Wedding Bells

Last weekend, Susanna's old roommate and high school friend, Julia, got married to Clarke at the Greenbrier Resort in West Virginia. The AAA 5-diamond resort is absolutely gorgeous. Gardens are bright and colorful, and grass is impeccably maintained. The main building looks palatial - even presidential. It sort of makes sense though, because it houses a bunker built in the 50's (that was secret and in commission until 1992) in which Congress would hide if there was a nuclear attack.

The rooms, on the other hand...they desperately needed renovation. We stayed in a "cottage" due to the lack of normal room availability. The room wasn't dirty by any means - it just looked about 30 years past its prime. Red carpet covered the floors and the walls were adorned with wallpaper straight out of the 1980s. Luckily, we didn't spend a whole lot of time in the rooms.

This was a BIG wedding with around 700 invitations and well over 350 RSVPs. The beautiful ceremony was held in Julia's childhood church in Lewisburg, followed by the wedding at the Greenbrier itself. The food was out of this world. Bacon-wrapped scallops, popcorn lobster, lobster sliders, beef sliders, grouper sliders, BBQ pulled pork sliders, and a raw bar were just a few of the stations. It seemed everywhere we turned, there was another nook with some delicious food.


As with any wedding, there was the obligatory dancing. While fun, one thing was clear: Susanna and I need to take dance lessons. For the time though, our awkward waddling around the dance for sufficed. Susanna's floor length bridesmaids dress didn't help her mobility, but she sure did look amazing! And I look damn good in a tux, if I do say so myself.

After the reception, the night was capped off at the casino. For better or worse, I couldn't remember how to play craps well enough to actually gamble, so my money stayed in my pocket instead of in the casino's. The relatively early night apparently didn't do it for someone, as she was quite sleepy in the car still... 

Weekend on the Water

Newport, Rhode Island. Home of New England's most elegant and historic estates: the Breakers, Rosecliff, and exquisite Cherrywood Manor, the palatial mansion of Marguerite Pewterschmidt. Wait, this isn't Family guy we're talking about... this is my trip!


Last weekend I went back up north for the first time in almost 5 years. I met up with my old college buddy and fishing partner, Dan, for a weekend shark fishing trip out of Newport, RI. It's been a while since I've done big game fishing, and even longer since I've caught anything more than a couple pounds. Luckily, Dan now captains a 50 foot sport fishing boat on the weekends (Commotion Charters), so it was much better than our old style of fishing which included no bathroom, a couple benches to sleep on, and an open air cabin. This boat sleeps 6, has a full bathroom (yeah, a shower too), and an air conditioned salon and galley. Not too shabby.




Our first day consisted of fishing for bait. Good thing when you're talking about catching shark, we aren't going after minnows. No, we're going after bluefish. 3-5 pound bluefish. Unfortunately, the fishing started out pretty slow. It took several hours to catch our first one, but when we did, the fight was everything I remembered. Throughout the day, we probably got about 10 fish on the line, but we had some troubles pulling the hooks out of their mouths and only ended up getting 3 in the boat. It turned out to be OK though since we ended up not even using the live bait.


Day 2 consisted of the actual shark fishing. Surprisingly, we caught as many shark as we caught bait. The owner of the boat got to reel in the first one (picture below), but I got the next two. I wasn't being a rod-hog, but just got lucky. The first one I caught, we intended to have me fight, and fight it did. A 9 foot blue shark has a little strength behind it. The second one actually bit the bait as I was reeling in the line for us to move locations. Lucky me! Unfortunately, the whole trip, I only took about 5 pictures. Another guy on the boat was taking a few more, so hopefully I'll be able to snag some from him.

Sunday was the final day, and we enjoyed the town of Newport. I had my first cup of clam chowder. It was part of a $15 lunch special at Benjamin's which included the New England Clam Chowder, a salad, and 1 1/4 lb lobster. I was a happy man. Another really cool place I found while wandering around was Anchor Bend Glassworks. They make all kinds of hand blown glasswork, much of which is nautical themed. I ended up picking out a glass sailboat. Their stuff is really cool, so if you're looking for a neat decoration, check it out!

This weekend, I'm off to the Greenbrier Resort in West Virginia for Susanna's old roommate's wedding. Another post to follow soon!

Where in the World is your... fishing guide?

If you're friends with me on Facebook, you've probably already seen this. If not, I started a website - www.findthefishing.com! It's a resource for all the fishermen and women out there to help find a fishing guide for their next trip. I take the work out of scouring the web for guides and add all the information I can for every guide I find so you have everything all in one spot. So far, I've focused on building it in a pretty selfish way - only the places I want to fish soon! Miami is done, along with a decent snapshot of Key Largo. Of course, my favorite place ever, Cape Cod, is also mostly done. The DC metro area is done too - that one was easy since there's only three guides there.

Eventually, I'll be expanding features of the website to be more of a 1-stop fishing resource in general, but for now I'm starting small. If you or someone you know is thinking about taking a trip, send them to Find the Fishing first! Help me get the word out!

Speaking of expanding features of the website... I'll be adding a new one next week - another blog! I'm heading up to Newport, RI in a few hours to spend the next three days fishing for striped bass, bluefish, shark, and bluefin tuna with Commotion Charters. It only makes sense to review the guides with whom I fish!

Excuse me miss, there's a scorpion in my shot

Last weekend, I had my first taste of New Orleans. Don't worry, I forgot to bring my camera, so there's tons of pictures. My flight got in early and I grabbed a cab. Off we go, and the cab driver starts trying to make conversation... but I'm not sure he was speaking my language. I don't know what it was... it wasn't Creole, it wasn't southern, and it sure as hell wasn't English. It was some sort of hick/bayou/I'm-my-own-Grandpa language. So much for conversation.

I get to my hotel in the French Quarter right on Canal Street, zip up to my hotel room (46th floor - I had some amazing views of Lake Ponchartrain) then head out to the first taste of local New Orleans cuisine. Another cab ride later (this one actually spoke my language), and I arrive at Dante's Kitchen to join Susanna, her parents, and her brother Thad and sister-in-law Dierdre. My first time meeting the siblings. This wasn't one of those Bourbon Street or tourist trap attractions - it was a nice local locale. Dinner was fantastic - redfish topped with crab meat. This wouldn't be the last time I battled the redfish or crab meat.

Fire fountain at Pat O'Brien's

After dinner, I got my next taste of New Orleans. This one was a little more touristy though. Off to Bourbon Street to hit Pat O'Brien's for some Hurricanes. As I stepped onto Bourbon, I began thinking of how much of an apology I owe Philadelphia. This is the worst smelling street in the world, no question. Too bad it's like all of Philadelphia that smells just marginally better. The Hurricanes were pretty good, but very sweet and two will knock you on your ass. But the coolest thing was the fire fountains. They're actually water fountains that have fire IN the water. Since I don't have my own picture, here's someone random person from the internet's picture on the right.

Friday's late breakfast brought me to a popular tourist and local spot on the Mississippi - Cafe du Monde. Apparently none of the tourists realize there's no line to be seated and you just walk in and take whatever spot is open. Dumbasses. I mean there is NO way that would've been me if I went on my own. They make these amazing little pastries called beignets. It's like little puffs of fried dough completely covered in powdered sugar. If you make it out of there without the Feds thinking you're running coke or trying to orchestrate the next anthrax scare, I'll be impressed. Good thing I was wearing a dark suit. A dark suit? At breakfast? Well that seems weird. Why am I wearing a suit to breakfast you ask? Oh... you didn't? That's OK, I'll give you a minute to get the question out since I know it's on the tip of your tongue.

Lunch. The answer is lunch. I got to do one of the coolest things ever and really felt like a true New Orleanian. Susanna's father took me and Thad to the Boston Club. It's a private gentleman's club dating back to 1841. This is a traditional gentlemen's club - not the kind with naked ladies. In fact, women aren't even allowed there at all. Suckers. The Sazeracs were the best I've ever had. For lunch itself, I had my first taste of gumbo followed by Pompano topped with crab meat. Fantastic. After our late meal, we stopped by another famous place - the Napolean House - for another couple drinks before meeting back up with the ladies, then prepping for dinner. We had a great dinner at the Ritz. I had the surf and turf, but unfortunately I can't remember what the turf was, besides delicious. Susanna and I got a nightcap at Arnaud's.

Saturday brought on my first non-seafood containing meal. Can you tell much of this trip revolved around food? I had my first Po Boy at Tracey's. I was advised to get the roast beef. It was delicious. Even better, however, was the fried pickles. Holy crap. I'd go back just for those. During lunch Susanna's other brother, Cam, finally made it to town. I had no idea what I was in for. Cam has two little ones at home and managed to get out to New Orleans for one night to celebrate Susanna's birthday with us. I had no idea what I was in for. Our next stop was Lucy's. I was warned ahead of time for what this meant... the McElroy sibling tradition of Lucy's special - triple tequila shot with a worm in it. Of course, I could have only hoped for that. Apparently they have a new thing. A tequila shot with a scorpion in it. Yeah, a scorpion. And yeah, we did two of them. See below. The second shot turned out to be funny though. Susanna's scorpion got stuck on her lip while she did the shot. Tequila = gone, Scorpion = still on Susanna's lip. At least we got t-shirts!

At dinner, I got to experience another New Orleans must-do. Dinner at Galatoire's. This is the type of restaurant where you pick your favorite server and you don't use a menu. The waiter recommends the fish that's the most fresh and you order based off that. I had the redfish again. With crab meat on top. It was delicious. After dinner, we went to the Sazerac Bar at the Roosevelt Hotel for a nightcap. You guessed it - sazeracs.

Susanna's parents and brothers left early Sunday morning, so we had the morning and early afternoon to enjoy and explore New Orleans. We strolled around the French Quarter and Jackson Square. The artists had some REALLY cool works of art there. I just wish I had more time to poke around some of the neat shops (and space to carry anything I wanted to buy). We also took the street car to the Garden District and walked down Magazine Street and I got to see Susanna's absolutely gorgeous neighborhood in which she grew up. There are some beautiful and incredibly historic houses all over, but I was most impressed with the ironwork that adorns most of the houses. It was here in the Garden District that I took my only picture. Of a flower. With my phone. On the right.

This was definitely one of my longer posts, but I think that just shows how much I really enjoyed my weekend. Great company in a pretty cool city. I'm actually excited to go back. Hopefully next time I'll get to explore more of the city. And scorpions won't be a thing.

No, I didn't stop blogging. Philly is just that boring.

Well, the title says it all. I know it's been three months since I posted anything. That's a quarter of a year. It's not because I didn't feel like posting (or got too lazy), but because there's literally nothing to blog about - that is unless you want to read about how the city smells like a urinal and how I saw someone randomly vomit this week in the middle of the street (the actual middle of the street - I'm not claiming the sidewalk to be the middle of the street) on a Tuesday afternoon.

I realize in my absence of posts and witty commentary, you've probably struggled with deep philosophical questions such as the meaning of life and why bacon makes everything better. But no fear. In exactly one week, I'll be taking my first trip to New Orleans. That should give me something good to write about.

My life in... Philadelphia?

Now that my stint in Guam is over, my blog has undergone major surgery: a new name. But have no fear. It will be filled with the same commentary, sarcasm, and general observations of all things awesome and sucky about the places I go. Seeing as I'm in Philadelphia now though, it'll really just be observations of things sucky.

First, let's talk about good stuff Philly has to offer: Cheesesteaks.

Whew, now that I've got that out of the way, Philly sucks. It's dirty, cold, and smelly. I have to take the train to get there. Now while to many people, that sounds awesome - short trip, no airport security, rare delays, wifi (ok, that is nice) - but it sucks. It is bumpy. I don't mean like a bump here and there. I mean like airplane turbulence the whole ride. There's also almost never any single seats left, so inevitably you get stuck sitting opposite someone else playing that game of "whoops, we made awkward eye contact because you're sitting directly across from me and I have no where else to look so now I look like I'm staring at you (but don't get any ideas - you're 83 years old and wrinkly)." There's also so little foot room in those seats, that if you shift slightly, you start playing footsies with the person across from you. See my previous statement.

As if that all seems bad enough about the train, this is the worst part: you lose all your airline status. Big deal you might say. Yeah, it is a big deal. For those of you who remember my weekly treks to Los Angeles, you'll remember I never flew coach. I was upgraded to first class EVERY flight. Free. That's a perk of status, at least at the highest level. Lose that status? Goodbye upgrades. Double miles? Arrivederci. Board the plane first? Adios. Skip security lines? Au revoir. If you fly a handful of times a year, it's no big deal, but when you fly every single week (normally), that 15 or so weeks to hit the bare minimum status is hell.

So Philly is so far rating poorly. Let's see if over the next several weeks the cheesesteaks can have it make up some ground.

The sun sets on Guam

Well my stint in Guam is finally over - for good. While I wasn't a fan of being away from home so much, this was probably one of the best life experiences I've ever had or will have. I went to a part of the world, and probably even an entire hemisphere, I never would have visited otherwise. I tried something - scuba diving - I probably never would've otherwise, and loved it! And I got some pretty phenomenal work experience that few others my age afforded the opportunity. Heck, I even ate bait (I mean sushi) and liked it. In small quantities. It still belongs on a fishing pole.

As I mentioned in a previous post, I will miss a few things about Guam - "living" right on the beach, diving, fishing, and the tropical weather. But all in all, I'm glad to be back. Unfortunately my next assignment is in Philadelphia, so that cancels out a lot of the awesomeness of being back on the mainland...

I guess the title of my blog seem pretty silly now.

Flashback to 2011: Charleston, SC

So I didn’t do a good job with following my whole “where in the world is JR” blog. I missed a whole trip. Several trips if you count my last couple trips to and from Guam. My only excuse is the development of The Perfect Storm. Extreme business intersected with extreme laziness.

Flash back to mid-November. Location: Charleston, SC. Purpose: Dave and Erin O’Brien’s wedding!

I coordinated my brief stints home from Guam so that I could be present for one of my most anticipated events of 2011: Dave and Erin's wedding. I was lucky enough to have Susanna accompany me as my date. We left Tuesday afternoon, hopped on I95, and headed down to South Carolina. We only made it half way though. We made a pit stop in Raleigh, NC to visit my parents and spent Wednesday there before continuing our trek on Thursday morning. Susanna had been begging to stop at the tourist trap in South Carolina called South of the Border. You know the place - the place that has about 500 signs along I95. With the amount of money this place spends marketing, you'd expect it to be pretty cool. Well, it's not. In fact, I've never been so underwhelmed with something in my life. It wasn't all lost though. They had some giant animals and cheesy souvenirs that made Susanna happy, so that was good enough for me.

Twins

Two things taller than Susanna in one place... amazing!!!

After spending the obligatory 30 minutes at South of the Border, we continued on our journey. Getting down to Charleston early was such a great decision. Susanna and I got to spend Thursday and Friday exploring historic downtown Charleston. Charleston is so quaint and charming, although there are quite a few cheesy tourist traps there too - i.e. the horse drawn carriage tours. My favorite part was probably walking the Battery and enjoying being on the ocean again. Well, favorite part besides the actual wedding.

I originally met Dave in college. We didn't keep in touch after he graduated, but by random chance, we unknowingly wound up in the same city and ran into each other. We started hanging out, and meanwhile I met Erin. One introduction and a few years later, and I get the privilege of seeing them officially tie the knot. The wedding was at a beautiful church downtown. I'd show pictures, but unfortunately, I haven't gotten into the habit yet of taking many pictures when dry land is involved. The reception was at the historic Rice Mill. It was right on the harbor and we were treated to a fantastic sunset over the marina. Once again... dry land = no pictures. We had a fantastic time dancing and enjoying the company of our friends. And I do have to say... Johnny O'Brien probably had the best dance moves on the floor.

Newly weds! 

So pretty

Our fantastic weekend ended with the 10 hour drive from Charleston to DC. Hopefully Charleston is in our future again sometime soon!