An Essay: My Summer Vacations

Stick a fork into my summer because it is done...well done. Yesterday was the first day of classes in grad school. I'm not sad that my summer is over because its my LAST semester before graduation! Despite summer classes and clinicals, Has and I were able to get away and enjoy our summer.

WILLIAMSBURG, VA

That was our first trip for the summer...we did the "colonial" thing that included a haunted lantern tour and visiting all the local craftsman throughout the village. The picture to the right is the original Governor's mansion who was from England. It took some getting used to the fact that Colonial Williamsburg was pre-Independence Day times.

What was even better was the outlet shopping and visiting all the neat little stores in the fake "colonial" areas! We also made time to go to Bush Gardens which we both enjoyed...according to Has, my behavior was MUCH IMPROVED on the rollercoasters. (A&Z can testify to that!) I tend to scream a lot to fight through the terror, but he puts it simply, "You go insane on rollercoasters. "


KILL DEVIL HILLS, NC (aka OBX)

This was by FAR the most relaxing trip out of the three. Despite a very long and painful ride down to NC (we were listening to Has' Trick Daddy CD), it was worth it. We were on the beach by 3 pm and the weather was perfect! The waves were enormous and the current in the ocean was so strong! Has loved it though...swimming like trout upstream. I was too afraid of the current, especially after a wave completely backhanded me and I tumbled and scraped myself on the sand. So I spent the day sitting on the shore, collecting shells, reading my RealSimple mag, and my favorite........sleeping on the beach!

The beach house that you see is not the one we stayed at...I wish! These multi-million dollar beachfront homes are available for rent by the week. Some millionaire buys the house, then makes money off of it by having rental companies rent out these houses all year long. What a great idea! Every fully-furnished home consists of 7-9 bedrooms, game rooms, elevators, and heated pools PLUS beach front! Definitely keep this in mind for our next "couples" trip!

We ate dinner at an all-you-can-eat seafood buffet. As Rachel Ray on the Food Network puts it , "YUM-O!" The king crab legs were awesome as were the mussels. Saw "Wedding Crashers" for my first time, Has' second time...that was hilarious! Then we ate strawberry cheesecake ice cream at the "Fat Cat", drove up the strip listening to Dave Matthews' "American Baby" with the breeze of the ocean in our car, then finally walked on the beach at night. Awwww......

Oh, the thing about Trick Daddy, just kidding! But it was a hot trip!


BOSTON, MA

I loved this city! If we could live in any city...Boston in the summer would be it. Note that I say in the summer because I know this place is FREEZING in the winter. This is the perfect city because everything is within walking distance and there is so much to see, so much to eat, and so much to shop!

We traveled with our good friends Aamir & Zehra...good times and chilling with them always. We went to the different areas of Boston...an Iranian dinner in Beacon Hill, watched the hot-air balloon in Boston Common, ate cannoli's at Mike's Pastry in Little Italy, shopping at the Prudential Center, ate pizza at Quincy Market, ate dinner at Chinatown's Penang (YUM-O!), ate dinner at Penang AGAIN (YUM-O!), gawked at Harvard (not impressed), saw R2-D2 from the Charles River, saw the "Cheers" building, and saw "The 40-Year Old Virgin" (HiLaRiOuS!).

We also did the Duck Tour of Boston which took us everywhere in Boston including the Charles River. This amphibious vehicle was BOTH a tour bus and boat as it barrelled into the river at full speed!

To say the least, this was a very enjoyable trip! The theme of this trip was GLUTTONY! We ate VERY well...our days revolved around where we could get our next meal, snack, and dessert. It was awesome! We found serendipity at Penang...we were looking for a late-night dinner close to our hotel and the concierge recommended 3 restaurants. We couldn't find any of the 3, but found Penang in a dark, old alley....glowing like a diamond in a cave!