth in the dryer." Rugby/sailing bum Pob Rike then ran up and said "Hey, I lost that." He grabbed the tooth and stuck it in his yap.-That's just how we rolled.

Rugby was a big part of student life at my college. Since there was no football, anyone who wanted to witness violence on a big green field with goal posts gravitated toward our games. The watercolor below depicts our 1986 game against The University of Virginia, a very good team. I don't remember the score but I recall that it was an epic battle.

The Mothers Rugby Club vs UVA at The Battleground 1985

My club, The Mothers, begins their Spring 2011 season in Raleigh where they will go up against The Wolfpack of NC State. The following weekend, they host Wake Forest and then travel to play the University of West Virginia. This will give them good preparation for their test in March at the Mid Atlantic Rugby Football Union playoffs in Philly.

Most college students don't have two quarters to rub together and we were no different. But many of us collected the few dollars necessary and made our way over to Carl's Creme Shakes, a college institution. Tall mounds of soft serve with a unique swirl at the top, a cone at Carl's is always a treat.

'Carl's Creme Shakes' by Trailer Trad