My Goal is Simple

a blog about my life a few people read

Tag: travel

January 18, 2012

Weekend in Pittsburgh

The friendships formed within the military lifestyle are special. And friendships during long deployments are among the most sacred. More often than not, you’re away from family, thrown into unfamiliar situations, and dealing with death, fear, and pain associated with missing a spouse. A group of girls became my family for 16 months up at Ft. Drum – our husbands were deployed from February 2006 to June 2007.  We cried together, laughed together, shoveled snow, attended memorial services, and held strong when a four-month extension was announced two weeks before homecoming. We were more than friends, we were family.

2006

As is the case with the military, soon after homecoming we all went our separate ways. We would email, Facebook, and even talk on the phone. It wasn’t the same but that didn’t matter – we had gone through too much together to let a silly little thing like distance to weaken our bond.

2009

The five of us spent a weekend together back in March 2009 in Cincinnati, OH. I was 7 weeks pregnant at the time and extremely sick. But I didn’t care, I was just happy to be with the girls again. Since then, some of us would see each other from time to time (e.g. Clay and I visited Jackie up in Alaska this past summer) but the five of us didn’t have the opportunity to get together until this past weekend in Pittsburgh, PA.

2012

While I’m sure some of our family and friends were perplexed as to why we chose a northern city as our destination in the middle of January, I absolutely fell in love with Pittsburgh. It was the first I had spent any significant time in the city and I was blown away (although, maybe I’ve just been in Oklahoma too long…). We stayed downtown and took in as many sights as the weather would allow. Don’t worry – we also ate, drank, and shopped a lot too.

Disclaimer – I didn’t want to haul my camera around so all of these pictures of from my iPhone, hence the quality (or lack thereof). Here is the view of downtown Pittsburgh from Mt. Washington. We took the Monongahela Incline, the oldest and steepest incline in the United States, to the top and soaked in the lights.

The obligatory shot in front of Heinz Field, home of the Pittsburgh Steelers.

We ate at the Primanti Bros. Restaurant in the Ship District.

We split a couple of sandwiches (they’re huge) and cheese fries. I opted for the steak and cheese and an Iron City beer. The consensus was that the sandwich was okay. I really liked the coleslaw but wasn’t a fan of fries in the sandwich and the steak and cheese itself didn’t hold a candle to a Philly cheesesteak. Nonetheless, we’re glad we stopped by a Pittsburgh legend.

Because I wasn’t 7 weeks pregnant this girls weekend, I enjoyed some drinks.

Don’t worry, I had beer too. Bottle and draft – I am an equal opportunity beer lover.

After a long day of shopping, some cheesecake hit the spot.

We’re like the Golden Girls.

I missed Clay and Weston a lot but I was so thankful for the opportunity to spend some time with the girls. We will have another reunion in a couple of years, and I know it will be just as sweet. After all,  we’re not just friends, we’re family.

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November 25, 2011

Thanksgiving in Oklahoma

I mentioned last week that life was going to pick up around these parts soon and now that time has come. In a couple of weeks, we will be embarking on a road trip to southern Georgia for my brother’s wedding. We’re both in the wedding so we’ve been practicing our bridesmaid and groomsman duties. Their wedding date is the day before our 7th wedding anniversary so my brother and his betrothed totally had to go and ruin our special day. Just joshin‘, Scott! In all seriousness, we are dusting off the dancing shoes and looking forward to officially welcoming Kelly into the family with style.

My parents came to Oklahoma for Thanksgiving and since it was their first time spending any significant time in the southwestern portion of the state, we were sure to show them the best that the area has to offer. And like I wrote after Clay’s parents visit, it is always refreshing to see where you live through the eyes of visitors. We couldn’t let them leave without a visit to the Meers Store & Resturant, voted as the best burger in Oklahoma. The fresh burgers are made from “the prize winning Texas Longhorn beef raised on the family’s own ranch.” We also enjoyed bottles of Meers Gold Beer, “handcrafted by the Krebs Brewing Company using the original recipe from the Choctaw Nation.”

Having lived here for about eight months now, I don’t think this part of Oklahoma gets appropriate recognition for it’s beauty. I will fully concede that there are many not-so-beautiful parts (Lee Blvd, Sheridan Rd, etc…), but the Wichita Mountain Wildlife Refuge is a sight of wonder.

The Wichita Mountains were exposed and rounded during the Permian Period, with many of the rocky promontories capped with granite that is 540 million years old. Don’t worry, that is about as much of a  geology lesson I am going to give today. You’re welcome.

Oops. Here is Weston sliding down a rock formation during a failed family picture attempt.

The view from the top of Mt. Scott. Clay and I are determined to hike the ‘mountain’ and plan to do so as soon as our schedule allows. The rock climbing opportunities are insane. The view really is breathtaking up there – nothing like we experienced on our trip to Alaska, but still quite astonishing.

A whopping 2,464 feet above sea level. People of Colorado are laughing right now.

Our little daredevil begged to be swung in the air on the observation deck.

Crazy little guy.

And he kept trying to climb over the barrier. This boy is going to give me a heart attack.

You didn’t think I would write this post without the obligatory table shot, now did you? Thanksgiving Day was spent cooking, watching football, and playing word games (Bananagrams and Scrabble). We prefer to sit down after 5pm, because eating a huge meal mid-day is about as appealing as being alone in a hotel room with Charlie Sheen.

A big thank you to Mom and Dad for venturing out to Oklahoma for the holiday. It isn’t the most exotic place, but it has it’s moments. To close out this post, I asked my parents to sum up their experience is a few words and here is what they had to say…

“Prettier than what your writing originally led us to believe. And it reminded us a lot of when we lived in Phoenix in the 1980s and 1990s” Dad

“Most of the storefronts in Lawton reminded me of of the 1960s. And to sum up the place in one word – windy.” Mom

(source)

Are there any other Bananagram fans out there?

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September 6, 2011

Our Labor Day Weekend

I hope everybody had a wonderful Labor Day weekend. We’re back from Wilmington and for those keeping track, this means that in a span of 7 days, we went from hanging out on the Pacific in Alaska to chillin’ at the Atlantic in North Carolina. We’re tired but happy that we gathered the energy to make the trip back east. It was nice seeing Clay’s parents and we had a blast at the wedding of dear friends. Clay and I made our way up to Raleigh on Saturday morning and stayed through Sunday afternoon. After checking into our hotel, we headed downtown for lunch and a drink.

We ended up at The Raleigh Times Bar. Believe it or not, despite living in the area for two and half years, it was our first time at the place. We’ve heard people rave about it before and decided that we couldn’t pass it by this trip. I opted for a wheat beer and Clay went with a fall blend that our waiter described as Thanksgiving in a glass.

Clay had beef steamed pastrami with house made kraut, melted gruyere and spicy brown mustard on rye. I had a blackened chicken romaine salad, which had grilled romaine hearts, cherry tomatoes, red onions, garlic croutons, and an avocado jalapeno dressing. Both were delicious. And the fries were perfect with malt vinegar and our beers.

After walking around downtown, we headed back to our hotel and got ready for the wedding. The ceremony and reception were held at The Rand Bryan House, a historic 19th century residence. The bride was beautiful and the groom quite dashing in his uniform. It was nice seeing friends again and having a child-free evening.

After brunch on Sunday morning, we drove back down to Wilmington, excited to see our little guy. Grandma and Grandpa gave him a glowing report card and thoroughly enjoyed spending time with Weston. We relaxed Sunday afternoon and then all went to Flaming Amy’s Burrito Barn for dinner. Anyone who is familiar with Wilmington has more than likely heard about this quirky gem. If you’re ever in the area, you must have a burrito here. Delicious.

In my world, it doesn’t get much better than the pineapple salsa at Flaming Amy’s. It is simply pineapple, cilantro, salt, and jalapeno peppers. One of my goals this week is to make this creation myself. Lofty goals over here people, lofty goals.

After dinner, we went for a walk along Carolina Beach before heading back to Clay’s parents. Before bed, we watched an interesting CNBC documentary about American Airlines that painted a pretty dire picture about flying in the United States. Having flown a fair amount as a child, the differences between then and now are quite jarring. Flying certainly isn’t what it used to be and I have to wonder how much worse can it actually get.

We woke up at 4:30am to catch an early flight. After a layover in Atlanta, we arrived at DFW around lunch time. Luckily, the weather didn’t impact our trip at all and we were delay free the entire time. It was a quick trip to North Carolina but one that we’re glad we took. But we’re looking forward to staying put for the month of September and exploring the local area a bit. The temperatures will be in the 80s this week so I think we’re going to spend a lot of time outside. Hallelujah!

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