Dee Does Durham Redux–Part 2

Last week I wrote about my recent trip to Raleigh/Durham to visit my friend Renee, her spouse John, and to see Illinois play (beat) Duke in football.

Satur-Dee morning and afternoon was time for boy things. I ran the Durham ParkRun first thing in the morning–one of two in Durham, with only about one hundred in all of the United States–in a ok pace, finishing in the middle of the pack of about forty-five runners. After the race I cleaned up, put on my Illini gear, and headed to the game for the noon start. It was sunny and high 80’s–not exactly football weather–but I survived the heat and enjoyed the win in the visitor’s section with other fans of the Orange and Blue.

After the game I drove to Renee’s house to have dinner with Renee and John, wearing the white floral dress, a recent buy (and love at first sight). I took some extra clothes to do a limited fashion show for Renee, so she could see some of my outfits live and not just in pictures. 

In addition, a friend of Renee had given Renee some clothes, and I tried some of them on. The long sleeve gold top is now mine, although I tend not to wear a lot of long sleeve tops or dresses, because I worry about being too hot.

After dinner (and conversation and dessert) I returned to my AirBnb and tried on a few of my fun dresses, including the silver sequin dress I had bought the night before. I now have four versions of the dress, a multi-color, and the silver, red, and blue (one can never have too many sparkly dresses). I plan to pack several of these fun dresses–and more–for my upcoming trip to Dee-va Las Vegas (I’ll be there from October 13th to 17th; if you are coming, please introduce yourself and say hi).

On Sunday morning I met John and Renee for brunch at a former bank building in downtown Durham. I wore the colored silk dress with a red under lining, which my wife bought for herself 25 years ago, but I inherited when she didn’t want it anymore. After brunch, we went upstairs to a gallery, where I tried to find some interesting backdrops for selfies.

I also staged a picture for my friend Melissa, my first high school girlfriend (from a long time ago). About fifteen years later, when we were both single (and consenting adults, if you know what I mean), she dressed me up one night. Thirty years later (a few years ago), we started going to Cardinals games about once a year to catch up, and at one point I fessed up and  confirmed what she already kind of knew, that I was a crossdresser. 

Melissa had texted me in early August,  asking whether I was going to a certain Cards game where the giveaway was a fabric purse. I texted back that if I had tickets (I didn’t–I was going out of town), I would keep the purse (I have three of the giveaway purses from previous years). I also added the giveaway wasn’t really my style. Melissa then replied I was more of a clutch person–so I took the picture of me with the clutch and texted it to her.

After brunch Renee and I decided to visit an adult store (looking for some lingerie for me, or perhaps some kink gear), but the first store was closed and the second required ID, which Renee did not have with her, so we couldn’t enter. Our fallback plan was to go to a Spirit Halloween store, where we didn’t find any costumes but we agreed on four different pairs of hose,  fishnet stockings, and socklets, including a pair of fishnets with a seam up the back. It will be fun to wear all those eventually.

After I dropped Renee off, I putzed around watching football at my AirBnb for a while, then changed into the colored top to visit a sports bar and watch Sun-Dee night football on a larger screen.

I was vacillating between flying home pretty (more fun) or drab (easier)–until my friend Michelle said she had an appointment with her accountant Bonnie at 11:30 AM on Monday. Michelle says Bonnie prefers having me dress (she’s seen drab me too), so that made the decision for me. After Michelle and I arrived, Bonnie did make the comment she was curious which one of me would show up.

I had found the maroon dress at my favorite thrift, Refresh, but had not worn it yet. As I have written before, I like summer dresses and this one suited me. 

One story about the dress. After meeting with Bonnie, Michelle and I went next door from Bonnie’s office to a frozen custard place (think a very rich ice cream) for a treat. We sat in the sun and savored our ice creams and talked and caught up (we hadn’t seen each other for a couple of months). We probably spent about 45 minutes talking, until the coast was clear for me to go home (I knew my wife would be out of the house for about two hours playing tennis). My wife knows I dress, but I try not to dress in front of her. I had time to clean up and unpack my suitcases, so that was good.

The next day I looked in the mirror with my shirt off and noticed a pretty distinct redder area where the dress exposed my upper chest. It was somewhat faint, and I’m not sure anyone else would notice, but I did.

A fun trip, and Renee was very happy I came for a visit–as was I.