Well I started hearing a grinding sound from the rear of my '01. I though it might be my brakes so I changed the pads. No luck. Since it sounded slightly louder from the right side I thought it might be the wheel bearing. So I jacked up the rear end, chalked the front tires and let off the e-brake and put it in neutral. I grabbed the rear wheel and checked for play in the bearing - stiff as a marble block. Then I noticed some leakage in the rear diff housing. So I topped of the diff fluid. Took it for a final test drive and the sound came back. Having expended all my options I begrudgingly took it by a dealership service center on my way to work the next morning. I got there early and a guy was checking out the evenings drop-offs. I told him my story, he said that they would look at it and their exam fee was only $45. He gave me a loaner car - no cost!! - and told me he'd call my cell when they found out what was the culprit. Got a call about 11:30 and guess what * * *TRANNY* * * nooooo!!
Seems they tracked the noise to a bad bearing in the rear area of the transmission.
Clutch was also pretty worn and they said they'd drop an new one in for no additional labor. Long and short of it...they replaced all the bearings in the transmission, put in the clutch I ordered from the web and put new diff gasket in. All for about $1,400. A bargain in my opinion. The service manager was a super nice and good guy to deal with. Tim Neal at Hendrick Honda in Easley in case you were wondering. I'd highly recommend them based on my experience.

Side notes:
I ordered an Exedy/Daikin "OEM clutch kit" (KHC06) online for $310 from Amazon. The Honda clutch was going to cost $500-600. New clutch is soft and pedal force is much less. I don't really like it and I'd probably go another route if I did it over. Maybe ACT or just Honda OEM.

Requested my old parts (bearings and clutch) and clutch disc was pretty badly worn.

2nd gear is now a little "chunky" feeling. They told me the syncro's looked OK though.

Again, the service was excellent and I'd def use these guys again, assuming nothing catastrophic happens to the tranny. But then again they did give me a 12 month/12,000 mile warranty.

I'll update this later in the week...