Bill Lenoir

It took me 7 hours to get home during the epic thunder snow of January 26th, 2011.

• 2 hours on the train

  F-ing Metro was single tracking both Red and Orange lines for non-snow related reasons.

• 1.5 hours waiting for a bus

  My toes began to freeze. Many people were not adequately dressed. Needed to pee, but no bathroom or convenient tree.

At the Shenandoah Golf Club on April 17th. Beautiful view, narrow fairways and pathological greens. No water hazards on the course, yet we still managed to lose quite a few balls. Had a great time, though.

Editor's Note: The Bill mention here in is Mr. Lake, not Mr. Lenoir.

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We've returned safely from our visit to Korea, Singapore and Indonesia. Some of the highlights of that trip are:

• Got lost on the island of Bentan and was "rescued" by a bus-full of hotel workers.
• Did a Karaoke version of that Korean hit song, "I'm a dog-shit bug."
• Learned the true nature of fear while riding shotgun in a taxi on the streets of Singapore where the driver sits on the right.
• Realized that Asians do chicken so much better than Southerners.
• Had the best steak of my life (well, it should have been since it cost $40/lbs).
• Had a Singapore Sling in the bar where it was invented (The Long Bar in the Raffles Hotel), then promptly chastised myself for being such a tourist. The damn thing was worse than cough syrup!

UPDATE: 3 August 2010: Added a photo album and map. Also, it appears that the Barracuda Grill has ditched its website.

I've decided that any beach in the continental U.S. is just not worth visiting. My last hope perished in the kitsch of the Florida Keys. You have to actually escape the land in order to feel like you've left behind your every day life: the fishing and diving opportunities are exceptional. That said, I did enjoy the trip. The Keys are great when you have kids. The beaches (yes, there are some) are kid friendly in that there is little surf and the shallow water goes out quite a distance. There is also some great eating. I highly reccomend the Barracuda Grill (try the calamari or snail appetizers and the rare tuna entree) and the Keys Fisheries (try the lobster reuben and the lobster bisque is exquisite). The hunt for a good slice of key lime pie lead, after forays through frozen and fried pies, to the Blond Giraffe. Don't bother with anything other than the key lime pie.

UPDATE (29 July 2010): Added some links and a map, but content is as I wrote it eight years ago.

I just got back from 2 weeks on the Outer Banks of North Carolina. Don't get me wrong, I enjoyed myself. I'm just not into sitting on the beach and soaking up the rays. I enjoy a good pounding surf, but I'm not much into swimming for recreation. I'd rather be hiking. And there's not much of that to do at most beaches.

There are trails on the Outer Banks and nearby parks. The Alligator River National Wildlife Refuge has some, but the bugs are evidently immune to repellant. It's really hard to enjoy a walk when you're flailing away with your arms. It makes it difficult to view the scenery. And there were other trails on Pea Island, Buxton Woods, and Jockey's Ridge, but none longer than a couple of miles.

One pleasant location is the Nags Head Woods Ecological Preserve run by the Nature conservancy. They have about 4 trails totaling just under 10 miles, but I found them to be pleasant, with a surprising amount of elevation change. I also walked away with a good ghost story which I can tell you over a beer sometime.

View Nags Head in a larger map