All middle-aged men should go on annual guys-only trips with friends. It's essential for a healthy, balanced life. If you don't go on one, organize it yourself.

On this day in North Carolina history September 30, 1948. The Rams Head Rathskeller opened down in Amber Alley off Franklin Street in Chapel Hill. Folks just called it The Rat. Ted Danziger and his family opened it in the basement under the old candy shop. They were Austrian folks who came over here and started over in Chapel Hill. First place around there to pour draft beer. Pizza showed up a few years later and that was a big deal for this part of the country back then. The Daily Tar Heel ran an ad saying Andy Griffith was gonna wander around with his guitar welcoming people in. Think about that. Andy Griffith playing in a basement restaurant the night it opened. That place fed generations of UNC students. Lasagna they called the bowl of cheese. The Gambler steak. Waiters who stayed for decades. Initials carved in the wood. Dates. Cheap beer. Loud nights. It was not fancy and it was not supposed to be. The Rat closed in 2007. Building still sitting there under Franklin Street. Different things have come and gone in that space since. If you ever ate there you remember it. If you never did, you missed a Carolina institution. First picture is the alley entrance. Black and white picture is the view from Franklin St. Old World Gift Shop upstairs and The Rat downstairs.