virginia beach weekend

 ^^ Wouldn't it be grand if all city halls were this pretty? Meet Alexandria's City Hall, a stop we had to make before we drove south to the beach^^

^^ He beat me by one shot. ONE. Next time, husmate, next time...^^

So what does one do if they succumb to beach fever but are unaware of what Atlantic beaches are on the approved list {as one has always been accustomed to the serene Florida beaches}? Take a stab in the dark & try one, of course. How else would we ever find out the truth? 

Two weekends ago on a whim, husmate & I took a trip to Virginia Beach, VA. Not exactly what we tend to like in beaches, but it was fun nonetheless. It was an air show & concert weekend for the VA Beach Oceanfront, so there were people of all walks of life everywhere. But hey, watching a harrier hover out over the stretch of water in front of you? Pretty cool & totally worth it. 

When we weren't burning our feet crossing thrice the depth of sand that we're used to or getting slightly sunburned {because surprise! we're of the pale variety}, we were wandering the strip & boardwalk majorly people watching {note: modesty isn't a thing here, but bikini tops, unbuttoned shorts, & basketball shoes are} & watching Mississippi State's Regional baseball tournament {accompanied by late night runs to Sonic for cherry limeades, tater tots, & corn dogs}. Also, after two games of mini golf {a required beach activity in our book} in which husmate putted into the water twice, he still won both. Lame. I expect a rematch will come out in my favor {fingers crossed} & I think next on our list of beaches to try is the Outer Banks in North Carolina or perhaps a beach in Delaware. Any suggestions are welcome!

gettysburg, pennsylvania

This past weekend's adventures took the husmate & I to Gettysburg. & despite the fact that the sun & storm clouds were in a constant battle for the sky, it was a wonderful & quiet weekend. A lot of reading went down {hello, Dan Brown's Lost Symbol} during the rainy dominance, but the sun peeked out for just the right time on Saturday for us to enjoy our time at Gettysburg.

This year marks the 150th anniversary of the Battle of Gettysburg, & even though we're not avid fans of Civil War battlefields, we both had a great time. For a battle that has evolved into being a crucial turning point of the war {& of equality in America}, we were both amused that it was something of an unplanned thing. The area around Gettysburg was chosen because 10 roads converged at one point, making it easy for troops to get to it. It's a little funny to think about today, because while those 10 roads meant that economic development was possible in the town's future, the battle determined that it would forever be a small town surrounded by historical battlefields.

^^The lovely place we were lucky enough to stay in. Built pre-Civil War & absolutely beautiful^^

^^The other guests of the weekend. Ask my husband how ridiculous I get when I see baby birds... Even when their breed is typically annoying^^

^^Naturally the Union uniforms were more dapper than the Confederate ones. I mean check out how awesome their hat is in comparison... Plus blue is always better than grey^^

^^Hello, my sweet hometown river city! Giant picture of Montgomery during Davis' swearing in as President of the Confederacy^^

^^Feast your eyes on the original Confederate flag which was redesigned because it too closely resembled the Union flag & caused a little bit of confusion on the battlefield... Oh, hey Eugene! Wait... you're not wearing grey... Crap.^^

^^Something I often forget is how poorly this famous speech was received. The Chicago Times wrote "The cheeks of every American must tingle with shame as he reads the silly, flat, and dishwatery remarks of the man who has to be pointed out as the President of the United States." Isn't it funny how time can change one's outlook of something?^^

^^I mean who could resist hanging out with Abe? Or in husmate's experience, treating him like Santa?"

^^Dandelions deserve their shining moment of being upgraded from "weed" to "weed that can make a giant field something beautiful"^^

^^Panorama of Little Round Top, a place that truly moves you (even if you aren't a big war buff, like us Berry's)^^

^^I mean if Alabama is going to be the state whose memorial is all dramatic using exclamation points & dramatic phrasing then I, too, will join her in her ranks, except you know, with an updated wardrobe... {Every other state's big memorial just said its name & the groups who fought there}^^

^^Then there were the states who really put some investments into their memorials. This is Pennsylvania's. Other members of that club: New York & Kentucky (birthplace to both Abe Lincoln & Jefferson Davis)^^

^^There's always something beautiful about a simple gravestone, even though their family members may never have known which was theirs^^

^^The quaint downtown Gettysburg^^

So Gettysburg, thanks for the swell weekend. You showed us a grand time in a small setting, & we're grateful for it. 

... and then we pet a koala

So we fun kids had a whale of a time at the Columbus Zoo {there are no whales at the zoo, but saying "elephant of a time" just sounds weird...}! As luck would have it, Drew has become good friends with Jack Hanna, the Director Emeritus of the Columbus Zoo {also the cool guy showing promotional animals on late night tv shows}, & we were fortunate enough to be given a "VIP tour" of the zoo. To the point that we, three 24-year-olds, were escorted around the grounds in a golf cart as plenty of stroller-pushing moms & cane-wielding octogenarians gave us scowls as we passed. It was awesome.

So a VIP tour at the Columbus Zoo entails a very informed docent named Susan taking you to a few habitats so that the keepers/handlers of specific animals can give you 30 minutes of their valuable time to tell you about their animals & answer all your Drew's questions. We learned about gorilla hierarchies, the wonder of the recently discovered okapi {recently being in the last century}, the expensive diet of the koalas {$50k delivery of eucalyptus anyone?}, & the sad reality facing the survival of the polar bear.

^^ Meet Colo, the first gorilla to be born in captivity. She's nearing the age of 58, which is quite the milestone considering the average age for gorillas is in the 30's...^^

^^ This spunky lady would be my gorilla hero. She broke the whole "no one contradicts the head gorilla (male)" thing, by marching right up to him & knocking the water hose he was using away because she was thirsty. Now apparently that would usually result in some sort of conflict, but the head honcho was so amused by her actions that she's now considered his mate ^^

^^ Meet the okapi. Wouldn't you guess that he's related to a zebra? Nope. He's actually the cousin to one of my favorites, the giraffe. This dude has a wicked long tongue {the picture shows probably half its length} & up until the turn of the 20th century, no one knew his breed existed simply because they are the definition of covert. Olly olly oxen freeeeee!^^

^^ Did I mention we pet a koala??? I guess I did in the title, but just making sure ;) By the way, their fur is super dense^^

^^ & let's not forget how awkward we all felt standing in the koala habitat while all the normal zoo-goers are staring at us through the glass. Awkward.^^

^^Fa-la-la-la-la... I'm just basking in the sun, hoping for a bottle of Coca-Cola to come my way...^^

^^& then there's the domestic animals trying to earn their own habitat to live in. Tough life for a cranky pants^^

^^Perhaps my favorite story of the day, on the first day of this dude's habitat opening... nay the first 20 seconds... he escaped by jumping a giant ravine up onto boulder on the other side & down into the zoo grounds. Oh, & the males can't jump as high/far as the females. Thankfully, the zoo hadn't opened to the public yet that day & {needless to say}, he & his friends now have a net stopping their excursions to tour the other continents.^^

^^ Don't they just scream mischievous???^^

^^ The flamingo wins the Sassiest Zoo Animal Award easily. But the real question is: is that duck suffering from an identity crisis?^^

& thus concludes our photo explosion tour of the zoo {I knew you were wondering "Will it ever end??"}. Thanks Drew for taking us to see all the cool animals & for putting up with the repetitive introduction of "This is Drew. He's friends with Jack" to show us a good time :)

*13.64% of these pictures were taken by my phone. All the rest are thanks to the talented Drew Napier, friend of Jack Hanna {haha}.

the spirit of columbus

This past weekend was one of those perfect kinds. The type that warms your soul, even once it's over. On Friday, we hit the road to see one of husmate's good friends, Drew, who's spending some time interning in Columbus, Ohio {which in relation to the majority of our college friends is fairly nearby... 6.5 hours < 16 hours}.

I don't know about you, but coming from the south, there's not a lot of talk of Columbus... or even of Ohio. But here's an update: Columbus is a pretty cool city. Who knew?? Plus, they've somehow found a way to merge farmlands & cityscapes in a pretty seamless way. Kudos to you, Columbus.

So first for anyone else clueless as to what anchors the city, Columbus is home to Nationwide Insurance, Wendy's International, The Limited brands, DSW shoes, a major furniture wholesaler, the Columbus Zoo & Jack Hanna, THE Ohio State University {please note my sarcasm}... just to name a few. Seriously, who knew? Plus it's home to one of my new favorites, Jeni's ice cream {!!!}, which of course deserves its own sentence. 

Moving on...

As with all adventures that I've heard of or experienced with Drew, this weekend was full of laughter, lively conversation, & good ole fun. Highlights of the trip:

+ Trying the three great ice creameries of Columbus in the span of 36 hours to decide on a winner, thanks to the stubbornness of me {team Jeni's} & Drew {team Graeter's}, plus the suggestion of our hostess, Rocky, on Mitzi's {which technically was custard, but who's counting?}. The verdict? Husmate liked all three. Drew & I stuck to our teams. Ha! But Drew's insistence on eating ice cream as our lunch Saturday? Classic. Oh! & the fact that Jeni's has a neighborhood window location on a tree-lined street of townhouses & puppies galore? Swoon.

+ Our trip to Westerville which included a required trip to Drew's favorite gun shop, our nice little walk around Otterbein College, & our non-caloric ice cream lunch. Now let's picture me in a little gun shop run by two men in their 60's... I was only partially awkward. Success!! The only talking point I remember is the shop owner's suggestion that I could decorate a coffee table with one such gun... See? Partially awkward.

+ The fact that it took the three of us to navigate our travels. Drew driving, husmate navigating via Google Maps, Kat pointing out common sense things like "um, you can't turn there. That's a one way street... in the wrong direction."

+ The weekend observations of my rule following. Sorry for being a type-A personality, guys. ;)

+ The awesome Columbus Zoo! But to avoid being overly wordy here, more about that in another post...

+ After using the line "we'd hate for Drew to see a movie by himself..." we saw Iron Man 3. It was incredible. To the point that all three of us wanted to see it all over again as soon as it ended. Tony Stark {& Robert Downey, Jr.}, you are my new favorite hero... Please sign a contract extension STAT & get to working on the next Stark experience.

+ Our lovely walk about the ritzy neighborhood we stayed in & their ridiculously nice country club. Picture three different types of tennis courts {including a perfectly manicured grass court... Wimbledon, anyone?}, two full golf courses, a croquet court, workout dress rules that only allow black, white, or grey... & Drew posing as our tour guide, even though we really didn't have a clue what we were doing.

+ Passing that giant picnic basket on the side of road. Whatthewhat? & we passed a church rebuilding Noah's ark {out of steel... pretty sure that's inaccurate} somewhere on our way back to VA. What is it with people creating giant sized things?

All in all, our first taste of Columbus {& Ohio for that matter} was surprisingly pleasant. Hope everyone else had an equally wonderful weekend!


Blog title reference to the trailer that played at least twice before the movie previews. It included five different female voices singing that phrase in the blues style, & it was so annoying that it was hilarious.