Vacation 2006 -- Part II

Part 2 of our vacation adventure was a week on the sunny, white beaches of Destin, Florida.  As always, the beaches were breathtaking.  The kids had great fun swimming and playing in the sand.  Matthew is a fish . . . the rougher the water the more he smiled and laughed going over the waves!  David showed a real aptitude for the frisbee, and enjoyed expeditions to the sandbar.  Stephen built sprawling sand forts and had a least as much fun, if not more, destroying them.  Nina put on her goggles and explored what seemed like acres of the Gulf of Mexico floor.  It was a fantastic week of R&R and time together with the family.  And, of course, I had my camera.  Hope you enjoy the pictures. 

Vacation 2006 -- Part I

Well, we've just returned from our 2006 vacation and I've decided to describe it in two separate posts on the website.  The first part of the trip was a three-day stay in Baton Rouge with Mamere and Pops.  After an uneventful day of travel from NJ to Baton Rouge we had an action-packed visit.  First, we brought the kids down to New Orleans for a day of fun.  We intentionally chose to stay in the areas of town that either weren't heavily damaged in Katrina or had recovered.  Because this was the kids' first real visit to N.O., and Lisa and I had not visited in several years, we elected to stick with things that would be fun for the kids, and would remind Lisa and me of all the good times we had in the city.  Highlights were a stroll through campus at Tulane, lunch at Cooter Browns (yes, I took my children to a bar), a visit to the N.O. Aquarium, shopping in the French Market, and beignets to go from Cafe du Monde on the way out of town. 

As you might expect we were exhausted after all that, but intrepid travelers that we are, we soldiered on the next day with a trip to downtown B.R. to explore the U.S.S. Kidd, a retired detroyer that is docked on the Mississippi River and open for tours.  My cousin Karen, her husband Jim and their kids Emily, Elliott and Erin drove down from Vicksburg to join us on the Kidd and for a visit to12669 Mollylea.   Then after a superb  dinner of crawfish etouffee prepared by Pops, we got a good night's sleep and took off the next morning for a week in Destin.  I'll cover that in the next post.

In the meantime, here are some of the better pictures of our trip to New Orleans.

Triathlon Season Finale

Here's a quick report on my last triathlon of the season, the New Jersey State Triathlon, which was held July 23, just outside of Princeton NJ.  It ended up being one of the best executed races I have had.  I had my fasted average speed ever on the bike -- 23.1mph -- and my fastest ever 10K run at the end of a triathlon -- 38:30.  This was good enough for 12th overall out of some 600 participants, but the top 6 in the event were all professionals, so I don't count them!  I could only manage 4th in the 40-44 age group, as this was the most competitive division at the race.  I held second position in the age group almost the entire way, until being passed in the final mile by two guys.  I didn't feel too bad about that, though, as these guys were in the process of running 35 and 36 minute 10Ks!

The results are here for you to peruse if you like, and this link has a nice array of pictures.

That does it for tris this year, and I'm now starting the process of training for my first ever marathon, which will be the Philadelphia Marathon on November 19.  Wish me luck and good health.

Randolph Lake Triathlon

If you find my triathlon race reports boring or tedious (as Lisa does), you can stop reading now and I won't be offended. 

Last weekend, I raced a sprint triathlon only 20 minutes away from our house.  The Randolph Lake Tri consisted of a 1/2 mile swim, 16.4 mile bike and 3.1 mile run.  We had absolutely beautiful weather, if a little hot, and I had a little extra inspiration knowing that Lisa and the kids were actually going to be waiting for me at the finish.  For the swim, I elected to go without a wetsuit given that conditions were warm, and thinking that any time gained wearing the wetsuit could be lost taking it off.  I had a solid swim, coming out 16th overall.  The bike was very tough for a relatively short course, with several steep climbs.  I had a good ride, winding up with the 14th best split overall.  The run was pretty flat and there was a decent amount of shade.  I cruised into the finish with the 8th best run split.

Overall, I came in 9th out of 300 entrants, but only 3rd in the 40-44 age group.  Not only that, but one 40 year old was in the top 3 overall, meaning he didn't count in the age group standings.  Pretty impressive group of old guys -- four out of the top nine overall were 40-44!  Results from the race are here if you want to take a look.

Why I Like The Internet

I was cooking a pot of red beans today and got to thinking about some of the Louisiana delicacies I miss the most.  Knowing that Community Coffee is available through its website, I decided to do some quick research on some of my other favorites.  Wouldn't you know it, through the wonders of technology (and UPS), just about anything a Louisiana ex-pat could want is right at his fingertips.  I put some sites over with the favorites in the margin.  A lot of Zatarain's products are available in grocery stores outside of Louisiana, but the one thing I need -- creole mustard -- can be very hard to find.  The biggest surprises to me were the online availability of Steen's cane syrup, Camillia red beans and even Union Coffee and Chicory!  I guess I won't be needing that extra empty suitcase when we head down to Louisiana in August.  

They REALLY Don't Like Him In Europe!

This will give you some sense of the depth of the dislike for Bush overseas. 

 

U.S. President George W. Bush hands back a crying baby that was handed to him from the crowd as he arrives for an outdoor dinner with German Chancellor Angela Merkel in Trinwillershagen, Germany, July 13, 2006. REUTERS/Jim Bourg (GERMANY)

No. 2 is Nine!

David recently had his ninth birthday, believe it or not!  The big day itself was spent by most of the family in Maryland with Nonni, Aunt Christina, et al.  That weekend we had a party at a place called the "Funplex" with a group of David's new NJ friends.  I didn't take as many pictures as I should have, but here are the best of the ones I did get.