Dinner at The Durham Hotel

Anna and I met Zareen and Kevin at the restaurant: we hadn't seen them in years.  Neither couple had sampled the food of this restaurant's award winning chef.  We had a great time catching up on life news.  And the food and drinks were excellent.  We ended the evening on the roof bar; huge crowd and lots of energy!

MLK Weekend in North Myrtle Beach, SC

Lynne arranged a 3-day weekend for the four of us in an 11th floor ocean front condominium in North Myrtle Beach. This was an anniversary and birthdays celebration. We had warm weather and sun.  Jim, of course, swam in the 58^◦ F ocean!

Jim resting: 

We visited Myrtle Beach and strolled on the boardwalk:

Yes, we went on the Ferris Wheel but Lynne wasn't sure she wanted to be up so high!

We ate well and drank a bit.  The last night we had dinner at Greg Norman's Australian Grille.

Anna's Ahi and risotto:

 And Lynne's Black Angus prime rib:

Pre-Christmas Vacation 2016

Anna and I spent eight days at the Secrets resort in Cozumel, Mexico.  The weather was perfect and the water temperature (for our scuba dives) was in the low eighties Farenheit.  The food was very good (and so were the beverages!) and we met many nice people.  We did eight dives on the world class reef and Anna took some nice pictures and videos of the underwater flora and fauna (all videos are less than 30 seconds long).

Our accommodations:

https://youtu.be/_o5JH5LxBdE 

https://youtu.be/Qsebbs2zgkw 

https://youtu.be/3dgweA_Z0Qs  

https://youtu.be/A_7wfDr7vw4 

Dive boat:

Myron

Turtles

https://youtu.be/QVshHjpl5hE

https://youtu.be/Z5J-Zqm_sf4

https://youtu.be/nlU2YcxbFfU

https://youtu.be/abT0GjU8TdM

Fish

https://youtu.be/r0RYiWBCDQk

https://youtu.be/24B_LTVcFF8

https://youtu.be/CxJt5eu7l-k

https://youtu.be/SU5qNbLvRyg

https://youtu.be/NNRKswe8Z5o

https://youtu.be/aODPtBpMX7Y

https://youtu.be/cDfYOZmWHMU

https://youtu.be/y-6HvEo68Ts

https://youtu.be/SU5qNbLvRyg

Puffer fish

https://youtu.be/bI3NYUlWJsU

https://youtu.be/veHUJXyPxW8

Skipper Anna

https://youtu.be/bKB8BfNtBNA

Sunset

Thanksgiving 2016 - Our Way

Anna and I started early - oysters and wine on Tuesday eve at Squid's in Chapel Hill, NC.

On Thanksgiving we shared non-traditional Rock Cornish hens and many side dishes with Oma and Opa and Chris and Prem.  Then Anna and I had our second desserts with our next door neighbors and their family.

On Friday, we left to drive to our beach house on the Outer Banks.  The ocean was calm.

https://youtu.be/tqSQzXL8Kw4

Of course, we had to go to Fishheads - the bar on the fishing pier.  This was their last weekend in operation before closing for the season.  It was packed and VERY happy!

https://youtu.be/jeSnNDN5Z04

After staining the deck, this is how we relaxed in the evening.

Cooking Class Adventure

Anna got an anniversary present from Myron - a couples' cooking class at Sur La Table. Fourteen couples had a date night learning to cook an Italian meal: gorgonzola-stuffed dates wrapped in prosciutto, pork tenderloin, risotto, and budino (an Italian crème brûlée of maple syrup, brown sugar and egg yolks).  The class was two hours long and the results were delicious!

Family Celebration at OBX

The family assembled to honor Oma and Opa: children, grandchildren, great-grandchildren, as well as spouses and significant others.  We all occupied two houses for a week in Nags Head on the Outer Banks of North Carolina.  The weather was sunny and warm and the water temperature was warm enough for swimming.  

We had beach wheel chairs for Oma and Opa and fishing gear for Sean and Paul.  We did Happy Hour shrimp and drinks at Fishheads on the fishing pier and arranged catered dinners for the first two evenings together.

Despite people driving and flying in from afar (Vermont, Salt Lake City and Wisconsin) there were no insurmountable travel woes. The photos and videos speak to the fun we all had.

Happy Hour at the Fishing Pier

https://youtu.be/pt5ELa2jciE

Paul Riding a Wave on the Kayak

https://youtu.be/sddVdS2YJvI

Over The Edge

Last weekend Anna and I went to a street fair with Lynne and Jim.  The coolest thing we saw was people rappelling down the 30 story Wells Fargo Capitol Center.  Turns out this is an event in support of the NC Special Olympics.  Anyone who raised $1,000 in donations got the chance to do this.

http://sonc.net/help-to-fundraise/over-the-edge/

Guess who wants to do it next year!