Doin' A Little East Coast Swing

I had a really enjoyable weekend traveling with Dawn up and down the East Coast. Wanna hear about it, here it goes...

Dawn arrived late Thursday night. First, we celebrated with some birthday presents at the airport. Then, we took a quick excursion to Hibernian for a birthday beer for her. We had a good time relaxing and decompressing from what was an extremely stressful week for the both of us.

Friday began early with a trip to pick up a rental car for our trip north. We got a Pontiac G6 from National. The key fob didn't work, but otherwise the car was good. Most importantly, it kept mileage off of my truck. We made pretty good time driving towards Richmond. The directions Mapquest gave us had us drive 15 miles through Richmond when the place we were going to was right off of 295. Great job, Mapquest! We arrived only slightly late in Richmond (due to my heavy right foot) for lunch with one of Dawn's clients. It was a good time for us. Her clients were very nice and treated us very well. I must say, though, it was awesome to see the vehicle in the parking lot covered in NC State magnets with the license plate of "NCSU17"!

After lunch we headed back north. We took 301 North off of 95 and crossed the Potomac River Bridge to Southern Maryland. We went sightseeing in Charles County a bit, including a side trip to Dawn's childhood home. It was fun seeing a part of Maryland I had never been to.

We finally got to Pamela and Steven's house around 5:30. We relaxed a bit on the deck and had a beer or two with Steven waiting for Pamela to get home. After she got in, we headed to a local restaurant for dinner. Naturally, as we were in Maryland, I ordered crabcakes (well a crabcake with some other seafood). Holy crap, was it good! I couldn't even finish all of my food.

Then, things got interesting. The restaurant (it had a bar/pool table area as well) had karaoke later. After a few beers and some research, Dawn helped convince me to give it a go. We finally picked out a song that we could both make a good attempt at. We chose "You Give Love A Bad Name" by Bon Jovi. Yeah, '80s hair bands, represent! I was a little nervous going up at first, but once the song started, I relaxed a bit. The mixing of the music and the vocals was way off, so I'm sure the restaurant patrons couldn't tell how bad my singing voice really was! At least one of the guys playing pool really was into it singing along and high fiving and such, so that was pretty cool. A little bit later, Dawn did a wonderful rendition of a Restless Heart song. Let me say it, the girl can sing! Just one of her many talents! By the time we got back to Pamela and Steven's house, we were utterly tired. We had to get up early for our drive to PA the next morning.

After a quick breakfast in MD, it was time to make another drive. We drove up to York, PA for my cousin Aylin's First Communion service. We arrived at Aunt Shell's house in time to say hi to everyone before the service began. It was the first time Aunt Shell and her family got to meet Dawn. Of course, they loved her, I mean, how couldn't they? The service was great and the kids were really well behaved. Aylin did just great. I can honestly say that Catholic services just seem different to me, maybe because I've been to so few. I mean, the Protestant services I've been to and go to now are similarly regimented. Maybe it's the extra layer of symbolism, I don't know, to each his own, I guess. After the service, we went back to the house for a lunch gathering. I had forgotten how good lebanon bologna was. I got to spend a lot of time with the kids. I played with Morgan and Aylin on the swings and even jumped on the trampoline with them. We also got to spend some quality time with Beth's new-born son, Adam. Needless to say, Dawn was much better with him. At least he didn't cry too much when I held him, lol.

We finally drove east towards the Philly area. The drive took us through Amish country. We did get to see a few horse & buggy combinations on the road. The ride was quite scenic and a good bit of caffeine helped me stay awake as I was quite tired. We finally checked into our hotel near Valley Forge and got to relax a little. A little while later, we met Mom for dinner. A great time was had by all. It was a lot of fun to just hang out and chat (yes, and peek in on the NFL draft). After dinner, we found a local beer store and picked up a case of Flying Fish Summer Ale. Good stuff, yo!

Sunday began our drive home. I decided to give Dawn a quick driving tour of Philly. We saw the Liberty Bell, Independence Hall, the National Constitution Center, Christ Church, and all of the other historical sites. Then we went to see the real must-see places in Philly. First, we drove up to the Italian Market area and saw those Philly icons, Pat's and Geno's, the most famous cheesesteak places in town. We then drove by the Philly sports arenas. Dawn got to see the Wachovia Center/Spectrum (Flyers/Sixers) and Lincoln Financial Field (Eagles) and Citizens Bank Park (Phillies). As we were in danger of being late for lunch with Rich and Katrina, we sped towards the DC 'burbs. After a quick tour of their new digs, we went out for some lunch. We went to an Ethiopian restaurant. I can honestly say that it was a first for me. The food wasn't bad, either. They had chicken in some kind of spicy red sauce that was quite tasty. We walked around downtown Silver Spring for a while and got to spend some quality time with Rich and Katrina.

Finally, it was time to head back. Let me tell you this, having a travel partner as cool as Dawn can make the longest drive seem short. Heck, we didn't even have the radio on from DC on south as we were just talking and enjoying each other's company. Another wonderful weekend with friends, family, and fun!

Believe It!

I Hate Myself For Loving You

Ah, my yearly lament (2006 excepted) of how my sports teams suck. The 2007-08 academic year has featured a glorious confluence of athletic ineptitude from the teams I follow. This is just the latest bit of struggle from a Raleigh-based team after State's woes this year. Hey, at least this blog beats one with me complaining about work, right?

The genesis of this post is the end-of-season fade of the Carolina Hurricanes. To be fair, Washington did win their last 7 games and beat the 'Canes twice in the last week of the season, so they deserve all due credit. However, the 'Canes also dropped a game at Tampa that they should have won. Then, there was the last game of the season, a home tilt against the also-ran Florida Panthers. I had a pretty nasty cold. That did not stop me from screaming myself hoarse. I tried everything I superstitiously could to get the 'Canes going before the game.

Most 'Canes fans (myself included) thought that it would be a game where the refs would tilt the ice in favor of the Panthers (in order to get Washington and league media darling Alexander Ovechkin into the playoffs). Well, the 'Canes had 9 power plays to none for the Panthers. The 'Canes just played tight all night. They pressed and pressed and pressed. They gave up a breakaway late in the first period to give Florida a 2-1 lead. After the 'Canes got back within 1 goal late in the 2nd, Florida got another breakaway, this time while shorthanded, and went up 4-2. The 'Canes scored in the early part of the 3rd to make it 4-3, but could never tie the game.

Needless to say, the Panthers laid down for the Caps tonight. From what Rich said, the defense played by Florida was appropriate for no-checking rec league hockey. Such is life, I guess. The Summer of 2006 seems so long ago. This is the capper to this glorious sports season. Baseball is ok, but unless the Cubs do anything (yeah, right) or Dawn's Braves make a run (unlikely), it'll be pretty forgettable.

Still, despite it all, I've had a lot of fun going to the games. I got to attend 30 or so games this year, including one road trip. I got to spend one awesome evening with Dawn sitting in some great seats watching a thrilling OT win over Buffalo. I got to hang out a lot with Ron and Phillip at and after the games. I got to meet a lot of nice people who sit in our section. I'll be back next year to fight the good fight with the 'Canes again.... City by city.... team by team.... game by game.... rung by damn rung!

Believe It!