Tuesday, July 31, 2007
The Outer Banks and our vacation. First, let me talk about the bad:
- long drive, I hate driving more than 6 hours straight. Didn't they invent the airplane in the outer banks?
- two big sand dunes - made it pretty tough to get chairs, umbrellas, beach toys, cooler full of beer, etc. over the dunes.
- nothing around our house - we had a nice house on the ocean but there wasn't anything within 20 minutes.
- Baby Jack - Jack couldn't stand the heat so either Sarah or I pretty much had to be inside with him most of the time.
- Henry can't swim yet so we always had to watch him like a hawk.
- Pricey - for what we got, it was expensive.
And the good stuff:
- I read the new Harry Potter book and never knew the ending.
- I was on vacation so I could pretty much do what I want, other than the babysitting which Sarah more than shared.
- Beverages - seemed like I got my fill.
- Shrimp - a highlight of the food week.
- Friends - its nice going on vacation with friends that you've known a long time.
- Weather - we got really nice weather the whole week.
I've thought about this quite a bit and I think I've come to a conclusion. All in all, I wouldn't go back until the kids are older. Mike Horner made a good point, you only have about 15 annual vacations with your kids before they want to do something with their friends. I want to take the family out to the Grand Canyon, to New York, to San Diego, Europe, etc. and that doesn't always leave time for an "annual" trip to the beach. We already go to Florida every spring and I can see us doing that for the next ten years. And we have Buck Lake for free every year so that's another week. That leaves us with a great opportunity to do something fun/educational.
The Outer Banks are great and they are beautiful. It's a great place for adults to go to but I'm not sure its the greatest for kids. Conversely, Myrtle Beach is a great place for kids but probably not my favorite place in July.
I reserve the right to change my mind on this but for now, I'll err on the side of the kids next year.
Sunday, July 29, 2007
We are back from the Outer Banks. No time to comment on the trip yet but here's a photo of Henry on the beach.
Wednesday, July 18, 2007
Well, its nearly time for our beach trip to the Outer Banks. We are leaving Friday afternoon so I won't be posting anything for a week. Here's hoping we have a relaxful week.
Sunday, July 15, 2007
Yep, it works a lot faster. No more download times. Here is Henry today; we went out and played football this afternoon before his nap.
I'm trying out some new blog software. I think this will be a lot faster to load photos than the old one but let's see.
Thursday, July 12, 2007
Some misc. photos. Jack sucking his thumb, Henry hitting a golf ball (he almost hit the neighbors house with his driver), my ancho pepper plant doing well and Henry spelling his first word.
Wednesday, July 11, 2007
Here are the new 7 wonders of the world. I've been to one of them, the Roman Colosseum and will put the other six on my list of things to do before I die.
The Great Wall of China
Petra, Jordan
Christ the Redeemer (Rio)
Machu Picchu
The Taj Mahal
Chichén Itzá
The Great Wall of China
Petra, Jordan
Christ the Redeemer (Rio)
Machu Picchu
The Taj Mahal
Chichén Itzá
Thursday, July 05, 2007
Pinehurst is a golf mecca. I guess you could also call it a tennis destination or a croquet spot but golf pretty much takes center stage there. With 8 courses, including one of the best in the country, it is a spot I find hard to believe it took me so long to get to.
We (Mike, Sam and I) flew into Raleigh Durham leaving us an hour and a half drive to Pinehurst. When we arrived, we found out we weren't staying at the Carolina Hotel but had a condo on a course. It actually worked out better and probably saved us a bit on our bar bill. We met Dave at the condo, unpacked and had a few drinks and headed to one of the many restaurants in town for dinner. Dottie Pepper and Roger Maltbie sat at the table next to us. Then we went back to the condo for drinks on the deck and talked business late into the night.
Pinehurst is great because they have an extensive shuttle service. Once you park your car, you never have to drive the whole time you are there, including the village. In fact, someone said that the resort essentially owns the village. The other memory I'll take back from Pinehurst is that it was hot. I'm talking 95 degrees with steaming humidity. Man, you sweat down there.
We golfed #4 the first day. It will host the U.S. Amateur next year and was a beauty. Prior to golfing, we of course hit the driving range. There were a lot of young women there with beautiful swings. The U.S. Women's Open was starting the next day nearby and I think some of the pros were practicing at Pinehurst with their swing coaches. We also found out that there was some junior tournament going on at the time and the North South Championship was starting the following Monday. After our round, we ate in the village and then went back to the condo for naps. Dave and Sam went to the Carolina for massages, Mike and I went to the bar for some cocktails. That evening we went back to the Carolina for dinner, it was included in our package (that was picked up by Duke Energy by the way) and had a nice meal.
Thursday we golfed #8. It was actually probably the toughest of the three courses we golfed. Duke had a tab with the beer cart so we had a fun time. After golf, we headed over on the shuttle to the U.S. Open. As soon as we arrived, there was a weather delay so we went to the Duke hospitality tent and had a couple cold ones. Then we shuttled back and headed out to dinner again. Everyone was in bed by 9:15, anxious to golf #2 at 7:30 a.m.
#2 is a great golf course. But its not the toughest in the world. The rough was short and the fairways wide. Of course, I didn't play very well but that had everything to do with my iron play. We took caddies out and walked which was nice. We had to bug out a few holes early to head to the airport and get back to Cbus.
It was a great trip. I'll definitely go back to Pinehurst.
Wednesday, July 04, 2007
Monday, July 02, 2007
Well, I'm back from Pinehurst and we're back from our Saturday/Sunday in Cinci. Unfortunately, Jack came down with a bug on Saturday, Henry got it Sunday and Sarah and I woke up with it today. Not a fun thing, the kids threw up a lot and I probably could have but didn't. Anyway, its too painful to type so I'll recount the trips when I feel better.
