Vacation, Outer Banks, 2019

If you have noted the prolonged absence of The Grandstander in recent weeks, it is due to the fact that we made our annual trek with Mrs. Grandstander's side of the family to the Outer Banks of North Carolina, specifically, Corolla in Currituck County.  This was out thirty-fifth year for this trip, and there was a grand total of eleven Sproules, Moellenbrocks, Stoners, and Richards in attendance this year.

There is not really much that I can say about this vacation, as we all did pretty much what we have always done on this trip - lazed on the beach and at the pool, ate well, relaxed, and enjoyed each other's company.  I strongly suspect that it is this "sameness" that makes this trip so special for everyone of us.

I won't go into a lot of detail, but, for the sake of my own personal historical record, I will share a few photos with you.

On Monday night of the week,  Marilyn and I prepared the dinner.  As many of you may know, we always try to have a special "theme" for our dinner, and this year it was "Chinese New Year", specifically, the Year of the Pig.

Appropriate decorations....

And if the food wasn't authentically Chinese, at least it was authentically labeled....

Our weather was perfect.  We did not miss a single minute of beach time because of rain or bad weather.  Although one evening, some awesome storm clouds rolled in....

Followed by heavy rains....

And when the rains stopped, it produced a pretty rainbow....

And an even more beautiful sunset....

Nature can be spectacular.

On our own "date night", Marilyn and I went to this place...

...and while we didn't stay for the actual sunset, we did enjoy this cool view during our meal.

During the trip, I bought only one thing for myself, and it came from the campus bookstore at the College of William and Mary in Williamsburg, VA:

This will be my way of standing with Mike Tomlin during the upcoming Steelers season.

One interesting observation for you.  The house where we stay is, of course, equipped with lovely flat screen HD television sets.  However, from the the time we arrived on Saturday until Thursday night, none of the TV sets were ever turned on.  It was only on Thursday evening when someone realized that there were NFL exhibition games airing on the NFL Network that the set was turned on.  In all, the television was on for probably about three hours in the course of the entire week.  For the better part of six days, television did not exist in our world, and, I have to say, it was peaceful and delightful.  I didn't miss it for one second.

It was good week.  Nothing beats time spent on a beautiful and relaxing beach.

What I Read On My Summer Vacation

It has been two weeks since that last Grandstander post hit the digital streets, so it is time to report in.  During that time, Mr. and Mrs. Grandstander spent a week, as we have done for the last 32 years, in the Outer Banks of North Carolina, specifically, the town of Corolla in Currituck County.  We had beautiful weather, 

relaxed on the beach with cold beverages,

celebrated the 50th Wedding Anniversary of Jim and Judy,

and had a wonderful week spending time with various Moellenbrocks, Stoners, and Richards.

"Enough about all that" I can hear you all saying, "we want to know what did you read while lounging on the beach last week?"

Okay, I consumed two books while in Corolla.

This is a book by acclaimed golf writer Jim Dodson, and it is another one that I highly recommend to all golfers among you.

It is more of a memoir of Dodson's life as he sets out to accomplish the golf "bucket list", although that term was unknown at the time, that he set for himself as a young boy.  As reporter and magazine journalist, Dodson was in position to accomplish many of these goals (playing at St. Andrew's, make a hole in one, meet Arnold Palmer, to name a few), and he tells these stories in a folksy and very well written manner.  If I have any criticism, it is that at times Dodson elevates the game of golf and the playing of it to an existential level way beyond what it actually is.  I mean, I love golf and enjoy playing it, but at times I just wanted to say "C'MON MAN, your playing golf, not curing cancer or bringing peace to the Middle East."  But that's a minor quibble, and if you are a regular golfer, you will enjoy it.  A happy by-product of reading this is that I think it will prompt me to re-read Dodson's classic 1996 book, "Final Rounds", the story of his final father-son golf trip shortly before his father's death.  That is a book that is not just about golf.

Three and one-half stars from The Grandstander.

Looking for something that would be light, quick, and entertaining, I finally got around to reading a novel from Florida author Tim Dorsey.  Like my long time favorite Carl Hiaasen, Dorsey writes comic crime novels that feature the crazed and looney characters that only seem to populate the state of Florida. 

I won't even try to describe the plot of "Hammerhead Ranch Motel" other than to say that it is violent, scary in the casualness of the criminals described in it, and wildly funny.  (Marilyn accused me of making a total ass of myself on the beach one day because I was laughing so uncontrollably at one point.  Can you imagine such a thing?)  I couldn't believe that I had never read any of Dorsey's books before now, but on the bright side, I now know that there are over a dozen Tim Dorsey crime novels out there for me to read and enjoy.  Discovering that was like getting an early birthday present.

Three stars from The Grandstander.