October 2016 - Hydeout, Coronado, Cubs

October 2016

Hutchy, Laurel, Megan, Willie, and I were preparing to go to Naples and spend a week at the Hydeout. We were emailing back and forth about all the activities we were excited about trying. Paddleboarding, lots of swimming, hot-tubbing, drinks on the beach, pickleball, bocce, maybe get a little golf in, make some dinners, go out to eat. It was going to be a great vacation. Until ZIKA. Well zika and the fact that we found out we were pregnant with Lincoln 3 days before we were scheduled to leave.

There were a couple cases of zika near Miami but Naples was still under the pregnant women warning. So we scrapped the trip. Megan and I had such mixed feelings; excited and surprised that we were pregnant but incredibly sad that we weren't going to get a week on the beach. Then Hutchy came up with an incredible solution; his family has a house on Coronado Island just outside of San Diego, California. We flipped some flights from Indy to Fort Myers to now be Chicago to San Diego. We even saved a few bucks on the switch which was crazy.

Willie Flying to Cali

We rented a car in San Diego and had some kid stuff rented and dropped off at the house before we arrived. Upon arrival on Coronado Island, we went to Coronado Brewing Company to relax, enjoy a beer, and eat some food. We also made a stop at the grocery store to get supplies for the week.

San Diego

I can't remember the exact order of events but I will tell some of the stories. We went to the San Diego zoo which was a good time. We saw some giant sea turtles having sex. When looking at the snakes, Laurel spilled some water on my arm just as a snake moved and I almost jumped out of my shoes. Also, Willie really enjoyed nature's skyscrapers, the giraffes. After the zoo, we played around in Balboa Park. Willie crawled around and we found some slides and swings.

The Snake that scared the crap out of me.

Turtle Sex

Solid Crawling Form

On Monday evening, the group went to dinner at Nicky Rottens Sports Bar to watch game 3 of the NLDS, Cubs vs San Francisco Giants. The Cubs had won games 1 and 2 and were one win away from reaching the National League Championship Series. We were enjoying the game, along with some drinks and food when Cubs pitcher Jake Arrieta hit a 3 run homer to put them up early. When he hit it, the sports bar made a lot of noise, particularly me and Hutchy. The roar made Willie nervous and then eventually cry. It was hilarious and cute. The game eventually went against the Cubs plus it was nearing Willie's bedtime, so Megan, Laurel, and Willie went back to the house. Hutchy and I were dejected and the bar was closing so we left to walk home when we saw on our phones Kris Bryant had hit a homerun to tie the game and send it to extra innings. We quickly found the only other bar that was open and ran inside. We stayed for the extra innings but the Cubs couldn't pull it out.

Willie Celebrating the Cubs

Willie Sad by the Cubs

The next night was Game 4 of the Cubs playoff series against the Giants and the Cubs needed to get 1 more win to advance. I don't remember where we watched the beginning of the game but once again Hutchy and I ended up out later than the ladies plus Willie. We were at the same bar as the night before, McP's Irish Pub, the one that was open late (past 10 p.m.) It was no fun; the Cubs were losing 5-2 and didn't seem to have any chances to score any runs. There were some fans from New York that were chatting us up and I couldn't even talk to them I was so angry. Hutchy was making friends which made me even angrier. Then the 9th inning came around. It was 1 hit by Bryant and then a walk by Rizzo then a double by Zobrist and the Cubs had something going. Now down 5-3 with the tying run at 2nd. Maybe we have a chance...Willson Contreras hit a slow grounder right back up the middle and the Cubs had tied it! Heyward tried to bunt Willy over to 2nd but made it there himself on an errant throw attempting to turn the double play. Then Javier Baez came up and again hit a slow roller to center field which allowed Heyward to score and take the lead. At this point Hutchy and I were out of our minds. How did we turn this around?! 4 runs in the 9th inning. In the bottom of the 9th, we bring in Aroldis Chapman, I'm not sure if I actually felt this way then but looking back it seemed like a forgone conclusion. Chapman struck out the side and the game was over very quickly. The 4 runs and then 3 strikeouts to end it felt like it took less than 2 minutes. To go from down 5-2 to winning 6-5 was incredible. We did shots to celebrate. We talked to lots of people. We hugged. We sang. It was a great night.


On Coronado Island, we did lots of walking. We went to the park just outside of the main drag, which was Spreckels Park. It was beautiful and we enjoyed playing in the luscious grass and going down the slides. We also enjoyed the breakfast at Clayton's Coffee Shop, or at least the take out window, which we then ate at the picnic tables near by. We also walked to the beach a few times, and although the weather wasn't particularly warm, we did dip our toes in the water and gave Willie a chance to enjoy the sand. From the beach we walked towards the Hotel Del Coronado or as locals call it, the Hotel Del. There they had amazing sand castles that were awe inspiring. We also got ice cream at Moo Time and had drinks on the top deck and watched the sunset.

Sand Castles at the Hotel Del

Trav-Hutch Vacation Crew

Willie Enjoying Palm Trees and Manicured Grass

One day we planned to take the ferry across San Diego Bay. After we survived the parking stress, we enjoyed the short boat ride to San Diego. We walked along the waterfront past the USS Midway to Seaport Village which had a bunch of restaurants and shops. Willie went for a short merry-go-round ride with Megan. We also bought some souvenirs and had a little brunch before walking back to the ferry.

Willie and Megan on the Carousel

Coronado Island

On a different day we jumped in the car and drove to see some other sights. We visited the Point Loma Tide Pools and the Cabrillo National Monument. The tide pools were cool but it wasn't a super low tide so we couldn't see as much marine life as was touted but it was still a fun little walk down to the water. The Cabrillo National Monument was a statue to the first European to reach San Diego Bay. It is on the southern tip of the northern peninsula of San Diego. It has amazing views of San Diego. After that we got some In-n-Out burger before heading to La Jolla. After again, we survived the parking stress, we climbed down to the beach to La Jolla Cove to see the seals up close and play around in the sand and water. In the park right next to the cove, Megan and I forced Willed to take his first steps. He had been really close for a couple weeks and why not do it somewhere memorable. After his successful steps, we went to find a drink and snack at Herringbone which was a nice restaurant just up the road.

TIde Pools

Cabrillo

La Jolla

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The next day we packed up the house and cleaned really well, because we didn't want Mrs. Hutch is be disappointed in us. On our return flight, the flight attendant was super helpful with Willie and gave him free reign of the plane.

One Last Beer on the Porch

Willie and the Flight Attendant

December 2019 at the Hydeout

Christmas 2019 involved lots of superheroes, but also Lincoln getting a big kid bed and Willie getting a bicycle. But the biggest present was after opening presents on Christmas morning, we got into the car and drove to Naples! Well, first we took down the Christmas decorations because no one wants to come home from vacation and then have to do that, dropped Sophie at Carrie and Mike's house and then started the long (1150 miles) drive south.

Christmas Eve - Leaving Cookies, Milk, and Carrots

Because it was Christmas morning, we correctly figured 2 things about our drive: not many places would be open and not many cars on the road. We made good time on the roads and ate some lunch of uncrustables, big carrots, strawberries, and pretzels, in the car. Our stops for gas and bathroom breaks were extended by a few minutes to allow everyone to run around or rock climb at the gas stations. We found a Waffle House that was open on the south side of Atlanta which was perfect for dinner and then changed into PJs to sleep the last part of the drive. We switched drivers one last time with about 450 miles left and with the strength of a coffee, Red Bull, and quick nap before taking over, I was able to crush the last section without any stops and pulled into the Hydeout at 4 a.m. and 10 miles to empty on the gas gauge.

Running Around at a Gas Station in Kentucky

Rock Climbing, again at a gas station in Tennessee

Waffle House in Atlanta

Waffle House in Atlanta

Soon after our arrival, Mimi and Obo showed up having flown in (they've earned the right to fly, having driven with me, Abby, and Beth their fair share of time). The first day was spent at the pool and resting. We also learned that the Trogs were making their way South after a snafu with the rental car company, think Seinfeld's voice "anyone can take a reservation."

We decided early on that going out to dinner would be quite the endeavor with 4 children so we planned out a few meals that would eventually include: a shrimp, mushroom, and parmesan risotto made by Mimi that was incredible, a creamy shrimp fettuccini that I still dream about, shrimp boil with Matt and Mary Lynch, Thai carry out, a night out at Pinchers, and a night when Mimi and Obo babysat the sleeping kids and let the middle generation go to the Dock for dinner. For lunches, we had lots of snacks at the beach, Brooks Burgers for Megan, some gyros, and some sandwiches from the new South Beach food stand.

Speaking of meals, the one night out for dinner was at Pinchers at Tin City. This was a strategic decision for 4 reasons: We got there at 4:15 which we thought was a way to minimize any tired children meltdowns. The restaurant was sufficiently loud which drowned out any loud noises coming from our table. Kids ate free. Lastly and crucially, drinks were 2 for 1. It was a successful adventure, with appetizers, including the crab claws for Cora; a short break for the kids when Zach and I got this amazing picture of all 4 children looking in the right direction, and ice cream from Tin City afterwards. We also ran into a Morristown, Indiana family that knew the Gaffney's, small world.

Successful Picture by me and Zach at Pinchers

Willie Taking Pictures

Superman Ice Cream!

Superman Ice Cream!

Some other random memories we all left the Hydeout with often centered on the little ones. For example, when Cora announced it was "praise time" and to Willie this meant to grab her by the cheeks and kiss her on the lips. Or when it was a little too quiet in the bunk room and we go in to find Lincoln, Cora, and Willie on the top bunk giggling about being sneaky. Or when the Crab Man, Matt Lynch took the sunglasses from Lincoln while they were playing around in the pool, and Lincoln slowly bursts into tears. Or the day everyone was feeling generous with the popsicles and June ended up eating an unknown number but every adult gave her some so it easily could have been 10 popsicles. Or the good work Willie and Lincoln did while helping Obo wash the cars. Or the endless number of times Willie and Lincoln pretended to go for a walk into the pool, which I will admit got pretty convincing that they were just walking normally and fell in the pool.

The Car Washing Team

The vacation included many mornings at the beach and afternoons at the pool. One day we switched it up and didn't go to the beach until 4 p.m. We played in the water under the setting sun. Zach was standing near us fishing when suddenly, a bird is cawing and flapping its wings against the water. The bird had its wing tangled in the line. People on the beach looked on horrified as Zach tried to free the bird. I stepped near to the situation but was clearly going to be of little use to Zach or the bird. Afterwards Zach said he thought he was going to have to snap the bird's neck which I'm sure would have caused quite the stir amongst the sunset crowd. But lucky for everyone Megan calmly took Lincoln's hat and placed it over the birds beak and face which pacified the bird enough for Zach to untangle the line from the wing. After the bird fiasco, the Trogdon ladies were inching closer to bedtime and headed home before sunset. The rest of us sat on some chairs and watched the sun dive towards the horizon. With about 5 minutes to go, it started to rain and the cabana boys ran around to steal all the umbrellas saying they would lose their jobs if they didn't take them now. Mimi was very angry as we were going to use the umbrellas for literally 5 more minutes as the sun was starting to dip under the horizon. I sat under the cabana boys' umbrellas which were still up while everyone else took shelter under the awning. It ended up being a beautiful sunset and I snapped this picture with a dolphin breaching in front of the orange sun.

Sunset with a Dolphin

Another adventure was when we visited the Everglades Wonder Park in Bonita Springs. It is this zoo type place with alligators, lizards, snakes, and birds. Normally you are already to feed some pellets to the alligators but they are renovating the gator sanctuary so that didn't happen this time. However, we were able to feed the birds including the flamingos (known as "mingos" in our house). Another adventure we went on was a couple of nights we took flashlights out into the backyard area and wandered around. The kids enjoyed shining their lights on things and we explored some stuff in the neighborhood including some fountains, the pond, and the golf course. One day we did a similar exploration and found the butterfly gardens which was fun. There we found multiple types of butterflies and a few caterpillars.

Butterfly Hunting

Monarch Butterfly

Caterpillar

Feeding the 'Mingos

Flashlight Adventures

Fountains at Night 

While we were doing lots of swimming at the pool, Willie was becoming more and more confident going under water and eventually, we let him take of his swimmies. With Obo, Megan, or I usually being the lead instructor Willie soon called this time "swim lessons" which of course made Lincoln incredible jealous and he, in his soft pitched voice said "meeee toooo" wanting to remove his own swimmies.  Lincoln enjoyed going under water with everyone and pretending to shout underwater, although he would only shout once he returned above the water.  Willie did quite well with his swimming and was able to swim about half way across the pool and would even start to take a breath or two while swimming. Momma couldn't be more proud.

One morning instead of beaching or pooling, we went to the farmers market in Old Naples. We sampled some chocolate beignets, got some guacamole, some grapefruits, an iced coffee, and Willie used his long dollar that he had earned from finding conch shells for Obo to purchase a cookie. After the FarMar, we went to Cambier Park to play on the playground. The kiddos had an absolute blast. Lots of chasing after people and climbing on the equipment. The Trogs then had lunch at Captain and Krewe, Megan and Mimi stopped at Alvin's Island to get some stuff and also picked up some Gyros. The rest of the day was spent at the pool.

Nearing the end of the vacation, as I mentioned, Matt and Mary Lynch were in the area for a wedding and came to see us all for a couple of days. Their visit included a couple of pickleball matches that were back and forth affairs. I had also mentioned that the middle generation went to the Dock for dinner one night, this included Matt and Mary. We all ordered two drinks right off the bat and tried to get a free order of appetizers but with no luck. (We are quite classy.) After dinner we walked around the docks to look at the yachts.

The last bit is just a dump of pictures highlighting the sunsets, adventures, and cuteness from the rest of the vacation. The Trogs and Traviss left to drive home around the same time on Friday morning and in fact ran into each during the first bathroom and refueling break. The journey home was rough because there was lots of rain, a few accidents on I-75 south of Atlanta, and then rush hour traffic in Atlanta. We all arrived back home around 2 a.m. which made for a tiring Saturday but everyone was glad to be home and was in generally high spirits to have slept in their own beds.

Sunset Adventures include drinks

Sunset from Hyde Park

Sunset from Hyde Park

Cute Kids Sitting

Willie and Mimi Searching for Shells

Running from the Waves

Sand Castles

Edinburgh and the Open Championship 2010

In the summer of 2010, I was living in London. I was disappointed in myself that I missed out on an opportunity to go to Wimbledon because I had been traveling during late June. Well, when it comes to British sporting events if Wimbledon is 1A then The Open Championship is 1B. I was not going to miss out on The Open being played at the birthplace of golf, St. Andrews in Scotland.

I had been traveling back in the US right around the first of July and by the time I returned to London it was almost British Open time and my regret of missing out on tennis drove me to make some travel plans. Now tickets to the actual event were crazy expensive not to mention that there are like 13 hotel rooms in St. Andrews so I had to figure out a way to do this on my budget.

After a bit of thinking and searching on the internet I realized that practice rounds begin a full week early on the Sunday before the tournament starts and tickets were £20. Now I just had to figure out transportation and lodging. Edinburgh, the capital of Scotland is the closest real city and trains run there from London. Friday morning I finally pulled the trigger. I bought a train ticket for Saturday morning. I would stay in a hostel in Edinburgh Saturday night and then Sunday morning, 1 more train ride, 1 bus ride and a short walk through the town of St. Andrews and I would be at the birthplace of golf, watching the pros take their first practice rounds.

Saturday morning I was up early to walk to Liverpool Street tube station because my station, Aldgate East, wasn't running that early.  I caught the tube to King's Cross where I grabbed a drink and pain au chocolat from Pret a Manger. I had a few minutes until my train left for Edinburgh but I hurried onto the platform to find my seat. The ride was pleasant with a few stops along the way. I visited the lunch car and bought myself a snack which I enjoyed while watching a movie on my laptop. We arrived in Edinburgh around noon and I had the rest of the day to explore the Scottish capital.

It was incredibly foggy, which felt right for Scotland. I didn't have a ton of luggage but I still wanted to drop it off at my hostel and see if there were any other people there that were going around to some sites today. It took me a bit to find the hostel because the map I was using didn't seem to be for pedestrians and I was left on the wrong level of bridges or roads looking down on where I needed to be. Edinburgh is not some sprawling mass of a city either it just has strategic hills that leaves roads seemingly on top of each other on the map but in my walking reality they were not that close to each other.

Proof that it was foggy.

I finally found my hostel and almost wanted to take a nap from exhaustion but lets not joke I was in Scotland for 36 hours, there would be time for napping on my train ride back to London. I climbed Calton Hill first to get a birds' eye view of the city but the fog was overwhelming. The National Monument and other structures on the hill were still quite beautiful and because the weather was not the most wonderful, I had a lot of the space to myself. I also visited a Scotch house and found that I was not a fan of Scotch whisky. My hostel was located near the Edinburgh Castle which made for some delightful photos at night.

Scotland's National Monument

The City from Calton Hill

Edinburgh Castle at Night

I was up early the next morning for my busy day of golf, St. Andrews, and travel. I awoke to a bright and cheery day. I hopped on to the local train to Leuchars where I then got on a bus which took me to the little town of St. Andrews. A short walk through town and I was at the birthplace of golf.

Blue Skies in Edinburgh

The Open Championship at St. Andrews

I was one of the first people in line to enter the course for the practice rounds which was pretty exciting. The stewards weren't really set up to keep me from going anywhere plus there were only about 20 or so people that were walking the course in the morning. I got to walk with Tiger Woods for a few holes, as well as Jim Furyk and Phil Mickelson. It was an interesting view on how they interacted with each other. Lots of banter and shooting 4 or 5 shots from the same spot. I stopped by the pro-shop to buy an Open souvenir which was still being set up as I made my purchase. By the early afternoon, I wanted to check out the town of St. Andrews so I made my way up the 18th fairway of the Old Course and back to the town.

Tiger with the Tiger driver cover.

Phil Mickelson

Jim Furyk

The 18th Fairway at the Old Course

The Royal and Ancient Golf Club of St. Andrews

I found St. Andrew's Cathedral to be amazing. It was right on the water and not like other cathedrals because well its just the ruins of the ancient cathedral. I also wandered down to St. Andrew's beach which gave some stunning views of the North Sea. Before long I had to make my way back to London via a bus, a local train, an express train, and then the tube.

St. Andrew's Cathedral