Retirement Tour 2013: The Outer Banks of North Carolina

We were working our way south to see Josh and Athena in Ft. Benning, GA so decided to spend a little "alone time" on the Outer Banks of North Carolina, since we had never been there and always wanted to go.  With perfect fall weather everywhere we went and following us on south, we decided on a spur of the moment beach vacation (yes, another one).  We stopped briefly to see Kitty Hawk and an exhibition about the Wright Brothers and then made our way down the coast to a sleepy little town called, Buxton, right by the Cape Hatteras Lighthouse.  It was a delightful couple of days, as you can see.

The Wright Brothers National Memorial in Kitty Hawk, the
site of the first airplane (heavier than air) flight by Wilbur and
Orville Wright, December 17, 1903.  What we found interesting
about them was how meticulously they studied, designed
and re-configured their plans to achieve their success.

A replica of their plane

 Chicamacamico Life-Saving Station (in Rodanthe)
was the forerunner of the modern U.S. Coast Guard.
The men who worked here patrolled the beaches along
this treacherous stretch of land to save ships in distress.

Cape Hatteras Lighthouse and Boo trying
to crawl out of our doggie pack

Entrance to our favorite beach

We had it all to ourselves

Look at that sky!

The light at the end of the day

Our best buddy loving the beach

Jim-on the phone!!!?? at Okracoke 

Biding our time while waiting for the ferry

The ferry to the mainland

We love ferries!  Jim is showing you a business card from
our friend, Cha Cha, who JUST HAPPENED to be at
"our beach" and left her card on our car because it was
from Boulder.  Neither of us knew the other was there.
SERENDIPITY!!

We drove down to Wilmington, NC but were too tired to see anything of that area and we were anxious to see our Athena and Josh the following day.

Sleepy boy in bed with Mom in our "dog friendly" hotel

Retirement Tour 2013: Washington, DC and Virginia Beach

After going around in circles with Siri leading the way, we finally made it safely out of New York and headed to DC, where we made a quick stop to visit with Pam Porter and Terry Thornberry, former colleagues of mine who are now at the University of Maryland.  We had a great time walking our dogs around their beautiful northwest DC neighborhood but I didn't get a single picture.  They have two Portugese water dogs who were very interested in showing Boo the ropes.

Next was a wonderful visit to Ellen Levine, a former colleague at the Walter Reed Army Institute of Research, back in the early seventies.  Her first-born, Michael, surprised us by coming over to spend some time with us.  We didn't get a picture there either.  Safe to say that all of these people are beautiful, charming and don't look their age one bit!

We spent a little time exploring around McLean to find Jim's family's home.  Since we timed this perfectly with the shut down, we didn't stay to see much of what we had seen several times before and, instead, headed to Virginia Beach to see an old friend of Jim's from college, Pepper Lewis and his wife, Freddy.  Thank goodness, the waitress had the good sense to take our picture at a wonderful dinner here.

1427 Layman St., McClean, VA-The Cunningham DC area home

The view from our hotel in Virginia Beach

Dinner with Pepper and Freddy

Retirement Tour 2013: New York, New York

We couldn't imagine how we were going to "do" New York, with a car full of "stuff" for a 6 wk trip, and a dog.  Fortunately, our brother-in-law, Tony, found a very safe garage somewhere in the bowels of New York, so we unloaded as little as we could, grabbed Boo and moved into Janet and Tony's beautiful New York apartment on E 65th St. for a few days of relaxation and a heap load of fun.

Janet, New York's quintessential dog lover, with the ever playful,
Molly McBean, and the very tired, Boo

Lower Manhattan and the new World Trade Center 

After a lifetime of trips to NYC, we finally went to see the Lady.

Playing tourists

A wonderful afternoon at the Met with Janet. These were some of our favorites:

Janet and Tony at the Boat House when we still had hopes
of remaining sober and of being seated within 3 hours.

Finally seated!  Can you tell they're related?

Wonderful that old friends, Gleason and Anne,
could join us for a fabulous, LONG, and wonderful NYC
afternoon at the Boat House!

No taxis anywhere so Tony snatched a private car--soooo Tony!
We did have to all somewhat miraculously fit into one car!

But the very best part of our NYC trip was being
constantly entertained  by these two cutie-wooties!

Retirement Tour 2013: Aquinnah, Martha's Vineyard, Massachusetts

We left early September 7th to meet Susan and David Zoia for the ferry trip from Woods Hole to Vineyard Haven on Martha's Vineyard.  What a fantastic week was ahead of us.

The ferry to Vineyard Haven

Boo enjoying his first ferry ride.
Note the Black Dog bandana!

David and Susan enjoying the ride

Our home away from home on the Vineyard, courtesy of
Adam and Elizabeth Zoia

Looking at pictures together on the
magnificent "Z" deck

Our view 

The path to our beach

We own the beach!

Who could ask for anything more!

A perfect beach, a perfect day, wonderful friends
and a good bottle of wine-a perscription
for living in the moment!

Making cairns

Our finished artwork

Jim, Boo and I at the Edgartown lighthouse
which was originally built in the 1800s for
whaling captains.  The whaling industry began
to die in the mid 1800s, just as the resort
business was beginning.

One of the magnificent mansions
of Edgartown

Sweet Edgartown cottage

The Outermost Inn

The famed "gingerbread cottages"
of Oak Bluffs, built in the mid to
late 19th century.  Originally homes
for Methodist camp meetings here were
tents.  Tents eventually gave way to
small wooden cottages which are
now historic landmarks.

More gingerbread houses right out of a fairy tale

Fishing cottages and boats at
Menemsha Harbor

Gay Head Cliffs-now named Aquinnah, home to the Wampanoag tribe
who have inhabited the area for 10,000 years

The Aquinnah clay cliffs at sunset

Look at those colors!

These beauties would make a great painting.

Sunset at Aquinnah

Saying good-bye at the Black Dog

Back on the ferry to the Cape