We’re finishing up what has been a very active weekend. It began Friday evening when Kelly’s parents arrived for the weekend. The kids love to see them so we had a pretty excited bunch here. Somehow we got the kids settled, though. Although their bedtime was a little later than normal, it wasn’t too much later.
Kelly’s parents had offered to take the kids Saturday so we could have a “date day.” Instead of going out to dinner and then hanging out at some club, we chose to spend our time out doing active stuff. After we made our guests breakfast, we hotfooted it over to Dead Broke Farm near Falls Lake for some horseback riding! It had been about fifteen years since either of us had ridden, but we were looking forward to some fun!
Our rides were supposed to begin at 9 but for one reason or another we didn’t actually hit the trail until 10:30. Some riders were walking up way late, which caused the rest of us to wait. We passed the time by grooming the horses, but it was not the best way to get started.
Eventually, though, we did get riding. Cody, the male horse I was riding, liked to run while Blaze, the female horse Kelly had, was a bit more reserved. Though there were sixteen riders all told, Kelly and I managed to ride close to each other for most of the trail. I’d laugh when I’d look down and see Blaze’s nose near my leg as she would try to move in front of Cody.
I gave Cody wide latitude for most of the ride and he took advantage of it. On some creek crossings, he’d get some speed up in climbing the bank and plow right into the horse in front of us. On two occasions he even cantered, which would have been teriffic had I not been so focused on guarding my knees from the approaching trees! In spite of my efforts Cody twice managed to slam my knee into trees. The sneaky bastard! Don’t let anyone tell you otherwise: horses are devious and know exactly what they’re doing! Cody got the message and came around, though, when I got more serious with the reins.
We’d originally signed up for an hour of riding, but after all the extra waiting to get started we opted to do two. Both of us hopped off the horse relatively painlessly and headed for our next adventure: sailing!
We arrived at Lake Crabtree to observe a rather weak and uninspiring wind rustling the trees. It didn’t look promising for sailing. Even so, we figured we could always go kayacking or canoeing, so we headed down to the dock anyway. By the time we arrived, a nice, steady breeze was blowing across the lake and the blazing sun was hidden by clouds: almost perfect conditions!
Kelly and I rented separate boats and I gave her a push off the beach and into the breeze. Soon we were crusing across the lake, Kelly in front and me with no chance of catching her. In spite of a steady breeze, I could never get my boat to behave and began to suspect that I was carrying extra ballast in the form of water in the hull. Ah well, what did I expect for ten bucks an hour?
I was making another run across the lake when I saw Kelly head back to the beach. With time left on our hour, I was wondering if she’d had enough. Then I saw her paddling towards me in a kayak, which looked pretty fun to me. That woman can do anything, I tell ya.
Once we’d gotten back on land, it was back to the house to get cleaned up. We had time to see Travis awake from his nap before we got in a quick shopping trip and headed out to dinner.
Dinner Saturday was at 18 Seaboard on a recommendation of our Source Of Hip, Mr. Scotty G. The restaurant is between the old Seaboard train station (now home to Logan Trading Company) and Peace College (now home to, uh, Peace College), located in an area where I looked for office space for my company a year ago. Anyway, the decor was great, the service was speedy, the food was noticably fresh and tasty (with an admirable local slant), and the prices were reasonable. I enjoyed my sea bass special and Kelly absolutely loved her catfish, ranking it among her best restaurant meals ever. 18 Seaboard gets two thumbs up!
After dinner we wandered downtown to check out the festivities going on for Raleigh Wide Open, the grand reopening of Fayetteville Street. The irony of a streetful of pedestrians celebrating the removal of the pedestrian mall wasn’t lost on us. We showed up in time to run into our friends Mandy and Gerry and their kids before the fireworks began. A quick tour of the street later, we were on our way home, where we collapsed into bed close to midnight.
As for today, we spent the morning visiting more with Kelly’s parents. Then it was off to Royal India for lunch. We parted ways at that point, got the kids their naps, and I went out into the oppressive heat to mow the lawn. A bunch of other weekend projects later and here I am.
The week has me staying put for a change, which is nice. After that, the only thing on my radar is our upcoming beach vacation two weeks away. Woo hoo!
Kelly is a much better sailor than she gives herself credit for.