aloha! it may not be the most popular time of year to visit maui, but the weather was tropical, everything was in bloom, and the trees served as flower girls. our first stop was hana. the road to hana was slow, twisted, and dripping with scenic splendor. the lava flowed down to the sea where it was beat back by the wind. we got up early and hiked through bamboo forests to gigantic waterfalls at haleakala national park.
we were the first ones there! next stop - lahaina. hey - i have seen this view on t-shirts before!
kevin played (really really well...like 400 yard drives...draining 30 footers...) golf at the plantation course at kapalua.
we saw unnecessary fountains under basement stairwells. we spent the last few days with fambly from denver in the bustling hippie town of paia.
catching waves, watching turtles, looking for sharks, eating like kings, playing with the keiki. it was a great trip, worth the looooooooong haul to and fro. hang loose!
i spent last week on a cruise ship in the atlantic ocean going between south carolina and the bahamas.
charleston is only 3 and a half hours from asheville. the cruise left at 5 pm on monday, so we drove down monday morning and got on the ship. no airports, no hotels. easy breezy! i have never been on a cruise before. it was not exactly like the love boat, but it wasn't too over the top cheesy either. it was a lot like woodloch pines, but on a ship. lots of activities available, but nothing was mandatory. there were over 2000 people on the ship. if you're looking for relatively agreeable, polite passengers, i recommend a ship leaving from charleston as opposed to one from south florida and/or new jersey. it seemed like 99% of our boat was from NC, SC, or Kentucky. They blessed their food before eating, but did not bless out cruise ship staff. Good trade.
here they are learning the 'thriller' dance
the weather in asheville last week was snowy and sub freezing. the weather in the bahamas was 72 and sunny. we got off the boat in nassau and went to a resort nearby- site of many james bond movies. they try to keep the riff raff (us) out, but our cabbie lied and said we were staying there and snuck us through the gate and we went to the spa to sign up for a couples massage. it was all very uncomfortable. we were chased out of a hammock in a deserted park while waiting. we drank the world's loneliest un-garnished bloody mary in a fantastically beautiful but soulless heartless silent bar.
we weren't supposed to be there, and everybody knew it. i was happy to see it and happy to leave it. after a peek at the vegas-disney spectacle of the atlantis, we found a sweet spot at the other end of the island called traveller's rest. people were nice! they spoke to us! and wanted to take our money! it was glorious!
they even gave us a bonus fritter. they are serious about their conch down there. delicious giant clams.
the next day, the ship stopped in freeport. we took a cab to the reef golf course at the grand lucayan and kevin played golf. it was very beautiful and relaxed. the course was in pretty dang good shape and greens fees were reasonable. he was the second person out at 9 AM and did not wait for a shot, done in about 2.5 hours. it was lovely.
the ship left the bahamas at 5pm on thursday and we had a 'fun day at sea' friday, arriving back in charleston at the crack of dawn on saturday. the carnival staff were great - friendly and diligent. they cleaned our room 2 times a day. all of the common areas were constantly being maintained - scrubbed, painted, re-tiled. twice i saw them RECARPETING somebody's room. i guess when there's an accident, instead of cleaning the carpet, they pull it up and replace it. it may not be the greenest method, but it definitely seemed clean.
one fun, quirky thing about carnival is they make 'towel creations' - twist towels into animal shapes. i thought this was extremely funny and wanted to buy the instruction book. kevin wasn't so amused, and so we didn't get the book. if anybody is looking for birthday present ideas for me, i would like this book. all in all, it was a great escape for 5 days, and i would definitely do it again.
we were 6 hours into a 9 hour road trip, in a hotel parking lot in columbus, georgia. we were on our way to the florida panhandle for 'parents weekend' - what would be the first meeting of our parents in the 5 years we've been together - picking up my parents at the airport the next morning to stay 3 days at the beach in a condo with kevin's parents. it was 10 pm and kevin asked "can i help you with your bag?" i said 'sure....where is my bag?"
my bag was at home. luckily, i am roughly the same size as kevin's mom, who hadn't left for the beach yet and was kind enough to bring me a big bag of t-shirts and pants and belts and jackets that i wore all weekend. along with some junk i scrounged off the target, dick's, and kohl's clearance racks in a one hour early morning shopping frenzy in dothan, alabama, (and one slight breakdown in the kohl's dressing room - why the hell are all these pants spandex! i hate these pants! i am buying these pants anyway! i hate these pants!) and a baseball hat from my dad, i made it! which was great because we all had a great time. kevin was only slightly creeped out to see me wearing his mom's clothes all weekend. everybody was on their best behavior and there were no fights and lots of laughs. and cuteness.
this was followed by a nice week at home, including some pasture time with pouncey. and pouncey's tongue. on friday we got in the car again headed for chattanooga and norman blake. this was hour 5 in what was supposed to be a 3.5 hour drive. it was rough. but the show was smooth! norman blake is a guitar master. he was playing with his wife on cello and his friend on fiddle. it was very sweet. we came home the next day and pouncey passed his first overnight test with flying colors! he didn't shred anything while we were gone and has earned enough trust to stay at the house next time we go away. no more kennel for pouncey! see you later, bed, bark and beyond.
i have been to colorado and i have seen some glorious things. kevin's parents' neighbors have two bernese mountain dog littermates. poppy (upside down female) and barney (side eye male). they are extremely snuggly and sweet. i spent a lot of time squeezing them. they will grow to 100-120 lbs, and only live 7-8 years, but good lord they are awesome animals!
my late great grandfather 'flops' once went to a bernese mountain dog convention at the hotel near his house in rhode island and was also wow-ed by their adorableness and continued to talk about bernese mountain dogs as often as he could, which was often.
a big highlight of the trip was a 30 mile bike ride on the rio grande trail from aspen down to carbondale with a stop for lunch at woody creek tavern. the walls are plastered with polaroids and old memorabilia, much of it associated with local legend hunter s. thompson who used to eat (drink) there every day. the carpet is cheetah print. there are oversized christmas ornaments hanging from the low ceiling. the ice water is free. the salad is organic. the place was packed with bicyclists.
another highlight of the trip was walking a sweet munchkin down to her first grade classroom. she took us on a tour of her 100 year old elementary school building and it was so cool to see her interacting with all the kids and teachers. i may be biased, but i think she's a superstar in training!
all in all, it was a wonderful trip, though it's always great to be home!
had a great time at the beach last week! we went to the outer banks, where i lived for a summer 15 years ago. i lived in a house with 3 guys and 3 girls. the guys were lifeguards. the girls worked in restaurants. the restaurant where i worked had a 6 foot iguana in an aquarium. the iguana was named frisco, the restaurant was named frisco's. i was not great at waiting tables. i had nightly nightmares about forgetting food. i think i took it too seriously. anyway the outer banks are about the same. not much has been built in the past 15 years around nags head, and a lot that i remember has been been left to seed or torn down. some of the awesome old signs from the 50's are still up on hotels.
tortugas is still there. phew. we tried to catch fish. even used bloodworms.
there were many sweet dogs in the streets in havana. most of them looked like a 10-20 lb mutt combination of dachshund wiener dog, papillon, terrier, and/or cocker spaniel. there were certain dogs who lived in certain city squares. some had paper tags around their neck saying that they lived in that square and had been neutered. every day i saw cuban people giving food to street dogs. styrofoam platters of yellow rice sat on the sidewalks next to hotels. a woman brought steaming rice in wet newspaper to this pup in the park, and then walked away. it seemed like even the mangy ones were being taken care of. our cuban tour guide lived in a small apartment by himself and had a
dog. he said the dog was 19 years old (maybe another cuban myth) and he
fed the dog the same food as he fed himself. not his scraps, he made
extra of everything he cooked and fed his dog at the same time. the main adjective i would use to describe the dogs i met is MELLOW. they weren't friendly, as in coming up to greet a stranger friendly, but if you went up to them, they didn't mind, and wagged their tails. there was no jumping or freaking out, like pouncey puppy perrito would have been doing. no chasing, not much barking. just kind of sitting around. this was the cutest dog gang in havana.
their fur felt like steel wool. i saw one and only one labrador retriever who looked like nacho. he was being walked on a leash.
baseball is the national pastime in cuba. there were pick up games going on all day in every park. in the middle of the havana streets, little boys played "taco" - stickball using a cut off broomstick for a bat and plastic water bottle cap for a ball. i never saw a girl playing.
on friday night kevin, his parents, and i went to a baseball game. without internet it was hard to determine if there was a game, and what time. we heard it might be cancelled because the stadium lights were broken. the
stadium (estadio latino americano) is located in a rougher, darker,
part of town. we got in a taxi and said "beisbol? pelota? estadio?" and
the cab driver started yelling "beisbol! beisbol!" and was pretty sure
there was no game that night and the stadium would be dark.
we drove up and the floodlights were on and the game was on and starting at 8pm and excited fans were going inside. we were (nicely) directed by police to go buy tickets at a window charging $3 instead of $1 that locals paid, and ushered to seats on the visitors side through the farthest gate away.
the local havana team is called the industriales. their mascot is a blue lion, and they are like the yankees of the cuban league. they were playing the cigar makers from pinar del rio.
the stadium was big. and clean. and full of energy. and people. and people blowing vuvuzelas. air horns. there were drummers. non-stop. we walked around the entire stadium, and it was on the verge of out of control going through the home team side. they did not serve beer, which kept it from having a hooligan feel. it was exciting.
kevin was impressed with the pitching. 30 second video of the scene:
we had to meet people in old havana at 930, so after the 3rd inning the 4 of us left and went into the street and kind of wandered looking for non-existent taxis. a few older men were sitting on a corner stoop, saw us and said "taxi?" we hesitantly followed him down a dark alley and got into his small old honda civic-like car after he shooed a cat out of the front seat. he was not a taxi driver, he was a man with a car looking for some tourist cash. the gas light was flashing and his brights were on as he drove us over potholes back to town. we gave him $10.
if it seems i have been off the map lately, it's true. i spent 8 days in
havana, cuba, where US cell phones and credit cards do not work, and
the internet is sparse and difficult to access. it was the first time since 1994 that i have gone an entire week without checking email. slightly refreshing, slightly alienating. kevin's dad has
wanted to go to cuba for decades, and online research led him to a cuban
arts and culture tour run by a US college professor, they booked it,
invited us along, and there we were 2 days after christmas in the miami
airport boarding an unmarked charter plane for a communist country. the weather was endlessly perfecto. 70-80 degrees and not a drop of rain. the
air was deplorable. many of the cars driving around the streets are
from the 40's and 50's and have no catalytic converters, the newer cars
and buses were just as bad, and the smell of carbon monoxide exhaust was
omnipresent and overpowering. everything was covered in a dingy gray
film. we were on a tour (and tourbus) with 20 other americans.
the group tour thing can be tough, especially for people used to having
control, but we really lucked out and everybody was flexible and
positive and intelligent. the bus was newer and comfortable, though it
smelled of stale cigarettes and urinal cakes. i may be overly sensitive
to air quality. i would not recommend an extended trip to havana to
anybody with respiratory illness.
potable water. our tour bus in the background.
we were told not to drink the
water, or eat produce washed in the water. for somebody who would be
thrilled to have salad and only salad to eat every day, this was a
challenge. most of my meals were chicken and rice, most of my vitamins came from the peppermint in the mojitos. the
buildings are made of concrete because it is cheap and resistant to
hurricanes. many buildings are in ruins. the ones not in ruins are
painted vibrantly and kept neat. the streets are treated like a garbage
can. littering was rampant. there were also many street cleaners so it didn't accumulate, but it's still jarring to see people throwing trash on
the ground 4 feet from a dumpster. the people in havana are not
aggressive or hostile. i did not see one person who seemed strung out on
drugs. didn't even catch a whiff of weed. (sad face). seems like rum,
rum, rum is the drug of choice.
the street dogs were awesome. more stories and photos to come. (found this cuban woman's blog last night: http://www.desdecuba.com/generationy/ which speaks out against the human rights violations, repression, and censorship cubans are experiencing under the castro regime. not surprisingly, we were exposed to very little of this sentiment on our state-sponsored tour.)
Posts
