From Maine, we headed south down the eastern seaboard as far as the Raleigh-Durham area, then northwest to Lexington.
We stayed with Keith and Naomi in Connecticut. They were some of our first and best friends during our San Francisco stint (99-01). Another SF friend who moved back east, Stacey, joined for a cookout while we were there. We also connected with Xander and met his wife Mara and daughters Roosevelt and Maple.
Keith and I played Shennecossett, a gem of a Donald Ross design. The 16th green is very nice.
We stopped through New Jersey and stayed with my brother Dave and Lori. Some old high school friends Colin and Pete joined one night for some burgers and beer.
We saw some of Leena’s family – her uncle and aunt Ashwin and Urvashi as well as her cousins Tanvi and Rahul. A friend from our STATS days, Heather, recently moved from LA to New Jersey. We spent a night with her family playing card games with the kids.
Next up was the Washington D.C. area where we stayed with Adam and Carolyn. Here we are enjoying tapas.
Our stop through Richmond was interrupted by a tremendous downpour. We spent about an hour huddled under an overpass shivering. I finally decided to make a run for it to the van nearly a mile away. I was immediately soaked, and running in the rain in flip flops isn’t so easy, but the van had towels and fresh clothes. I dried off, changed, and drove back to Leena and Willie just as the rain stopped. There was some local flooding from the unexpected deluge.
We stopped at High Point University to meet my nephew (and namesake) Drew where we enjoyed his campus tour followed by some barbecue.
We reconnected with Mike and Lisa in Durham, friends we met at a safari camp in Kenya in 2013. Lisa is a coronavirus researcher at UNC, so while we tried not to make every moment of conversation all about the pandemic, we covered lots of ground. Get your vaccinations and boosters everyone! We also saw Robert, who managed Leena during her Chockstone stint (and best boss she ever had).
We stayed three nights in Asheville and really loved it. It sounded like a place we’d like and it sure delivered. Great craft beer, amazing food, and a super-friendly vibe. Who knew you could get Indian street food from a James Beard winning chef! (Leena knew, of course!)
If you ever have a chance to drive the Blue Ridge Parkway, I highly recommend it. We were about a month before the fall colors would be in full force, but we drove it on a beautiful sunny day. We drove south from Asheville to the end (or, technically, a few miles from the end to ensure we avoided a low overpass). There are loads of scenic area pull offs plus some easy side hikes.
We headed north towards Kentucky. A stop in Gatlinsburg was disappointing. Leena had been there in ~1984 with her family and remembered a lovely mountain town. Now it’s just a massive tourist trap. We had lunch and drove off.
We held a family reunion (my mom’s side) at Cumberland Falls also around 1984 and it’s still a lovely spot.
My mother recently moved from Arizona back to Lexington, KY, where she grew up. We arrived a couple of weeks later to help her settle in. We stayed with my uncle Scott and Julie and their four (!) dogs Rosie, Lexi, Chooch and Woody. Willie loved it!
Sunrise in Midway (yeah, I sometimes wake up way too early).
Finally, Willie has some advice for everyone!
