Weekend at Oriental Island Day 1

(Let me start out by saying - NC didn't get the memo - the name is still Oriental Island.) For Viv's b'day (a 3-day celebration - a girl after my own heart), Frank captained us over for a relaxing trip on his Egret.
So there I am, laid out in the front of the boat getting some sun, relaxing with my Coach shades - camera poised and ready for action - and about 30 minutes into the trip, I start feeling what felt like beebees, hitting my lips. A little "ouch, that stung", "hey, what's that." Then, out of nowhere, "purple" appears on the radar - not good. It started POURING (complete with thunder and lightning) harder than I've ever seen. We couldn't even see in front of us - except for the rain bouncing back up off the top of the river. The rain was literally running off the top of my visor and my clothes were completely soaked. Instead of driving straight into the pellets of rain, our considerate Captain turned left....and then right.... and back and forth to allow the darts to hit us from the side instead of head-on. It finally got so rough, Viv and I crawled down into the Cuban Storage Bin to hunker down, but it didn't matter at that point. When I peaked out, I saw my burley love man shirtless and all wet (ooh lala) - wrapped in a mauve-striped hand towel, soaked shorts and a hat that, at that point, did nothing but steer the waterfall away from his eyes - I wish to Gosh my camera was waterproof. I then proceeded to pee my pants from laughter. Apparently Oriental Island is a place for fisherman - like hard-core fisherman on "deadliest catch." By the time we arrived (after going through the countless no-wake zones and the Perfect Storm) it was sundown and another storm was coming so we just ate a fishy dinner and went to bed (in our 2-story condo overlooking the water - yeah baby!). It was actually quite nice, relaxing and funny all at the same time. I just want to say that no, my man doesn't normally wear girl glasses, but someone forgot his and someone else is always prepared, so like a good little wifey (ok, "little" in that top, not so much), I lent him mine - cause I'm a giver.
Day 2, complete with Wild Horses Living on and Island is tomorrow - that's right, I said Wild Horses on an Island, kid.

USA vs Canada Baseball Game

Ok, yes this is an oldie, but here's what happened. I took a bunch of pics (including a "before" picture for the diet I'm on) and my camera busted. I didn't want to take it in to Best Buy because I knew those jokers would find my "before" picture and post it on some chubby wubby site (because that's what I would do). So, I finally broke down and bought a new camera and uploaded my photos - so this entry will be a back-tracker.

On date night, which is every friday night, my man and I went to the USA v Canada baseball game at Bull Durham Stadium. I wanted to see the bull light up, but no one hit a homer so we missed out. Anyway, I think it's how baseball should be - $10 seats, $3 parking and we were able to sit 6 rows behind the Canadian dug-out. Other than the 5,089,324 kids that were surrounding us, it was great. Until the North Carolinian behind me dumped her tray on my head - oh yeah, good thing she had ketchup and onions. She apologized 5 times and it was the first time that night I had wished I was in CA so I could take the tray and smack her in the head with it. But, since we're in NC, I said "itsokdaaawlin" and sat back down. Sorry it's such a bad pic, the good ones turned out blurry since my cam was on the fritz.

I'll be back tomorrow to talk about...our trip to Oriental Island - it's not PC, but that's its name.

Recon Mission to Okracoke

Viv and I went on a recon mission to Okracoke. Ok, seriously, who knew North Carolina had a place like this? It was amazing and I can't wait to go back.
We took a ferry ride over (and by the way, the new "Aveno lotion with sunblock, sooo does NOT contain sunblock) and drove around the island. The beach was amazing. You can drive your truck right out on the beach, pop open the back and have a picnic - you don't even have to lug all of the heavy beach gear through the sand. And, the best part, there was no one there - it was awesome. The rednecks sure know how to picnic at the beach, that's for sure.


The island was sort of like key west (without the craziness) and catalina - combo'd. And get this, there are wild horses running around. It was really cool and I highly suggest if anyone ever has to come to NC, go there. It's definitely worth it (but use the coppertone - can't go wrong with coppertone).

The Deer Whisperer is Triumphant

We had a baby deer nestled in our rosemary bush right by our front door. After walking in and out several times, the "deer whisperer" finally noticed the baby deer and all efforts were made to see if he was ok.

We first called animal control to see if someone could come out and help him (but, of course, we're in NC, and animal control doesn't work on Sundays). This forced the Deer Whisperer into action. The Deer Whisperer saw the mama deer across the road from our house and then later in our stream beside the house. He walked towards her, and kept whispering "come on mama, your little baby is over here. Come help him." But the mama deer just stared.

The Deer Whisperer decided to turn his efforts toward the baby deer. The Deer Whisperer went and put fresh water into a bowl and cut up a carrot and left it on the steps. We patiently watched the little guy from the window, but to no avail - he wouldn't move.

Next, the Deer Whisperer dribbled water on the little guy's back to try and get the deer to move (since it's Africa-hot out here right now), but he wouldn't. Fearing the worst, the Deer Whisperer poked at the tiny deer with a stick, but the deer just blinked.

Saddened, we came back inside and just hoped for the best - and alas, apparently the little guy got tired of smelling like rosemary and darted across our lawn. The Deer Whisperer had cheered his spirits and reunited the baby deer with his mama.

One Year, Oh My Gosh!!!

So our one year anniversary was on March 25 - amazing how time flies when you're having fun!! To celebrate, we went to Ashville, NC for the weekend and went wine tasting at the Biltmore. It was very cold and we just walked around the quaint little city (where a mean street musician called us spoiled sheits, which wasn't nice or accurate). We toured the Biltmore and just as a little tidbit, I'd suggest getting the headphones because without them, it's not that cool (but I've heard it's interesting with them). We got to eat lunch in the stable and that was awesome.

For our second Tour de Dags, we went to San Francisco for the weekend and stayed in a beautiful hotel, The Friedmont. It was close to Little Italy so Marc could get his eat on. Actually, we ate the best Italian every day for lunch and dinner. We rode the cable car to the warf (for free, my favorite) and then walked around the Pier. We then went back to our old stompin grounds in the Haight and walked around the park (until I got scared and we left). It's amazing, when I was going to school there, I didn't think twice about walking around the city at night by myself, but now that I'm old, I'm always thinkin "safety first." It was nice to be in the city as a tourist instead of a resident, I forgot how much fun it was.

For the final leg of our journey, we went to NY for the weekend. We took in some Mets games and, oh looky there, ate Italian every night. It's a toss up which city had the better Italian food. It was a ton of fun. I love visiting there, except going on the subway where "tourists" can't figure out how to put there $2 in the machine to pay for a ride. We've decided they need a "tourist" line and a "resident"/California line so it will move quicker. Anyone who doesn't live in New York or California must ride on the short subway. It's quite amazing going from North Carolina to New York - I'd have to say it smells better in NC.

Meet Big Ed

Say Hello to Eddie - he loves his Kong. He can't wait to go to California to play with his uncle Ollie and cousin Dukie.