We were ready for a long weekend on the Outer Banks, but first, Merri Beth and I had few errands to run in Raleigh. Sunsets and long walks on the beach were on hold for a few short hours.
We’d missed back to school shopping earlier in the month, which for us, includes a new pair of running shoes.We went to Fleet Feet on Wade Avenue to get fitted and score some new running kicks. After that, a quick lunch at Whole Foods (to-go) and we were off to get the kids from school. Continue reading
Day what? For those of you paying attention to a calender, you’d know it was Sunday. For those of us on island time, we barely noticed. The weekend on St. Martin is jamming and we are part of the island vibe.
It was another early day, yes, I went barefoot running for about 24 minutes again at 6:00 am Atlantic Time. I’m totally digging the foot freedom on the white sandy beaches of Grand Case. Our preparation last night had us ready for another full day at the beach. After breakfast and making our picnic lunch, we were off to Le Galion beach again. Continue reading
It was another beautiful day on St. Martin. And it was a special day too, because it was Merri Beth’s birthday. The entire household was up early to celebrate (we wish)—it must be the island night life. I went out for another run, barefoot, after first breakfast. I came back to have second breakfast as the family was getting ready for the day.
Our first stop was the The Butterfly Farm located on the east side of the island near Orient Bay. We arrived shortly after they opened, perused the area for about 20 minutes, then went on a guided tour to learn all the things we wished we’d known about butterflies. Continue reading
Our second full day in St. Martin started off bright and early. I was up at 6:00 am (Atlantic Time) and I went for a short run. Barefoot. On the beach. Born to run baby! After that, Zander and I went out for a swim in the Caribbean in front of our place.
After breakfast, we loaded up the car and headed out for the day. Our first stop was Pic Paradis, the tallest spot on the island with some great views. But I think we missed a turn somewhere on the single-lane road, lush with tropical foliage on both sides and only a few places to pull over and let other cars pass. Continue reading
Surf camp day three in one word: Cancelled. My second choice of words: Bummer. I got the call from Aaron at 8:30 am, surf camp was cancelled today due to rough and unsafe surf conditions. I had a suspicion that this would happen with the storms that came through the night before.
We had a cold front move through the area on Tuesday evening with some nasty storms. The winds switched North East and cooled things down by at least 10 degrees. With the change in weather, there was a building North East swell with a stiff current. Continue reading
A beautiful Saturday on the Outer Banks. It’s July 6, day eight for our week on the OBX. Happy Birthday to my sister, Katie, who turns the big three-oh! We had plans to beach it all day again, but we got something a little unexpected. Continue reading
Wow! A great day on the Outer Banks. The ocean was fully cooperating and the weather was almost perfect. My day started off with a 5.7 mile run from the house to the Wright Brothers Memorial. I was up around 6:00 am and hitting the pavement before the sun took it’s full toll on the other runners and bikers out on Bay Drive. I had a great run considering the Summer conditions. A beautiful run with some great views. Continue reading
Heading to Norfolk
Our 10-day vacation on the Outer Banks started last night when the family flew to Norfolk after a week in Boston for the Red Hat Summit and JBoss World. We landed just in time to experience some 5-o’clock traffic in Hampton Roads area of Virginia. We took our time and eventually made our way to Kill Devil Hills, NC for the evening.
Along the way, we stopped in Currituck at a local produce stand to get some fresh fruit and veggies. We walked out with blueberries, peaches, plums, squash, zucchini, and sweet corn. On the way towards KDH, we wanted to grab dinner at Weeping Radish, but they were closed when we passed. Bummer! Instead, we got some Mexican at La Fogata in Kitty Hawk. Continue reading
Jason drops in at Playa Negra
It’s Friday, December 23, and our last full day in Costa Rica. I was up at 5:30 am to go surfing. I grabbed my board and made the 10-minute walk to Playa Negra. There were a handful of guys in the water and the tide was low, exposing some of the reef in the shallow areas. The waves were chest to head high and a little mushy with clean faces.
I met a guy out in the water, Mike, who had just arrived in Playa Negra last night and was from Encinatis, CA. I caught some great waves today. Merri Beth and Zander walked down to the beach and watched us surf for a while. Continue reading
The entire family was up early getting ready to head to the airport. Our flight left RDU at 6:50 AM on December 18. We were bound for Liberia, Costa Rica for a week of vacation.
Of course, the first part of vacation is dealing with travel arrangements and getting there. We checked into our flight the previous night and only needed to get our bags checked in at American Airlines (AA). We were dramatically close to the 30-minute cut-off. While at the self-service kiosk, we selected one checked bag at the advice of the attendant suggesting that the front desk would help us with the second bag and speed things along. By the time we got to the desk, the clock was against us and the time we were trying to save earlier backfired on us. Continue reading