Sea World

My family (Mom, Dad, James and Helmi) came to visit this week. James had a BIG SURPRISE planned for Helmi... a trip to Sea World. We rented a car big enough for all six of us and headed to San Antonio on Thursday morning. When we finally arrived and told Helmi where we were she said "I can't believe I'm at Sea World!"

It was VERY HOT but we had a great time. We saw the Dolphin show "Viva" and the Shamu show "Believe". Helmi fed the dolphins and rode her first roller coaster --the "Shamu Express". Helmi and my mom took a break in the Penguin exhibit (air conditioned) while the rest of us rode the "Steel Eel". James and I even rode the Great White roller coaster that twists and turns you upside down.

Here are a few pictures. More to come about the rest of the week together.

On the road...

Finally there














Helmi LOVES Shamu

Feeding the Dolphins

Helmi and Daddy

Posing with the sharks!

She finally passed out and took a nap. This was right before we got to the penguin hut where Helmi and Neanie hung out while the rest of us road some rides.

Eric Is A College Grad!!!!

This past weekend started what I am calling "The Month of Eric".... a graduation and a wedding all within about 2 weeks. Eric (Ryan's little brother) graduated from Dartmouth College this weekend. We all made the trip to New Hampshire for a whirlwind weekend of events. I won't go through all the details. Instead, here are some highlights.

Steph and I drove the carts while Kevin and Ryan played 9 holes at the Lake Morey Country Club.






The flowers were amazing everywhere we went. Just beautiful.





As always, we tried the local beer. This one is the Long Trail Ale. We also liked the Magic Hat Summer Whacko.
From the top of the tower on Gile Mountain for a 360 degree view of the mountains. The view is quite possibly the best definition of the word 'AWESOME'.

Eric's last concert on campus.
And, the reason for the whole trip. Graduation was Sunday morning. It was outside... a rain or shine event. And, in true New Hampshire fashion, it was raining. As an added bonus we got to see the great Bill Russell receive an Honorary Degree from Dartmouth.

And the weather cleared up right as the ceremony ended. Made for nice pictures at least! Eric, the baby of the family is all grown up, a college graduate, about to get married and join the work force...
Of course... "all grown up" is more likely used in a figurative manner here... he's still a big kid and I think he always will be. Nothing wrong with that!
Congrats Eric! It's been awesome to be even a small part of this adventure through high school and college with you!

Gone Country in Nashville!

Since we were headed to Nashville for Ross's wedding, we decided to make a weekend out of it. The last time I went to Nashville was sometime in elementary school. Dad was some sort of Officer in the Optimist Club and Nashville was the location of the national convention. I remember that they messed up our reservations and we got a really fancy room for the cheaper rate at the Opryland Hotel. It was pretty cool. The only other thing I remember about that trip was going to Opryland and riding my first roller coaster that went upside down. Well, I think I rode it. I know my brother and dad rode it and I have this memory that I rode it too. Mom?? Dad??? James??? anyone want to verify?

As we planned the trip, I was pretty sad to find out that Opryland doesn't exist anymore. It has been torn down and replaced by a mall I think. So sad.

I had to come up with alternate plans. What do you do in Nashville? We aren't big country music fans so we were a little worried. I was so busy at work the weeks before our trip that I didn't have much time to plan like I normally do. For me, that means stalking Tripadvisor, reading all the reviews on the hotels, restaurants, events, etc. All I did for this trip was to book a hotel with good reviews and a good price and rent a car on Priceline for $20 a day -- full size!!

Okay, I knew a FEW things about Nashville. I knew there were a couple of breweries and that there was a street in downtown that was lined with bars that almost always had live music. So, here are some places we visited....

First... the Big River Brewing Company. We each enjoyed a flight of their beers... 8 samples in all and I drank all 8 of mine, including the darkest, nastiest one. :) Ha, I'm not much a beer drinker. Surprisingly enough (okay, not surprising at all), my favorite was the Sweet Magnolia. I am sure part of it was because of the name but the other part was that it had similiar flavor to my favorites Southern Pecan, Shiner Bock and Amber Bock. Good Food, Good Beer. Good start.

We then hit Broadway to see the "Honky Tonks". Our first two stops were great. We learned that you should go in and see if you like the music before you buy a beer. It took us a couple of places to learn this as we suffered through our beers with some "just okay" music on the stage.

Legends Corner -- Good band though the more the guy drank the worse he got. :(

Tootsies... per recommendation of my friend Barb. The band was really good and the singer really put on a show. It was 3pm on a Friday afternoon and the bar was packed and he was working the crowd...up on the bar... just fun.

On Saturday we decided to try the Country Music Hall of Fame. We walked over, took our picture...

...walked inside and learned it was $20 EACH to go in. We decided against $40 and headed back to Broadway for more honky-tonkin'. :)

The Stage (also recommended by Barb) and Second Fiddle were cool bars but the music was just okay that afternoon. I guess this is really when we learned the "don't buy a beer first" rule.

We made a quick stop into Hatch Show Print. This is where all the cool concert posters and such are made. They still do everything old school style. It was neat to go in and see it.

Sunday afternoon our friends Brad and Rachel met us in Nashville. They live in Knoxville and came for the weekend to see us and some of their other friends that recently moved to Nashville. I somehow convinced everyone to go to Arrington Vineyard for the afternoon. Ryan was giving me a little grief about it but I love wine and didn't want to pass it up. Plus, my mom called to tell me that my cousin (Mom's cousin's son) Tyler worked there. So off we went, about a 30 minute drive from Nashville but well worth it. Good Wine. Awesome Scenery. Just a really cool place.

Tasting with Brad and Rachel.
Cousin Tyler and me. So fun to see family!
Opening the cheese and crackers we bought to go with our wine.
Beautiful view!

Sunday night we hit downtown with Brad and Rachel. We also met up with our friend Emily but I don't have a good picture with her. We hit the dueling piano bar and The Stage for a second time.

The band at The Stage on Sunday was super fun and the singer (Chris Weaver) was pretty darn good.

We headed home on Monday/Memorial Day/Ryan's Birthday. It was a fun weekend of friends, family, music, beer and wine! :)