I Do Stuff…

hundreds of snow geese

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Once again the family has gone to the beach house to celebrate the coming New Year.  Last year I intended to do some hiking on January 1st, but that turned out to be a bad idea as I was to hung over from the night before to even think about going for a hike.  This year I got smart, I hiked before the festivities began while I still was still feeling good.

I was thinking about the Seashore Park but I couldn’t find it on the map, not sure if it is still around, and just decided to hike another park.  To the north of Rehoboth Beach I found the Prime Hook National Wildlife Refuge which is over 10,000 acres of freshwater and salt marshes, woodlands, grasslands, scrub-brush habitats, ponds, bottom land forested areas, a 7-mile long creek, and agricultural lands.  Only 30 minutes from the house this would provide all the nature I could handle for the day.

crazy dead tree

The weather was rather mild for being almost January, mid 50′s but overcast, so at times it did get a little chilly.  I parked near the entrance and decided to combine a few trails and hike the perimeter of the refuge, taking in all the various types of terrain the park had to offer.  One think I noticed early one was all the deer blinds positioned around the park.  I could understand why they where placed there as I ran across two deer while trekking through the woods towards one of the ponds.  I came across many birds like this, just stumble across them.  I rounded one corner and found 4 turkey vultures sitting on an electrical pole, two of them with their wings spread wide.  I was amazed at how large these birds are and that they allowed me to approach so close.

At the extreme end of the park there is an observation tower that overlooks much of the marsh.  Here there are several bird blinds, one of which I saw was occupied.  I was fortunate to go during the migration season and saw several flocks of hundreds of snow geese fly by.  Several species of ducks were also using the pond.  It was incredible to see hundreds of birds flying over head.  As soon as one wave was done, another would come in.  Fortunately for the ducks they stayed well clear of the bird blind.

In addition to the numerous bird blinds for hunting they have a singular photography booth along one of the marshes.  It was empty when I arrived so I took the opportunity to smoke a cigar and wait for some birds to show up.  All day I had seen only a few birds, most of the waterfowl would fly away long before I could get close enough for a picture.  I could tell they are not use to humans so I figured the blind would provide plenty of cover and allow me to get some good shots.  After almost an hour no birds came near the blind.  The few I did see would land on the other side of the pond, well out of range of my camera.  I could see coming early in the morning or even taking a small boat to the one of the bird blinds in the marsh and waiting for some birds.  It would be long time to wait, but I think the shots I could get would make the waiting worth it.

4 big turkey vultures

By now the sun was setting and the temperature was starting to dip.  I completed my loop of the refuge and headed back to my car.  The final leg of my walk is a long straight fire road that reminds me of my hike at Pinckney Island.  This is another wildlife refuge that has some great marsh land outside of Hilton Head, SC.  Prime Hook didn’t have the low hanging fog with the sun streaking in like Pinckney Island.

My hike took just over three hours and I managed to hike 4 miles according to my GPS unit.  I certainly could have hiked further but I spent much of my time going off trail trying to find some waterfowl and almost an hours in the photo blind waiting for birds that never showed.  This is a great place to hike during migratory season as you will be able to see many many bird species as they pass through town on their way south.

lets party!

Concert Photos | NYE Photos

This years New Years Eve party happened again at the beach house in Rehoboth with a few additions and surprises.  First off Marvin flew in for the holidays again after having surgery last years.  We also convinced Matt to come along for the first time and join in the festivities.  A not-to-be-missed once-in-a-lifetime concert with Nancy and my Dad was to take place as well.  Last year while at the beach, late in the evening and after many drinks, a plan was hatched for the two of them to play a duet together on acoustic guitar.  This was going to be the best NYE ever!

Getting to the beach turned out to be more of a hassle than in years past, traffic was not the problem.  The post-Christmas crowds had already died down and not many people travel long distances for celebrations.  The timing of January 1 also worked in our favor as Friday was the observed holiday so we all left on Thursday night after work, again making traffic a breeze.  What we didn’t count on was the blizzard that hit the beach a few days before.  When Nancy, Pat, and Marvin arrived in the afternoon they where greeted with a five foot pile of snow blocking the drive way.  The snow was plowed directly into the driveway from a cross street.  They spent over an hour clearing the snow till Matt showed up and finished what remained.  My Dad and I had to work so we got a late start and completely missed shoveling snow, what great timing.

lots of great food

It was great having a long weekend at the beach house with plenty of time to prepare for the party and a long night of drinking.  Getting up on NYE at the house was a fantastic way to start the day.  We pretty much lounged around all day till the afternoon hours when we started getting dinner ready for our feast.  By now the first beers and wine has been opened for everyone to enjoy so we where off and running.  For dinner Matt hooked up some nice fat pork chops with side of pasta and homemade sauce.  Nancy and I contributed with a <INSERT DISH NAME> dish we got from a recent cook book her brother gave us for Christmas.  The food was fantastic as we all stuffed our faces in preparations for the long night ahead.

Around 6pm, before dinner was served, the concert took place in a grand spectacle in the living room.  As the official audio and photo archivist I had my gear setup and ready to roll come show time.  The two of them played for almost an hour with various songs ranging all types of genera.  I must say the recording came out alright, very low levels as it was an acoustic show.  I think were I really shined where in the photos I took that night.  I of course would love to have a better lens that bigger aperture to shot in low light, but I think they came out rather well.

the highlight was the concert

After dinner stuck around the dinner table talking for a long while just relaxing.  That is probably the thing I love most about the beach house is the rush to do nothing.  There are not schedules, no time lines, nothing has to be done so we just sit around and relax.  Eventually the discussion turned to what to do at the witching hour of midnight.  We decided on a little bar hoping and got an early start, we left just after 10.  We wanted to grab our first drink at Fins which from last year we knew would close early.  Even though we arrived just after 10pm, the bar already took last call so we immediately walked out and headed across the street to Finbar.  Here they were remodeling in the off season and we got a preview of the new layout.  The big change was to move the bar close to the entrance and expanded it greatly to accommodate three times as many people.

The service here was not to great so we quickly finished our round and headed down to our local haunt for New Years, Dos Locos.  Here the crowd was lively and the place packed.  We were fortunate to grab two tables just as another group got up to leave.  The table was not yet cleared but we snatched it regardless.  Here was spent almost an hour as we drank a few rounds and rang in the new year with champagne.  After the hooping and hollering died down we headed back to the house to continue the celebrations.  Some more drinks and dancing, all of a sudden it was about 3am as everyone started dropping out for some much needed rest.

dance party

January 1 was a quite and lazy day for everyone.  I didn’t feel so hot for much of the morning and early afternoon, I should not have had that last whiskey sour with Matt.  That drink did me in, but it certainly was worth it.  We watched a lot of football and I was able to finish the book I was reading, Deception Point by Dan Brown.  As a matter of fact I don’t know if anyone even left the house that day.

By the time Sunday rolled around everyone was feeling good and back to life as we all headed back home.  Another successful New Years celebration.  We even got Nancy and my Dad to commit to another concert next year with an expanded list of songs.  Both committed to getting together once a month practice for the never-to-be-repeated-again concert event of the year.

See you all next year at the beach, have a wonderful new year everyone!

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bright purple berries

With the summer officially over the beach house is not being rented any more so this past weekend we took the opportunity to head there for a long weekend.  The Columbus Day holiday allowed for a long three day weekend and the first opportunity to see the beach house after the long summer rental.  We were hoping to go during the Labor Day weekend, but surprisingly people rented the week before and after.  Getting a late start on Friday was not much of an issue.  So late after summer the usual exodus to the beaches over the weekend didn’t happen.  The only trouble we had was around Annapolis and that was general rush hour traffic.

When we arrived the house was in great shape.  Actually most of the summer rentals are repeat customers, some have been coming for over 10 years to the house.  So they treat the house almost as if it was there own.  The yard was of course in pretty bad shape.  During the summer someone does come out and mow it, but that is the extent of the yard care.  Weeds had flourished in most of the flower beds and the bushes were gangly.  On the inside we removed all the baseboard heating radiators.  They must have been original ones because of how corroded they where, with the new heat pump they are no longer needed.

view across Lake Comegys

Other than that the weekend was pretty open and relaxing.  Sunday’s big thing was the Redskins game at 1 against Carolina.  It was a crappy game in my opinion.  The Skins suck and lost the game by three points.  They couldn’t block, couldn’t score, couldn’t tackle.  They even had a safety scored on them when Clinton Portis couldn’t get out of the end zone.  On top of that the Cowboys won against Kansas City in over time and Wisconsin lost a heart breaker of a game, one they easily should have won.  Ohio scored two defensive touch downs and ran one kickoff for a touchdown.  Definately not a good weekend for sports.

But on Sunday Nancy and I did get out for a long walk Sunday afternoon.  We walked down to Silver Lake, down along the beach and headed back home up Rehoboth Avenue.  I was surprised by the number of people that made it to the beach over the weekend.  While walking we ran into a lot of other people biking, walking and just enjoying the pleasant weather.  Even the beach was packed, no one was in the water, but many still went down to the water for a lovely afternoon.  Down Rehoboth Avenue we did a little window shopping in the stores that were still open, after the Columbus Day weekend many more will close for the winter months as the crowds get thinner.

Monday we took the opportunity to do a little shopping before making our way home.  Not that we can’t get stuff back here in Virginia, but not paying taxes is a nice little benefit, every dollar helps these days.  We even had time to stop off at this ice cream shop just outside of town.  It is actually a dairy farm and they make their own ice cream, highly recommend it if you are in the mood.

I wish I could have gotten into the water, but it was a nice weekend regardless.  We always manage to get a little work done and have a lot of fun while up there.  We ate well and drank like sailors.  Most nights we would sit outside talking and finish the bottle of wine we opened for dinner that night.

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With the traditional start of summer comes the traditional trip to the beach.  This year the beach house in Rehoboth was not rented over the long weekend, or for the next one actually.  So we decided to take a family trip to the beach and join the hordes of people enjoying the great weekend.

Rehoboth Beach

My Dad was flying into BWI from a week long business trip and when he got to his house we were hitting the road.  For better or worse we didn’t leave his house till just after 4.  When I was driving north on 95 traffic was stacked going south.  Not only were people trying to head home early from work but you had all sorts of people heading to the beaching in southern Virginia and North/South Carolina.  I could only hope that fewer people were heading towards the Delaware coast like we were.  I must say that getting to Rehoboth Beach, even at 4pm on the Friday before Memorial Day, was easy.  It took just over three hours, about 20 minutes longer than a trip during the off season.

As is tradition on Friday night we went out to dinner.  The last time we were here we had drinks at the Cultured Pearl and absolutely loved the place when we walked around.  It is a Japanese restaurant with a huge sushi bar and an enormous deck outside.  The deck is one of the coolest things I have seen around.  As for the food the sushi was great, even if it was not made by a Japanese man.

Come Saturday it was time to start working.  As much as I wanted the weekend to be about relaxing at the beach, that was not going to happen.  We had a laundry list of chores that needed to be complete before the first tenants occupied the house.  First on the list was that stupid deck.  Over the entire off season we completely broke down and rebuilt the deck.  There is now a composite floor, new railing, and a hand rail down the stairs that looks all jacked up.  My dad and I didn’t have any ideas how to get it installed properly, so with a lot of trial and error we got it installed.  As long as you don’t look to closely, it looks fantastic!

a crowded boardwalk

The other major project was getting a more secure cover over the hole leading under the house.  It was completely paved over in an earlier project and the 1″ board of plywood was not holding up to well to the heavy weight.  So we had to undo all the bricks and jury rig a support structure.  Fortunately I had the brilliant idea of number all the pavers in order making the process of putting it all back together much easier.  It even came in handy on Tuesday when a plumber had to get under the house.

Other projects including painting the ceiling in the family room, mulching the new flower beds, planting two dozen plants, sanding the bench, then painting the bench black, and a half dozen other minor tasks.  Both Saturday and Sunday were filled with work, starting early and not finishing till 7:30 and 7 respectfully.

Not everything about the weekend involved work, I ate very well while I was there.  Not only did I get to eat sushi at the Cultured pearl on Friday, but we had NY strip steaks Saturday and BBQ chick on Sunday with all the trimmings.  Sunday we even took a long lunch and walked down to Whiskey Jacks.  It overs looks the beach and provides the perfect setting for beer and pizza.  I was even able to finish watching the Indy 500 while there.  My dad and I saw the start of the race, I made sure we took a break to catch “the most exciting start in racing.”  Speaking of racing, I was able to catch the Formula 1 race from Monaco at a reasonable hour with an 8am start.  Jenson Button again took the victory, win number 5 for the driver who’s team was in doubt one month before the start of the season.

This little trip to the boardwalk offered my only opportunity to get down to the beach.  The day was a little over cast but that did not stop the hordes of people from enjoying the beach and the boardwalk.  Every were I looked everyone had smiles on their faces.  Plenty of people were walking down the boardwalk and darting in and out of the various shops and restaurants.  The main drag, Rehoboth Avenue, was packed with more revelers as well.  One crazy thing was that even though the water was about 60 degrees and technically closed by the lifeguards, that didn’t stop people from having fun.  I found a group of kids playing baseball, others throwing frisbees, people flying kits, and one old guy doing some surf fishing.

bumper car fun

A great location for people watching was Fun Land right on the boardwalk.  This little amusement park offers all sorts of rides and carnival games, was so packed I could hardly walk around.  The swinging machine of death, as I like to call it, had everyone smiling and loosing their pocket change.  The bumper cars offered a great opportunity to get some pictures smiling and enjoying the afternoon.  Everyone down at the beach had not a care in the world, even if was only for a short time.  I doesn’t matter that we are fighting two wars, we have the worst economy in a generation, the possible bankruptcy of GM and other problems.  People at Rehoboth put all those problems aside for the weekend and were just having fun.

Come Monday morning it was time for me to leave.  After all the hard work and only a little relaxing I had to drive back to northern Virginia and join the throngs of others headed home from the long weekend.  The last time I did this it took Nancy and I five hours to get home, mostly from traffic on 404.  So after a good breakfast I packed my stuff and prepared myself for the long drive home.  I stopped by Starbucks and got some coffee, I figured it would help ease the pain of sitting not going any where.  Surprisingly it only took 4 hours to get back to Springfield.

Once there I got in my truck and did some more driving, yippie!  This time it was out to Nancy’s house.  She was having a BBQ with friends to celebrate the holiday.  I arrived a little later than planned, thanks traffic, and immediately was put to work.  I was in charge of making and subsequently grilling the burgers.  Nancy already procured the ingredients, so I simply had to put it all together and form burgers.  About the time I finished up the heavens opened up and dumped rain on our parade.  For the short run we munched on some excellent guacamole dip that Nichole made and chicken buffalo dip made by Nancy.

swing batter

No matter what rain dance we did the rain never stopped so I had to grill in the rain.  This is how you know I am a hardcore griller, or it could be we were just really hungry.  But I dawned a rain jacked and braved the elements to cook burgers, hot dogs, and sausage for everyone.  When we finally sat down to eat, it was totally worth it getting rained on for the great food.

As much work and driving as I did over the weekend it was still spectacular.  I still got away from home for the weekend and got to spend lots of quality time with my friends and family.  And isn’t that why I work so hard, so I can spend time with the ones I love?  I sure think so.

a cold walk on the beach

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Took a quick trip up to the beach house this past weekend to get some work done on the house.  My Dad and his wife have decided to extend the patio into the back yard, so that meant a lot of digging.  Matt, Bobby, and myself dug about 8 square feet 6 inches down.  It wouldn’t have been so bad if the ground was not frozen two inches deep.  We couldn’t just take shovels and dig in the dirt, we needed a pick axes to break apart the frozen ground into large chunks.  All this digging on one of the coldest days of the week.  Temperatures didn’t get above freezing all day and there was a constant biting 15mph wind making things worse.  Fortunately the excavated dirt didn’t have to end up in a land fill.  We made a flower bed along part of the side fence, waste not want not.

Jesus geese

We also got some some work done on the deck. All the boards have now been replaced with Trex boards.  As a beach house the environment beats wood to death in a couple of years.  The Trex will provide a maintenance free and splinter free(!) surface for years.  The posts got a make over of white Vinyl too.  With the sun quickly falling and the wind picking up, the temperature was becoming unbearable.  So at about 5:30 we decided to call it quits for the day.

With the Super Bowl on Sunday (Steelers won in a good game) no one was sticking around for more work.  Sunday’s weather turned out to be in the low 60, sun shinning with a clear blue sky, and very little wind.  If we had that kind of weather on Saturday, we definitely could have gotten more work done.  But the bitter cold temps made work pretty difficult.  For me it was a little motivating, at least if I kept moving I was warm.

For  a work weekend I was able to get away for a walk early each morning.  On Saturday I headed down to the beach.  Surprisingly there were about a dozen people walking or running along the shore.  At least the cold weather froze the sand and made walking on the beach easy.  On Sunday I headed over towards Silver Lake and found a plethora of geese, ducks, even a blue heron.  I was not the only one taking photos either, I ran into a few birders at the lake.  They told me about a red billed duck sitting at the edge of the lake.  I saw it but didn’t think anything of it, apparently this duck is rare this far north in winter.

It was a lot of work in the cold this weekend but I love heading to the beach house with the family.  It was a great surprise to see Bobby, Tracy, and of course my niece Ellie.  Cute kid, growing up so fast.  The work is never done so we have already planned for another family work day in mid-March.

LOTS of ducks