Tuesday, November 29, 2005

Julie's birthday at the Grove Park Inn

Julie and I went to the Grove Park Inn in Asheville, NC to celebrate her birthday (29th I think). We love the inn, but normally try to time it for late October when the leaves are changing. This time we did it around her birthday and Thanksgiving.

The visit was wonderful. They have a magnificant spa where we each got a massage and hung out in the hot tubs which include huge cascading waterfalls. They have a very nice gym with weights, tennis, raquetball, a pool and more. The weather went from snowing to gorgeous sunny days. Quite the mix.

Of course, we did the incredible Thanksgiving buffett. They had all the traditional offerings plus so much more. Having lifted weights in the morning and gone for a long walk in the afternoon, I don't think I gained more than three pounds at that meal.
Julie and I on Thanksgiving evening. We are standing on the steps at the back of the inn, and some nice passer-by took our picture. Posted by Picasa
Another look at the sunset. Posted by Picasa
All decorated for Christmas. They had a bit of the holiday glitter out on the roof of the spa. Inside, there was a big, elaborate gingerbread house competition. Perhaps the nicest thing was having a Christmas tree in our room, although it was artificial. Posted by Picasa
We spent some time in downtown Ashville doing a bit of art shopping. It was a bit more exciting with the snow showers. We found a great place for lunch called "Fig". Should be a definite repeat! Posted by Picasa
Quite the snowy afternoon. This is looking back at the old part of the inn. Posted by Picasa

Sunday, November 06, 2005

Fishing at Cape Hatteras

I spent this weekend fishing at Cape Hatteras. Andy Overly, a fellow Ganymede Software worker, organized a great trip. I went down on Thursday and came back Sunday. We also had Andy's wife and son, Gary Weichinger and one of his daughters, Gary Forghetti, Frederic and Stephanie Farzanegan and their three children.

Andy and Younghee have a great home in Waves, NC. It fit all of us very comfortably, is full of great entertainment, and is a short walk over to the ocean. They were wonderful for having us and were constantly going out of their way to make our stay awesome. Thanks!

The weather was unreal. It was the first weekend in November, but every day was sunny and in the 70s. It was at least 10 degrees above normal. You can't ask for prettier days.

On Thursday night Andy and I went to the bridge at Oregon Inlet. The night before he had caught 17 and 25 pound Stripers. On this night, we got only a pretty sunset. Posted by Picasa
On Friday morning, Andy and I did a bit of surf fishing. No luck catching anything though. Posted by Picasa
The night before fishing. You can see a sliver of the moon and a planet (Mars?) before the stars came out. Posted by Picasa
Heading out to see as the sun came up. Posted by Picasa
Leaving the harbor in the morning. Posted by Picasa
Apparently the same people that make ski clothing make fishing gear. Very pretty! Also very expensive. When we were trolling, we had about eight or nine lines in the water. Posted by Picasa
The fishing team: Frederic, Gary, Andy, Gary, Barry (the first mate) and Stephanie. Posted by Picasa
Andy fighting a tuna with a cast of spectators. Posted by Picasa
The husband and wife team working on a tuna. Posted by Picasa
Steve (me) reeling one in. Posted by Picasa
Help us! We're trapped!! Posted by Picasa
The mate pulling one into the boat. Posted by Picasa
On the way back in, we had some interesting light. The sun was gorgeous reflecting off the spray from the boat. Posted by Picasa
We left at dark and as we came back into the harbor, the sun was setting. It was a fairly long day. Posted by Picasa
These guys are extremely talented fish slicers and dicers. Rather than cleaning our own fish, we paid them a bit to do a great job for us. Posted by Picasa