It Was an Awesome Summer!

It's that time, again, the precise time of the year when all teacher's are saying to themselves, "what happened to summer?"  Yes, it is Labor Day evening, the very last night before the start of school for many a teacher, including me.  No more sleeping late, no more lounging around, no more fun.  Life as I've known it for the past two months has ceased.  Poor me!  Lol...

Um, wait a second...

Haha, well that was last night.  I started a post, but then got interrupted and never got back to it.  Such is the life of a part time writer.  I thought it was a good intro, so I'm leaving it in here.  The feel of the post I want is that of sadness at summer's end, and since I already went into school today to prep for my year, I don't quite have that same feeling I did last night.  So there, pretend it is still Labor Day evening.

The summer of 2014 was a short one by school summer vacation standards.  Nine weeks...that's about a week shorter than normal.  I guess it's just the way the calendar fell, but I'm not complaining.  I tell my students all the time that they will never in their lives get as much vacation as they do now as students, so they need to appreciate it.  I certainly do.

A Big Weekend Starts Off a Big Summer

I had an awesome summer, and I think it went by so quickly not only because of the calendar, but because I spent about 22 days of it away from home, and that's not counting day trips. There were some great memories to be had, right from the start, too, as I began the summer fun on the Eve of the last day of school spending some quality time at Corey Creek Vineyards with two very special ladies, Heather and Terry.

The fun continued at Cherry Grove as me and one of my best besties, Laura Kim, celebrated the start of summer with an overnight stay in Cherry Grove.  My pal Rich joined us for dinner and great food and plenty of laughs were had. 

      Happy much?  Ah, good times! 

A Very Special Reunion

On Saturday night, I hosted a reunion of three other very special ladies with whom I worked a long, long time ago at Citibank.  My friend Linda, who now lives in South Carolina, was coming to Long Island for a visit, which prompted a get together at my house, with Joann and Caroline.  The four of us hadn't seen each other in a few years, but you would never have known it.  We picked up right where we left off and had a blast.  My summer got off to a great, great start!  

  

You're a tiiiiger!

                               Mr. Bill 

Spank me good baby!

Roller Coaster Road Trip 2014

On Sunday, July 6th, my pals Rich, Eddie and I set off on a nine-day trip that took us over 3,000 miles through nine states, riding too many roller coasters to count, zip-lining in a cave, bourbon tasting, sight-seeing, cave exploring and a whole lot more!  This Roller Coaster Road Trip 2014 was one full of laughs, surprises, and a whole lot of awesomeness.  Stay tuned for more posts on that trip, but for now take a look at some of what we saw...

P-Town and a Sailing Adventure

In August, I took a very different kind of trip, one that allowed me to revisit a place I had had so much fun in last summer along with a whole new type of adventure.  I've written extensively about my Sailing Adventure to Acadia National Park in Maine, but I hadn't written too much about P-Town.  Yes, that trip was still fun, but disappointing, not quite living up to last year, and being deathly ill didn't help.  But thankfully I was given the gift of this sail to Maine and it not only was one of the most thrilling things I did all summer, it matches up to almost anything I've done in my life.   

The look on my face sums up how 

I felt about P-Town the Sequel 

Everything In Between

The rest of the summer was interspersed with other fun stuff, like evening trips to Fire Island, wine tasting, drag shows, lots of dinners with friends, and of course, more roller coasters.  Yes, the summer of 2014 was probably one of the busiest and most leisurely one I've ever had, and I am grateful to have had it.  I always say, enjoy every moment of life, and appreciate all of the good things to the fullest!  I leave now with a few more photos of some of my other fun moments of summer.  I hope yours was as good as mine because you deserve it! For now it's time to jump back in the teaching saddle and get back to work!

  

A Sailing Adventure to Acadia, Conclusion: Bar Harbor and Thunder Hole

Monday was THE day for me to see Acadia National Park, a place I'd heard of, but knew very little about. In the end, I am so happy I got to experience it, even in the little time I had there, because it's such a beautiful, beautiful place.  

On that Monday it was just three of us, me, Xavier and Tati.  Kevin had reconnected with a friend he'd met last year, the harbor-mistress' son, and he went off to spend the day playing whilst the three of us set out to explore.  In the morning, we had moved the boat to its week-long spot at the marina and so we now had a home base in the town, Southwest Harbor.  

Maine-based clothing manufacturer LL Bean operates a free bus service throughout Acadia (very cool!), with several routes to be had, and Xavi wanted to take me on the one that made a loop around the most scenic spots. The bus that took us from Southwest Harbor to Bar Harbor, where we'd catch that bus, offered me glimpses of the many, many scenic spots to be had here, including campgrounds, lakes, hiking trails, and more.  At this point, I had already decided that I want to come back here for an extended stay, as this visit would not afford me all of its beauty.

Alas, we got off to a late start, but we got to Bar Harbor early enough to catch a bus to one of the most popular spots on Mt. Desert Island, a place called Thunder Hole.  Wow, what a beautiful place this was! Imagine any painting you've ever seen of the Northeast coast, with waves crashing along craggly rocks along the shore.  That was this place.  Just take a look...

From Thunder Hole, we hiked along the coast southwards towards Otter Cove before hopping on a bus once again to go back to Bar Harbor.  Bar Harbor itself is a typically quaint New England town, complete with a town square and park, gift shops, restaurants and inns.  There's a beautiful waterfront area with picturesque views of the harbor and several islands.  The place reminded me of a town straight out of a Stephen King movie, which perhaps it once was.  Anyway, the place was awesome and I would have loved to have spent more time there...another reason to visit again.  

The three of us dined in a local eatery before catching a cab back to the marina and one more relaxing night on the Maria Cristina.  I tell you, these types of vacations, full of exercise and wonder, sure tucker you out! That last hike along the coast was pretty much it for me, as the better part of Tuesday was spent hanging out at the marina waiting for my flight back home.  This sailing adventure to Acadia was the perfect ending to a somewhat disappointing P-Town vacation, and I'm so happy I went.  

Acadia reminded me a lot of the Region de Los Lagos I visited in Chile late last year.  The scenery was oddly similar between the two areas.  It's definitely one of the most beautiful places I've ever seen and I do want to go back again and check out some of the places I didn't get to see and do, like exploring Echo Lake and seeing the sunrise from Cadillac Mountain.  If you ever get the chance to visit Acadia National Park in Maine, I highly recommend it!  Till next time, check out some more of beautiful Acadia...

Check out the first three posts on my sailing adventure to Acadia...

Setting Sail

Arrival

Welcome to Beautiful Maine