Spring Break 2009 - Day 4

March 29th, 2009

Sunday was our last day in the mountains and as the weather finally cooperated, we decided to head back to the Cascade waterfalls off of the parkway. It goes without saying that the view was completely different!












Great trip overall! Thanks to Phil & Susie for the use of the cabin...

Spring Break 2009 Day 3

March 28th, 2009

On Saturday, we woke up to somewhat clear skies so we decided to head to Grandfather Mountain. This is a privately owned mountain that mimics a national park, complete with bears, river otters, deer and eagle preserve. We did stop and visit with the bears. It was so foggy and wet that you could barely see them atop a bunch of boulders! Then we stopped at the store for some fudge.

By the time we finished with the bears, it was pouring down rain and blowing at about 60mph...not really conducive to exploring atop the Mile High Bridge! You can see my photo at left. Click on this link to see what it looks like when it's clear! W braved the winds to cross it but I had to turn back at about a third of the way across - the winds and the lack of visibility caused some serious vertigo. Next time....

We slowly made our way back into Blowing Rock, passing by 'Forrest Gump' curve on the way down. (Check out 2:53 - 59 in the clip.) Too bad we didn't have the Mini!

We warmed up and dried off at Six Pence Pub while watching Maryland get...um....hosed by the official during the MD / UVA lacrosse game. That would be the nice way to put it. A little shopping downtown and we headed back to the cabin to check up on the puppies. It was still raining but we saw a ton of waterfalls on Route 105 on the way back. This is definitely an area to return to for great photos!

For dinner we tried Peppers in Boone, an unassuming restaurant in a shopping center. It came highly recommended as a cool little bar which was non-smoking and had live entertainment. (Non-smoking is a rarity in the High Country unfortunately.) We hung out and listened to the band for awhile, then satisfied our sweet tooth at Marble Slab, rented a movie (Wanted) and headed back to the cabin. Magic Hat and Oreo's on the futon while the puppies played ball.

Spring Break 2009 - Day 2

March 27th, 2009


Ah, the joys of sleeping in! Friday found us sleeping late and working on some school projects for several hours, while the puppies explored both the cabin and the countryside. After perusing the guidebooks in the house and inquiring at the Boone Visitors' Center, we decided to set off for the Cascade Falls trail. It was an interesting drive out on the Blue Ridge Parkway out of Bamboo Gap, as every other sign warned us of the impending closing of the road. Luckily it ended at the Cascade falls parking lot! (Despite the instructions of the Visitors' Center staff.)


It was EXTREMELY foggy and ours was the only car in the parking lot. We followed the path down a wooded trail with markers for various indigenous trees and plants. As we reached the top of the falls, it began to to rain gently. By the time we descended a steep set of stone steps to the main waterfall, it was simply pouring. Nevertheless, we took some interesting shots.



After returning to the cabin to dry off and warm up, we headed back out on the road to Banner Elk Winery, which we became familiar with during our last two visits to the Blue Ridge Wine Festival. The Garmin had a mind of its own and directed us along the most winding, roller coaster, switchback road we have ever seen...otherwise known as Route 194. Through Valle Crucis and west into Banner Elk, we were happy to finally arrive! So we drank some wine, bought some wine, crashed some random guy's 30th birthday, inquired of the locals how they survived in High Country year-round (specifically the winter?!?!) and general stuff that wine makes you do.



We stopped back at the cabin for a visit with the puppies and turned right back around again to go shopping at the outlets in Blowing Rock. The fog was so thick that when we arrived, we couldn't see the opposite end of the small shopping center from our car. Some serious damage done at J. Crew, we headed to Twigs for a casual dinner at the bar. Then off to sleep in the mountain air.

Spring Break - Boone, NC

March 26th, 2009

It's Spring Break 2009. We had planned to finally take a vacation up to Snowshoe Mountain in West Virginia. The cabin was booked and W and I were ready to tackle a snowboard and possibly some skiis. Unfortunately Snowshoe decided to close a week early due to poor temperatures and rain in the forecast. Our kind cabin owner refunded the deposit but we were back to square one. Lucky for us, I work for a nice guy who, along with his wife & family, owns a cabin in Boone, NC!



So this morning we took off from Mebane on our way to the High Country. We decided to take a little detour due to a chance encounter in July of last year with the owner and brewmaster at Catawba Valley Brewery. We drove to Morganton, NC to pay Scott Pyatt and one of his employees, Tate, a little visit. Despite our visit occuring outside of normal serving hours, Scott met us at the brewery for a tour, tasting and some lunch! We left with three growlers, some pint glasses and full bellies! What a better way to celebrate being on vacation than having beers before noon. If you are ever driving to or from Asheville, it is worth the two mile detour off of the highway! It's an interesting old warehouse filled with art, a stage for live music and what else, beer!!! Favorite beers? Try the Whiskey River IPA, Farmer Ted's Cream Ale or the White Zombie Wheat.




A half an hour later, we took another detour in the Pisgah National Forest to view the Linville Falls. Guinness and Harper had the chance to stretch their legs (and get REALLY muddy) on our .8 mile walk down and back. Took some pictures and headed back down the trail. We dried them off as best as possible and hopped back into the car for our final, super winding, drive into Boone. We settled into the cabin and just relaxed.


The weather this weekend is forecasted to be rather dismal, with mostly cloud cover and some rain. But driving over to Boone for dinner, the clouds broke and gave us a great view of some farmland covered in fog.






For dinner we decided to try a local spot called Black Cat Burrito. Great food and beer, but no TV's, an unfortunate circumstance when it's the middle of March Madness! Despite a valient effort to find a non-smoking bar with a television, we wound up back at the cabin for some DVD watching and relaxing. (Not without a trip to the store first for hot-cross buns, oreos and a Magic Hat mixed case.)

First day of Spring Break? GREAT!!!

Key West - Day 5 & 6

Day 5


On this trip to the Keys, we tried to focus on doing a few 'new things' like eating at new restaurants, trying new touristy type stuff, etc. So today we went on a kayaking and snorkeling trip with Lazy Dog Outfitters out of Hurricane Hole. This is not snorkeling in the Carribean with giant fish and wide open ocean. It is like snorkeling in a rain forest that is two feet deep, where you are looking for little fish among the coral, sea grass and mangroves, when suddenly a channel about ten to fifteen feet deep opens up below you to reveal schools of rainbow fish and a huge grouper or two. It can be quite unsettling when a hole opens below you that is about 3 feet across but an unknown amount of feet deep. Some run down and then turn under the mangroves. We eventually reasoned that my discomfort with them was due to my fear of heights. There is a definite ledge and what can be perceived as a 'fall' down into the hole. Odd but understandable once our guide, Robin, explained it to us. Along the way, we learned about the three different types of mangroves, played with starfish, sea cucumbers and anemones, saw a nurse shark and tried to avoid stepping on coral. We even saw a sea turtle observing us from his underwater perch as we kayaked by!

In the late afternoon, we returned to the site of the 'hot iguana lovin' to try and go fishing on Butch's boat. We succeeded in getting out of the Summerland Key channels but some problems with the engine stopped us from getting out into the deeper areas. We headed back in and cleaned up before our trip back to No Name Pub.

A trip to the Keys is not complete without a visit to this local's pizza place and pub. Decorated entirely with news stories about the former brothel, bait shop and general store, as well as at least 30,000 single and five dollar bills, this restaurant serves the best pizza in the Keys. (Plus it's fun to drive through Big Pine looking for Key deer sitting on the front lawns of homes. We saw three on this drive.) Great pizza, cold beer, and good company with Raye & Butch and our trip to the Keys came to an end.

Day 6 - Travel Day
On our final day in Key West, we tried to get a little exercise before our hours of airline travel. W and I ran down to the end of Summerland and back for a little under a mile and a half. Then we headed next door for a swim at a neighbor's pool. Unfortunately a mama crab got a little lost looking for the ocean and ended up in the pool, with all of her babies on her back. W spent about a half an hour fishing them all out!!! We swam around a little, gathered our belongings and said farewell to Summerland Key.

Butch, W and I met up with Raye downtown and had a leisurely lunch at Hurricane Hole. Much of the conversation at lunch centered around the prospect of opening and running various businesses in the Keys, bars, health clubs, marinas, etc. Raye is planning a wedding for a friend of the family in April and is looking for a photographer....hmmmmmmmm. Maybe we'll be back in Key West sooner than we thought!

A little shopping downtown on a slightly rainy Duval Street and then we headed to the airport as the wind and cold moved in. We left Key West as Fight Night and Boat Week were beginning, which our usual time to visit. Our trip boasted the warmest and most sunny weather we have ever had on a January trip. Perhaps it was the timing in coming down a week earlier? The forecast for Boat Week is cloudy, windy and high of barely 65....brrrrr!

The Key West airport is under major renovation and we sat in the Conch Flyer restaurant for perhaps the last time, talking with the local bartender Mike, a New England native and HUGE Patriots / Sox fan.

It was a painless trip home to Greensboro, except for the 20 degree weather that greeted us!!!!

Send us an email if you plan to go to the Keys - we can definitely give you some referrals on restaurants, bars, activities and places to stay!

Key West: Days 3 & 4

Day 3 - Key West Shorthand (hey, we're on vacation!)

• worked out at the gym


• walked around trying to find a donut...went to Bad Ass Coffee instead for a bagel sandwich


• rented bikes


• went to Camille's for lunch (thanks Lisa & Tim!)


• rode to South Beach


• rode by Southernmost Point (super crowded)


• got vertigo climbing up into the Key West Lighthouse, saw all the way around the island, dropped W's sunglasses off of the top, found them at the bottom (unscathed),


• decided NOT to go into Hemingway House for about the 10th time...I love Hemingway but the house just doesn't look that interesting


• rode past Higgs Beach to Smather's Beach - took photos of kiteboarders at the beach...decided to ride all the way around the island...then did. Odd to ride bicycles where the brakes are just rotating the pedals backward!


• had a drink at the Conch Republic Seafood Company


• went back to Sunset Ceremony at Mallory Square...took LOTS of photos, had more 'Green Things' from Jimmy and a pretzel


• ate dinner at Half-Shell Raw Bar, had drinks at Island Dogs Bar, finished up the night at Irish Kevin's
  

Day 4
Sunday morning we woke up early to take some pictures. We rode the bikes down a completely empty Duval Street (with the exception of the streetcleaners) down to South Beach to watch the sunrise. We weren't alone! About 5 different photographers were out to take in the gorgeous sunrise. We took in Duval Street, Southernmost Point and several other attractions on the very quiet morning. W and I did a little shopping at Montage for some new signs to add to our Key West collection on the second floor. Then we met W's parents at the Bistro for brunch.

After checking out and heading back to Summerland, Raye, W and I headed to Bahia Honda State Park for a little beach time. We explored part of the old bridge, spent a little time in the water and on the beach. When we were done at the park, we travelled south to Big Pine and searched for Key Deer. Success! We caught two in front lawns and two out in the wild! I feel like a staffer for National Geographic!!!

Annual Trip to the Keys 2009 - Day 1 & 2

Each year in January, W and I make a pilgrimage through Miami down to the Florida Keys to visit W's parents for a late holiday celebration. Part family visit, party holiday recovery, part vacation, it has become a tradition. This year, we will stay at the Bixby's home on Summerland Key for two nights, then head downtown for two nights, and then finish up our stay on Summerland.

Travel Day
Not bad actually. We left the house at about 5:45am when it was a balmy 60 degrees. Fast forward 35 minutes and it was about 35 degrees and pouring rain in Greensboro. An uneventful flight brought us to Miami where we sat for a few hours listening to New Yorkers argue with the American Eagle staff about the injustice of their missing their flight to Nassau due to airline regulations and flight 'closure times.' Karma is always ready for you...shortly after we got on our plane, the pilot realized that the number two engine wouldn't turn over. We deplaned, took the bus back to the gate and sat around for another 45 minutes until they found us a new plane. This time the blender worked and we took off for Key West at around 4pm. We landed safely and got our first taste of 80 degree weather. Finally, after years of being told that I brought bad weather (cold, rainy, crappy, you name it) to the Keys, we might get lucky!


We spent a relaxing evening at the house and had some fun getting caught in a brief rain shower. We giggled through Tropic Thunder with the Bixbys and headed to bed early.


Day 1
Our first full day in Key West was about 75 and sunny! We visited an old standby on Summerland Key, Summerland Sandal. I found a great new swimsuit and matching shorts. W picked up some new hiking / water shoes. We headed down to Hurricane Hole to rent kayaks, a frequent activity during our trips to the Keys. This was the first time we kayaked this far south in the Keys, and we were rewarded with a very interesting trip through a maze of mangroves, a visit to a saltwater pond behind the airport, and several specimens of wildlife, including a great blue heron and two rather grumpy iguanas.

Afterwards we relaxed at the house and then took a walk down to the end of Summerland Key. It's great to just check out the styles, sizes, prices and colors of homes in the Keys.


That night we had dinner at Parrotdise (home of Big Pecker Wines and some fervent Ohio State fans) with Raye & Butch. Tomorrow we head into Key West!





Day 2
On the second day of our visit, we spent the morning tooling around Summerland Key and its canals on the Bixby's pontoon boat. W and Butch spent 20 minutes trimming a tree that overhung the canal at our put-in point. It belongs to Claire, a friend of the family.

Once out of the water, it was low tide, which presented some challenges navigating the coral. Towards the end of our trip, we passed a tree that contained about five iguanas of different age, color and size. This was nothing compared to what awaited us back at the put-in point, the home of the Bixby's friend Claire. There we found two grown iguanas sunning themselves on the sea wall. Shortly after we put the boat up, one started to bite the other's tail. We expected a fight to ensue.....wow, were we wrong! As W's sister said later upon viewing the photos....hot iguana love! Nature day continued when we stopped at a small salt pond to feed some tarpon that had been trapped there during recent hurricanes. There are now at least a dozen living in a little impromptu wildlife preserve, along with pelicans, iguanas and turtles.

We had lunch at Sugarloaf Food Company (best sandwiches and bakery north of Key West) and prepared to head into town. We checked into the Hyatt Sunset Harbor. Raye was able to secure us rooms thanks to her connections. Our first stop after arrival? Two 'green things' from Jimmy at the Bistro, a pretzel from the Key West Pretzel Man, and Sunset ceremony at Mallory Square. It was a weekend for both new and old traditions, so we tried out a new location for dinner, Caroline's on Duval Street. Mark the bartender introduced us to the Mark-a-Rita and his mangorita...yummy! The sandwiches and salads were huge and affordable, a great combination in a location that offers plenty of people watching.

In Key West, you do the 'Duval Crawl'...a long, leisurely and typically inebriated walk up and down Duval Street, the main drag that runs across the bottom third of the island from an area around Mallory Square and the cruiseship drop-off point down about two miles to South Beach. Along the way are t-shirt shops, restaurants, bars, galleries and more. As our next bartender Gigs said when we inquired as to the quiet night at Bogart's Irish Pub, most cruise ship passengers and tourists get about halfway down Duval, see less crowds or a rainbow flag, and think 'oh crap...I don't belong here' and turn around (or they just tire of walking). Unfortunately they miss many of the treasures of Key West, including places like Bogart's and bartenders like Gigs, a Brit and an ardent Red Sox fan! They also miss the 'girls' outside of 801 Bourbon, advertising the 9 and 11pm drag shows. (If you talk to Gigs, he'll tell you the tall girl in the really short skirt, Inge, is really a baseball hat wearing bloke named Brian.) We finished up the night in typical style at Irish Kevin's, drinking beer and listening to JMH and New York Pauly.