Well, it's been almost a fortnight since I've posted anything. I've been sooooooo busy! But my parents are gone now and I'm feeling rather sad and lonely. And a tad worthless. But! At least we had a good time while they were here. Here's a run-down of what we did.
My parents and I drove over to Atlantic Beach and stayed in a condo right on the beach - which was expensive, but sooooo worth it. There isn't a single grain of sand in my car, babies. And the seats stayed dry the whole trip. Yes, I have my priorities straight. Anywho, Mom and I spent a day on the beach, flying kites and splashing about in the waves, but mostly laying under my new beach umbrella & reading. I loooooove my beach umbrella. Best $30-something bucks I ever spent. If any of you ever go to the beach, I highly recommend you get one. It may sound decadent, but it's not. It's a necessity. Because of this beloved beach umbrella, I only got a light sunburn on my back. That's it! A sunburn so light that I didn't even peel! So yes. I'm in love with my beach umbrella. I am not ashamed. What else. We ate a lot of seafood. Walked around the cute beachy towns. Took a boat tour of the area, saw some wild ponies. Stuff like that.
So that was Wednesday through Friday of the week before last (the 21st - 23rd). On that Friday we drove back here, grabbed Tim, & drove out to Lake Lure for the weekend. Lake Lure is over in the Blue Ridge mountains to the west. Sooooooooo damn pretty! I can't find any pictures on the internet that do it justice. However, we know that parts of Dirty Dancing and Last of the Mohicans were filmed there, so ... well, come on. I know you people have watched Dirty Dancing. Don't lie to me. Anyway, I wouldn't say I had the time of my life, but I really enjoyed it. I'm hoping we get to go back. Maybe we'll take Tim's mom there when she comes to visit. While we were staying in Lake Lure, we went to Chimney Rock Park which is just down the road. A bit of hiking. And the town is very touristy, but still very pretty.
But the bestbestbest thing was we got to see Megan!!!! Yay for Megan!!! She was dancing with a ballet troupe in Ashville, so we caught the last performance on Saturday night. Holy god, it was soooooooo good. Really truly amazing stuff. And Megan was wonderful, as always! This troupe does some really amazing work. I really truly wish they were a year-round company. They've only been around for 4 years though, so there's time for it to grow. I'd mention the name, but I don't want to put it out there without Megan's approval. But you can see some of the troupe's work on-line at their website. Just ask me or Megan.
Sunday we had brunch in Asheville with Megan before she drove back to Tulsa. Did I mention that Asheville kicks ass? And that it's gorgeous? Because it is. I kinda wish we lived there instead. The Triangle has a ton to do, but Asheville is just so damn pretty and artsy and lovely. Anyway, we ate with Megan & talked about baboons & various other things. After hugging Megan goodbye, we went to the Biltmore Estate. Very pretty, but .... well, the place is too damn big to feel cozy and homey. 250 rooms! Not my ideal home. But ya gotta love a house with an enormous library big enough to hold 10,000 books. And you gotta love a house that has a patry kitchen. Yes, a kitchen devoted just to making baked goods. You also gotta love the free wine tasting at the vineyard. Everything else there is pretty damn expensive, so if you go, definitely take them up on the free alkeehol.
My favorite part of Biltmore was the gardens. For those who don't know, I seriously considered becoming a landscape architect back when I was 18. Silly me, I chose theatre instead! But back then I developed a serious love for Frederick Law Olmsted who designed the gardens at Biltmore, so it was a thrill for me to walk those paths and see the environments he designed. Tim seemed to really enjoy it, too.
The following Monday (the 26th, about a week ago), we drove back to our house. Tim went back to work & my parents spent the rest of the week puttering about. We went to Duke Gardens & Chapel, visited a big historic home that's about 1/2 a mile from our place, hung out at the library a couple of times (yes, george, I finally have a library card). I also cooked a lot, which I'll talk about later. We had dinner with one of dad's oldest friends who just happens to work at UNC. This guy was so frickin' cool! I liked him a lot. He worked for the Clinton administration & now heads a department at the university. I'm hoping he enjoyed talking with me Tim. I think it'd be fun to go out to dinner with him sometime without the 'rents around.
So. Friday the parents left. I cried. I must admit that I was a bit out of sorts for most of their visit (Gary's death was hard). But ever since I left Tulsa, I'd been looking forward to having them here. Now I don't feel that I have anything to look forwad to. Doesn't that sound pathetic? Ugh. Gotta get off my ass & fix that.
But not yet. This weekend is all about the World Cup and the U.S. Grand Prix. I'll work on getting a life on Monday.
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