(Not So) Sunny San Diego
We recently went to San Diego for five days for one of Pan's conferences. We weren't able to do everything we wanted, due to weather. So, we missed out on the Hotel Del Coronado, Old Town, and Sea World, but still took in plenty of San Diego. And despite the long travel time, Will actually did great on the planes.
We stayed in the Gaslamp Quarter, which was really great. We had some really outstanding food, as well. Breakfast included a great Croque Madame and peanut butter and banana-stuffed french toast. For lunch, we had to have the fish tacos (which Will loved). For dinner, we had a great meal at Top Chef contestant Bryan Malarkey's restaurant. It served one of the best desserts I've ever had: a vanilla bean panna cotta with lime reduction and passion fruit.
Here are some pics:
World Famous San Diego Zoo
We had way too much fun with cutouts.
Some animals, to which the zoo offered close proximity:
Pandas have to eat lunch, too.
A few pics of Balboa Park, which is the art/architecture area:
All in all, despite the weather, we had an excellent time and wouldn't mind getting back there when it's a little less rainy.
Halloween pics soon to come.
Labels: balboa, fall, pandas run amok, san diego, vacation, Will, zoo
Summer Vacation
We just got back from summer vacation- a trip to Chicago for Lauren & Mark's wedding and then a little trip to the beach for some fun in the sun.
Unfortunately, we didn't take many pictures in Chicago- too busy having fun! I don't have any pictures of the beautiful bride, but she assures me the professional pics will be online soon.
Will LOVED looking out the window of our hotel onto the streets of downtown Chicago!
Hanging out downtown!
Picnic at the beach. Yum!
Swimming!
Fun at the beach!
We go to the pediatrician on Tuesday for Will's 9 month appointment, so check back soon from stats from that visit!
Labels: beach, Chicago, vacation, Will
Pan and Jerm Do the Outer Banks
Pan took a week off for vacation, and we went with Mark and Patti to the Outer Banks. Nags Head, specifically; it was awesome. We actually went a couple weeks ago, but have been too busy with work to post about it.
This was the beach at low tide at night. It was a great time for finding a bunch of nice intact shells. Pan actually found her conch the next morning at low tide with a few other huge shells.
We stayed here. It was a nice place that served a good breakfast and had a wine and cheese hour. It was cool and very reminiscent of our trip to Vermont at the end of August.
This was our room. You can't really see all of it because of the nooks and crannies, but it was very old-style.
Turtles, I guess. These were at the NC Aquarium on the island of Manteo. It was a pretty small aquarium, but what they did have, was pretty cool. Lots of tiger sharks, stingrays, and what not.
I don't know how to rotate a pic on Blogger, so you'll have to turn your head sideways. This was the Bodie Island Lighthouse. It's one of 3 major lighthouses on the Outer Banks, with the Hatteras Lighthouse being the tallest. I didn't really expect to be blown away by a lighthouse, but it was actually pretty neat.
Us, enjoying the few days we spent there. It was a great time to go to Nags Head, with the warmer-weather crowds non-existent at the time. We also took the opportunity while we were there to eat way too much seafood, including rockfish, gulffish (with a gouda/bacon cream sauce and marinated tomato), shrimp (so fresh, so clean), scallops, lobster, a lot of crab, and probably a bunch of stuff that I'm not remembering. We did not buy/eat the alligator sausage that was available for purchase, though. Pan did buy plenty of "souvenir yarn" at a cool place in Manteo.
On the way back, we went through Chapel Hill and spent way too much money at Trader Joe's and spent some time in the hugely(60,000 square feet) awesome kitchen store that has everything (even Bacon Salt!),
Southern Season. It was ridiculous and a little overwhelming. But mostly awesome.
Overall, it was a great time and convinced us to come to the Outer Banks at least once a year, maybe as soon as next summer on Ocracoke Island. Thanks, Mark and Patti!
Labels: beach, food, lighthouse, ocean, Outer Banks, vacation
A Weekend in Vermont
We went to Vermont over the holiday weekend for a fabulous wedding. Congrats to Brent & Bridget!
Unfortunately, we didn't take too many pictures, because we were too busy enjoying the amazing scenery and incredible food.
Jeremy did some golfing, I got a pedicure, we hung out with family and ate WAY too much. The food was insane- duck cassoulet was the highlight, though there was fabulous lamb, scallops and ridiculous steaks. The dessert buffet was also equally spectacular. I apologize for the lack of pictures, but we were too busy stuffing our faces!
I also managed to bring home a few souvenirs. Oops. In my defense, I have been looking for the perfect pair of sporty type shoes for about 2 years. And I found them!
And of course, what's a trip without souvenir yarn?? I blame Jane for her yarn-buying enabling!
Labels: shoes, vacation, vermont, wedding, yarn
Beach Bums!
It makes for a good weekend when this is what you see at 10:00 on Saturday morning! We took a trip to Wilmington & Wrightsville Beach for the weekend. An anniversary trip and a "just because we live close enough to drive to the beach" trip. It took us about 3 hours and 45 minutes from our house to get to the hotel. The hotel was about 10 minutes from the beach.
We got there right around low tide, so there were tons of shells! The beach was great- perfect sand, perfect waves, not too crowded, no seaweed or jellyfish (except 1 that was washed up). It was great!
Jerm made a sand angel!
This is before the inevitable sunburns. Jeremy needs some work on his sunscreen application skills. His front and my back are a little on the crispy side.
Overall, a great weekend, until Jeremy sprained the heck out of his ankle. We weren't able to go back to the beach this morning because of it, and also because the weather wasn't looking too beach-friendly. We did manage to make a stop in Chapel Hill to head to Trader Joes grocery store. We also took a quick spin through UNC's campus and Franklin Street, which looked like a smaller version of Mass Street.
A great weekend, overall! Happy Early Anniversary, Jerm! (I start peds surgery night float on Tuesday, so I'll probably be sleeping and/or at work for our actual anniversary :()
Labels: beach, ocean, sand, vacation
We had way too much fun with cutouts.
Some animals, to which the zoo offered close proximity:
