Staring Down Thanksgiving

Let me start this post by being a miserable complaining bastard and I promise I won't make a habit of it. This has been one of the worst fall seasons for surf that I can remember. There have been a few standout days here and there but we have had 2 significant swells all fall thus far and November hasn't started out so well either. I'm so stir crazy to go surfing I can't even begin to describe it. I'm looking at the forecast for the next several days and it's pretty much nothing but North wind until possibly Sunday. My girlfriend, Laura, and Andy's fiance, Anne, are in the OBX Marathon on Sunday so we're all heading up there early Sunday morning and maybe Andy and I will bring our gear and sneak in a sesh in Nags Head while the girls are in the early part of their run then meet them at the finish line if the forecast holds true.

In non-surfing news Laura and I took a fun little road trip last week up to DC on Sunday after work to go the the Redskins/Eagles game at FedEx field for Monday Night football. Laura is an Eagles fan and I'm a Redskins fan so it was fun but the 'Skins are playing so poorly this season that it's tough to watch but Laura had never been to an NFL game so we went really early and tailgated and had a lot of fun.

Laura at her first NFL tailgate

Laura and I just before we shut down our tailgate and headed into the stadium.

photo courtesy: some drunk guy

Typically NFL pregame isn't too much to get excited about until you get to the SuperBowl but we got lucky because Miss America, Katie Stam, was singing the National Anthem (and she sang pretty well!) We really enjoyed the fact that she was standing all by herself on the sideline though and Laura made me feel good by yelling out "Hey Miss America - I've got a man what's up with you??" I'm a lucky dude.

Miss America, Katie Stam standing all by her lone self on the sideline.

On Tuesday we were supposed to hang out with my dad for the afternoon then head back to NC but we decided to play hooky from work and make the 2.5 hour drive up to Ocean City, NJ where Laura grew up and where her parents live. Laura hasn't been home since last Christmas so she was really excited to be back home and her parents where equally excited to have an unexpected visit from her. It was my first trip to OC, NJ so I was excited to go someplace new and see where Laura grew up. We went to her parents local watering hole for a beer - Laura's mom did a good job of embarrassing Laura by showing me childhood photos and we had a rousing round of Wii bowling (typical I blew a solid lead in the last frame!) Wednesday morning we got up and went for a run on the boardwalk had a little driving tour of OC then met Laura's mom for lunch. I also wanted to check out the surf shop that Laura's family uses up there - Surfers Supplies. I wouldn't normally plug another surf shop but they're so far away and I really liked it so I don't mind in this case - I even bought a t-shirt. We drove down to the far South end of the island to the Ghost Pier and looked at the surf which was clean and glass with light offshore wind but really weak - even the longboarders in the water were barely catching anything - it was cool for me to see though.

The Ghost Pier - Ocean City, New Jersey

Thursday afternoon we packed up, said our goodbye's and made the short drive to Cape May, NJ and jumped on the Cape May-Lewes, DE ferry then another 30 minutes down the road to Ocean City, MD where we crashed for the night at my dad's place there if for no other reason than to go have dinner at La Hacienda. If you are ever in Ocean City, MD and you have even a mild taste for Mexican food go to La Ha - it's incredibly good. Pretty much all I ever get there is a Neptune Burrito but everything is excellent. Go there and ask for Mike (the manager) and tell him that you read about La Ha on my blog and that I said it's the best place in town - you won't be disappointed. If you happen to be there on a Friday night you can score 2 for 1 Margaritas - booooooyaaaaaaa! From there on Friday morning it was back to Avon and right into packing up Laura's stuff and moving her to a new apartment. Saturday was a fun Halloween party hosted by Jay and Karen of Outer Banks Kiting -

Laura as a Little Bug and myself as a Dirty Hippie

Lost In Hatteras Author, Andy, as a Boxer (note the championship belt) and the lovely Ms. Anne as a Doctor.

Ah then back to work where things are quiet and I expect they will continue to be until Thanksgiving week. My brother and I have a little excursion coming up here soon that I'm not particularly looking forward to. We are flying out to El Paso, TX , which is literally in the far Southwest corner of Texas on the border of Mexico, then driving my grandfather's minivan back to NC with his things. We're flying out there - packing up the van, staying the night in a hotel then leaving at 5am the next day and driving the 30-35 hours back and planning to do so without making a hotel stay stop. I want to get there and get back - keep you posted. Hopefully there'll be some surf to talk about sometime soon here otherwise the next post may be about the OBX Marathon on Sunday.