Well, the last part of that equation is upon us as Monday we head back to Beijing and Thursday the boys resume school at ISB. While the end of vacation predictably aligns with the original plan, the front end of the trip turned out to be far more than we ever conceived; nonetheless, this has been the perfect summer vacation.
When the boys and I arrived at Dulles on June 25th - Devon's birthday - MeeMaw, Pop Pop and Granny were there to welcome us home. We shared birthday cake and a hotel room, and the next morning mom and dad took the boys to Philadelphia for a week of visiting, learning, nature-ing and playing. They went to a Phillies game, Meemaw's Nature Center, took a day trip to the Statue of Liberty, played badminton in the back yard, spent time with cousins Matthew and Lexi, and tested out all of their new Nerf guns which had been sent ahead as birthday gifts and will surely take up a majority of our suitcase space as we pack today.
Granny dropped me back at the airport the next morning and I was off to Boston, well, more specifically, Norwood and Brockton, Massachusetts to spend a few weeks with Ted on the coaching staff of the Brockton Rox in the Futures Collegiate Baseball League. More on this to come in an upcoming @RoxBaseball post, but while the boys frolicked in the yard at Meemaws I had a much needed return to the yard myself. I stayed the nights at Ted and Sue's home, and spent the days touring most of New England on our motor coach road trips. While Boston did mark the initiation of the seafood eating frenzy that I have been on while on American soil, more importantly, I kept in contact with that age group of players that I have loved to coach throughout my career but have missed out on during our time overseas.
Joanne returned to the US on July 3rd and reunited with the boys and Meemaw and Pop Pop. They all spent the fourth with family and friends in DC then set off for Pensacola Beach and Granny home at Portofino. I spent the fourth on the beach in Falmouth on Cape Cod. God Bless America!
After 15 games of coaching first base, a steady stream of BP fastballs, the dissing of Rheal Cormier, checking in nightly on who was sitting in section 919, debating the legality of HGH, attempting to discern which day was "the best ever" and all the time making sure the Rockies were blue, I said goodbye to the team and boarded a plane at Boston's Logan airport on the 15th of July; when I landed in Pensacola, I was met by Joanne and the boys, all well-tanned and beachy blonde. I had a blast with the Rox, but I sure did miss Joanne and the boys.
We spent a week livin' the dream Granny Style. Pool-side, sound-side or beach-side by day and piles of crab legs, shrimp, clams and oysters at the dinner table.
Another amazing week: we met the Argentinian Rugby Team, saw the world from atop a giant Ferris wheel, cheered on a seaside wedding proposal from Granny's balcony, and ordered a lot of white sangria from our server at the pool. In small-worldly fashion the server explained to us that she once taught in an international school in Brazil and recalled a student who was the child of a US Dept. of State Doctor. Yep, Dr. Quinlin is now our doctor at the Embassy medical center in Beijing.
We repacked, loaded the rental car and...Road Trip!
A few hundred miles from Pensacola to Savannah where we stayed on the river and watched big ships come in and out. Crab Cake Benedict, Po Boys, Shrimp and Grits.
A few hundred miles from Savannah to Myrtle Beach. That place is crazy, but they have some good miniature golf.
A few hundred miles to Topsail. We parked the car for two weeks.
A two minute walk to the beach, family dinners, cousins, walks around the point, fishing, body surfing and boogie boards, the Olympics, porch sunsets; this place in heavenly.
Last beach day today, we pack it up and head North to Dulles in the morning.
While it took us a bit longer to get to Topsail then we had originally planned, it was again easy to see why for 19 years this has been the place we choose to vacation. Not more or less than we expected, just perfect.
Heavenly! The question is...are you well rested and ready for school to start on Friday? Hopes and fears on Thursday; picnic on Friday at 11:15, FOLLOWED by classes at noon. I was planning on skipping the picnic (been doing the picnic of sweat for 3 years now) until I read the email thoroughly and saw that classes follow the picnic.
ReplyDeleteWhere on the river,in Savannah, did you guys stay?
Martin and I were there in 2008 and stayed in a cute little Inn on the banks of the river. Meant to stay at Inn for 1 night and rest of week on Hilton Head, but thwt's a whole other story...we were there on a Business trip and t business and pleasure don't mix when you're working for JOY.