Old Man and the City

After a long (by St. Simons Island standards, not by Manhattan island standards) wait to get through the Lincoln tunnel, we made it into the city a little after 7:00. Even though I used to go every six months or so for work, and on occasion for things like stalking Lance Armstrong, by my math the last time I was there was probably a good 3-4 years ago.

How easily we forget. It's just so damn big and bright, and it's so easy to forget the true scale until you are in it. So many things rush into my brain-memories from films and shows, memories of my own past trips, thinking fondly of people I know and love who also loved the city long before I knew it (my Dad living in the village in the 50s, my Aunt Sandra there for school at a tender young age, Uncle Rodney working for Tiffany). It's a bizarre rush to the head...and mostly I am overwhelmed with the opportunity - such precious little time and literally infinite number of ways to spend it.

Having done my share of NYC driving (not to mention living in DC for 13 years and now living in Atlanta's traffic, which may trump even New York's), I was rather at home navigating the trusty CR-V through the city to our midtown hotel, the Shoreham, just off 5th a few blocks south of the park. We scored a street spot for easy unloading and got checked in - complete with complimentary champagne. We got the girls walked settled, I took a quick shower, and by 10:20 we were off!

Those of you who know and love John would assume that at that hour, "off" means "off to bed". Would you believe that at that hour he willingly - and cheerily - headed off to Chelsea in a cab to dinner? HUGE husband props :).

We chose a place my dear client at NRDC had recommended - she sent a fantastic list of Italian places with notes about her experiences there...she said they weren't in order but this one was first so I figured maybe it won out. Oh. And she mentioned she once saw Stipe there. Sold! As even my husband knows, I have loved Stipe since the 80s, and true love lasts a lifetime :). In fact, my first trip to NYC was to see the boys from Athens play at Madison Square Garden for free when I was coordinating the voter registration volunteers for their tour (another amusing story for another day).

It was very nice; the restaurant is tucked in the very hip and mod Maritime Hotel - a design dream just from the walk around the lobbies. We had a great shrimp bisque with cocoa powder garnish, I had a wonderfully subtle gnocchi with wild mushrooms, and John had the special...a bolognese made not with beef or sausage but with turducken! We polished it off with pistachio gelato and enjoyed the very comfortably hip scene.

Back at the hotel, Laika continued her fascination (much like Amelia's bathroom) of staring at herself in the shower mirror. I don't know if she was doing one of those "I have to look fabulous in case we see Carrie and Big" checks, admiring her young appearance for 18 years, or if she thought it was another dog :).

And then, the moment!

To walk the dogs we had to go up Central Park, which was a hike in the temperatures that were headed south towards 20. We headed out through the lobby and a nice sharply dressed woman with long curly blond hair bent to greet Laika and cooed over her. Laika seemed beside herself with excitement thinking that it was Carrie...I knew better but whom was I to crush her glee? I also teased Laika often whenever a black Lincoln towncar pulled up as we walked up 5th Ave to the park..."Laika....! Do you think that's Big!? It totally is his car".

Yes, I know. Demented and sad.

T-Town!

Across the windswept plain we went from PA towards NYC. The sun was just below the horizon and we were about an hour or so into the drive, I was getting a little...sleepy...looked out the window to see a direction sign for....

TREXLERTOWN!

Also known as T-town, Trexlertown is home to the Lehigh Valley Velodrome, touted as the Track Cycling Capital of the World. My dear Uncle Hanno raced (and won!) on the tracks of Europe back in the day, and was my companion and confidant on all things cycling. John and I proudly own one of his classic Colnagos.

I had heard of T-town but it never occurred to me we would be going through it....and the velodrome itself was right off our route so we stopped even though the track was closed. What I didn't realize was the connection to the fine Rodale Press' founder and his involvement in creating T-town.

We enjoyed a brief romp around the outside of the facility - Tilley had zero interest in her first (albeit crusty and aged) snowbank, Laika was shakey jakey, and John fast grew bored with my humorous antics in front of the camera. But just look at that fine aero position!

The Great (Not So) White North

We pressed Northward to John's parents' house near York, PA on New Years' Eve. We had high hopes as the temperature dropped and the chance for snow showers increased. NUTTIN!

We were eager to finally get up to spend a belated Christmas with his parents Jim and Lucy and his sister Jane, and her two boys Connor and Cooper. They were most patient in waiting for our arrival after our early-holiday tour of southern GA. On New Years Eve we enjoyed a fabulous home-cooked meal. John and I stayed up and watched the New Years revellers and an aging but nonetheless enthusiastic Dick Clark to ring in the New Year. Laika asked us to tape it for her.

On Tuesday we got up and had a fun gift exchange - I love Christmas at the Dandelskis because - among other good things - they are primo gift wrappers. Everything is wrapped which makes it last longer and more fun...and his sister in particular is the only person I know who wraps with tuxedo pleats - so fancy. We got some lovely goodies including a panini grill (I am going to research/invent making a pot pie sandwich for John who loves pot pies) and John got drumsticks with sound...he's such a kid which is why he looks younger than me :). We spent the rest of the day relaxing and I even took a nap with Tilley (again, much like Christmas day at our house). We watched The Queen and I enjoyed again seeing the many scenes with CORGIS CORGIS CORGIS particularly having been Her Likeness for Halloween :).

Wednesday was time for me to take the bull by the horns. I was skeptical about getting a run in, given that the road they live near is pretty narrow and busy. But I was wrong! Turns out, there's a road off to the other side that leads to town that's much less traveled (and apparently was unpaved until fairly recently). Optimistically, I checked the temperature. BRR!!! It was like 31, with WINDS GUSTING AT 31!

Know what I did? I went anyway :) Tilley and I stayed in the neighborhood to start, then ventured down the road towards town for a bit and came upon a lovely classically PA barn, complete with the stone foundation and cantilevered wooden frame - very pretty. We got in a nice 4 mile run, which was a hell of a lot better than the 0 miles I had planned. Hurrah!

Later that day we went to the local pharmacy for some home cookin' - it's a great classic pharmacy with milkshakes, meatloaf, and medicine, all in one stop :). I then headed back to the house for some work; I had a lot of prep to do for an upcoming client workship in DC, as well as some work to do on the first-of-the-month billing and such. So I had a few productive hours before dinner - then settled in after a round of the famous Dandelksi steamed pudding that Jane made (the best yet!) with folks in the den with my machine to finish a 10-tab functional requirements matrix and some employee review form templates when....BAM! No internet. G'nite!

The next morning I rose and went to Panera to wrap up work for a bit before NYC. We all went to a really nice lunch at the Foundry before packing up and heading out for the evening drive into the gritty city...

It is SO on

At long last, we are back in DC today after yesterday's evening arrival. We (me, John, and BOTH dogs) are houseguests at my friend Amelia's just outside the city. Last night we enjoyed a delicious feast of her fab chili and David's apple pie whilst exhanging festivus treats. We all awoke this morning to a leisurely breakfast and then Amelia, Tilley, Pazzo and I made a beeline for my favorite locale - Rock Creek Park - to meet up with JoMarie and Rich. David, Oleander, and Laika stayed home. John headed to Bethesda to meet up with his pal Ed, and once we hit the Park, Rich was off on a ride so the girls (and Pazzo!) were left to our own devices.


Before Rich left however, he was entertained with the free peep show....me changing tights in the parking lot from the thin ones I was wearing to the thicker ones Jome had just scored for me half off at Spokes. Amelia did a fabulous job of creating the standard makeshift dressing room, but also had me laughing so hard I am sure I was mooning the @$&* out of the trail runners on the other side of the road. Good times.

We started out -- at about 43 degrees and with laden skies -- at the lot just north of the police station and ran north on Beach Drive, with the goal of getting in a little road time before hitting the trails. Tilley was beside herself with excitement to be running, much less to be running in my Rock Creek, about which she has heard me prattle on ad nauseum.

It was fantastic. There are runs that are tough, runs that just are, good runs, and great runs.



This was a great run.

The trail itself was easy, and we only had to be careful along one or two stretches where it was either on a slick bank, or where it had a bog crossing with boards (Tilley preferred the slog-directly-in method of crossing). By the time we got off the trail and back on to Beach Drive, Tilley and Pazzo had settled into a rhythm, and the three of us girls were deep in conversation, per the tradition. We kept a nice pace and made it up and over the first gated hill in good time, so we pressed up towards the stables to the second gate.


Just as we turned around, it started to rain a bit.



And then it REALLY rained. We had a fun run on the way back with all the rain - and the cold - and the mud - and it was weird; I felt like I could have run for days and days and days. Once we got back into the woods we let the dogs off leash and Tilley had a BLAST. For most of the run back, it was runner-dog-runner-dog-runner, and Tilley kept looking back to check on me. She's a good dog.


After a few pics (and me picking up a rock to add to the loosely self-defined 'memorable natural items' collection on my desk at work which so far includes a coaster John made out of a Live Oak branch that fell on SSI, pieces of driftwood from SSI, The Chattahoochee, and a run back in May with Jess on Haines Point, and a piece of moss on a rock from Mark and Randy's cabin in July), we got back to the car to find one wet Rich. We were all SOAKED, and Tilley had half the silt from Rock Creek stuck under her belly in oddly tidy stalagtites. I took her down to the creek for a quick dip n' rinse, which she lamented was "not nearly as warm as the Chattahoochee!" After the run I felt fantastic...that's two 5 mile runs in 4 days...it is so on :).


As if that wasn't enough, there was more. :) After a quick change and dropoff of the dogs, Amelia and I met Jome at the Mothership for Amelia to get an iPod Nano so we can all track our runs online together. I also upgraded to an armband at Jome's recommendation since my nano-in-the-pocket approach was suboptimal. We then went to Lululemon Athletics where I tried on about $500 worth of swank athleticwear...and then was very good and only got out with one on sale jacket and adorable pink run skirt for under $80 all told. After a quick stop in the wine shop we headed to Tandoori Nights for an early dinner and belated run refueling and had an AMAZING meal...The chat papri was sublime and had a secret ingredient of a touch of mint...the Raj Kachori was a new treat and stellar...there were other fine specialties but writing more details will just make me hungry again :). Let's see....what fun can we cook up for tomorrow morning???

To the Beach!

So ever since we got a place here, I have wanted to "run to the beach". It's just at 5 miles, and our full-time tenure here coincided, with few exceptions, my hiatus from training.

Redemption time.

After a relatively slovenly few weeks since our last 5 mile run, we headed out down the island to the beach from the house. It was about 60 so I opted for the (adorable) knickers and a short sleeved top. Tilley chose a simple choker chain.

The run was fairly uneventful and pain-free; our only incident was coming through a neighborhood where a LARGE black dog was at the edge of the yard untethered. Rather than deal with an incident, I picked Tilley up who immediately barked. I said Shut. The. Hell. Up. You. Are. Going. To. Get. Us. Eaten. She obliged, and I went into my super friendly HEY PUPPY PUPPY voice to the dog, who eventually wagged a tail as we scooted by. I returned Tilley to the ground and off we went. Once we arrived at East Beach causeway, Tilley looked up like, oh yeah I totally know where we are yeah this is the road to the beach! She picked up her step and so did I.

Just about when we hit the parking lot John pulled in (our ride home!). We finished the run to the water then doubled back to meet him for a quick walk on the beach.

All in all a good time. My legs are a little tired but not bad...same blister is annoying me despite wearing thick socks. I think a consult at Potomar River Running in DC is in order for a new sock approach altogether.

Tilley is out COLD next to me on the couch, but I bet I will be more sore in the morning :)

An Island Christmas

We had a great Christmas on St. Simons, and the best way to sum it up is with a few pictures and videos.



Tilley, suffering dog abuse (she was moaning during the photo):




Waiting for Santa:




Enjoying loads of treats and presents:




Ready for lunch-ummmm-dinner:




Laika, not believing her good fortune at getting her own plate for lunch (note the eye expression):




Touring Ft. Frederica with Cousin Cindy, Claire, and Mom:




Beach Picnic with Tilley and Claire:




Tilley playing her favorite game with Beauty: "Put my WHOLE HEAD IN YOUR MOUTH BEAUTYYYYY!":

Ghetto Litespeed

Being someone who considers themselves a moderate but not fully over-the-top gear head, I have to share this one.

So Litespeed bicycles are pretty high-end, and generally those who own them are a little obsessive about them (as is pretty much true of anyone and their higher end bike, regardless of the brand). You know; frequent cleanings, gear accessories that match, careful consideration to handlebar color, and so on.

I am a Litespeed fan and owner twice over because of the penchant for the feel of a titanium ride, the fact that they are made in Chattanooga, TN where I was born, and the fond memories I have of taking the factory tour with friends.

Now....

Mix this with the St. Simons lifestyle, where there'a little bit of Margaritaville and John Prine peppered in amongst - well - folks who are of means financially, to say the least.

What comes out?

THIS!

This was spied down at the Ace Hardware, awaiting its owner. The fella came out at the same time John did and John inquired, complimenting his ride, and the fella shared that the bike was originally his son's who never rode it, so he customized it, paying particular attention to point out the addition of the "fat seat" and the "raised handlebars".

In a five-way tie for my favorite features are: the bike basket, the bell, the "custom" bottle cooler, the clamp-on seat trunk, and the "pocket cooler" addition to the bottled water in the bottle cage.

Applause!