The DeSalvos

Friday, November 20, 2009

Round on the ends and high in the middle!

We flew up to Ohio for a quick weekend visit. Cole and Colton have grown up so much in the last few months. Colton talks non stop and is as wild as ever and Cole is becoming such a young man. We enjoyed dinner at the club Friday night after we arrived. Brunch Saturday was eaten at the famous Bob Evans followed by cheering on the Buckeyes at a friend’s house. Dad and Ronnie had everyone at their house that night for delicious Italian dinner from down the street. Andrew, Brooke, Jeff and I went to go see Hangover after dinner and it's been the funniest movie I’ve seen in a long time. Sunday we enjoyed a beautiful day at the park where we walked along the river then came back to Andy and Brooke's for bonfire. Whew, we sure did pack a lot into a weekend!

What a great wedding season!

Between April '09 and October '09 Jeff and I attended seven out of eight weddings! Good thing we love a wedding : ) Jeff's friend John married Jessica in September in Atlanta and my old roommate, Chase, married Nate down in sunny Saint Simon's Island.

Dr. and Mrs. John Vazquez's Wedding

Future Georgia peaches

I forgot to include a post about the DeSalvo’s visit!! It’s exciting to share that Ron and Kathy are one step closer to purchasing property in Georgia!! During their visit the week before we left for Boston, they spend the majority of the time making decisions for the big move. We’re keeping our fingers crossed that everything goes smoothly from here on out.

Once again, we didn’t take any pictures during the visit : ( We were so busy that we forget to break out the camera! During the weekday, Jeff and Ron were tackling the house’s many projects while Kathy and Victor enjoyed some down time. Mom and Bill came over for dinner, and, as always, it was very enjoyable having our families together.

Friday, October 23, 2009

Wicked-cool New England trip!

Another great trip in the books! Jeff and I decided fall foliage was a good enough motivation for a New England trip. Our journey started in Beantown where Jeff performed his medical school training. Our arrival was celebrated at the historical Union Oyster House with some clam “chowda”. It was here I was reminded of the significance of my new last name. For those of you that don’t know, we share the same last name as the Boston strangler, Albert DiSalvo. . . ”DeSalvo, party of two. . . DeSalvo party of two,” the hostess loudly called into the intercom. Luckily, no one gave us any odd looks, at least as far as we could tell ; ) Anyway, we continued on to the typical sights in the area including Fanuil Hall and Quincy Market Place. At the end of day one, we celebrated at Hammersley’s Bistro…a MUST if you’re ever in Boston.

On day two, Jeff’s friend Hugh meet us in Chinatown for Dim Sum. We haven’t seen him since our wedding. It was nice to catch up for a few hours. We visited Jeff’s alma mater, Tufts Medical School, which is located in Chinatown. He was amazed how everything was newly renovated. They kept with the classic New England architecture, but were able to upgrade the interiors beautifully. “Walking” was the word of the day. We walked through Boston Common to the original Cheers. Who could pass up a beer here? The Esplanade was the next stop. A beautiful, clear day accompanied us as we enjoyed the sailboats and pretty views of Cambridge. The next stop was Kenmore Square to visit Jeff’s old apartment. Once again, the area was completely renovated. A brand new beautiful hotel now sits where the IHOP used to be, storefronts received a facelift, and the bus stop looks as if it were a piece of art. He always talks about being so close to the stadium that you could see and hear the crowd during the games. We just so happened to time our walk just right to hear the crowd cheering on the Red Socks as we walked the area. Fenway Stadium has remained unchanged. Next, we meet another one of Jeff’s friends, Kelly, for drinks in the South End. Once again, it was great to see an old face and catch up. I don’t know how many miles we walked that day, but we were exhausted to say the least.
Dinner at Hammersley's

Tufts School of Medicine

Boston Common

We had to grab a beer at the original Cheers!

Taking a break by Charles River

Jeff's condo that overlooked Fenway Park!

On day three, we hopped in a car and headed three hours north to Jackson, New Hampshire. The foliage was increasingly more vivid along the way. Vibrant orange, intense yellow and fire-red leaves covered the trees along the road and carried along the mountainsides. We stayed at a quaint little hotel in the middle of the mountains. Its architecture and set-up reminded us of a Bed and Breakfast. Ping pong, arcade games and board games helped pass the time that night in the hotel’s game room and library. The most memorable part of our stay was sitting on the wrap around porch in rocking chairs while enjoying a beer and gazing at the stars. It was so nice to just “be away” and take a break from traffic, TV, computer, cell phones….and as always, my favorite part. . . I was able to take off my watch : )

Day four….the climb. Where should I start? First. . . with the good news. We saw an enormous moose meandering along the road on the way to the trailhead! This creature was incredible! I swear its legs looked taller than the trees! Although this beautiful moose wasn’t a male, this animal was a sight to witness. Now to the fun part, or, well, not so fun part…Mount Washington. Before tackling the hike, I learned the highest wind speed ever observed by man was recorded at the top of this mountain as well as it’s the highest mountain in the Northeast! Sounds like fun right? To make things even better, Jeff decided to trek (rock climb) the hardest trail on this beast of a mountain. Hands down, I would say this trail was harder than Mt. Baristadt (14er in CO) and Torres Del Paine (Patagonia). It was a tough trail, but what made it even worse is the ice/snow storm that we ascended into. Half way up, we even joked at the sight of a small collection of snow on the ground. The higher we went, the more intense it got. Sleet pelted our faces through the facemasks and gusts of wind almost knocked us off our feet. There were several inches of ice/snow on the rocks as we neared the last few hundred feet. Funny, the forecast stated no precipitation on this day, but that’s Mount Washington for ya! Luckily, we were well prepared for the weather with just the right gear. The only thing we were worried about was the decent over the slippery rocks. Our last minute plan was to catch a shuttle down. Oh yea, I forgot to mention, there’s an AUTO road!! But why drive up when you can climb ; ) To our chagrin the road was closed due to severe weather! What a surprise?!?! Our back-up plan for our back-up plan was to walk down the road until we were out of the storm then hop back on the trail. Finally, a plan that worked! This is where we caught spectacular views of the fall colors covering the mountains. We descended without issue and completed our climb in just over eight hours. We still had to drive four hours to Bar Harbor, Maine to enjoy some well needed R&R. Ugh! What a day!

Clouds rolling in behind Jeff

At the top in the ice/snow storm, yikes!

Days five, six and seven were started with some fresh homemade breakfast served by our fabulous innkeeper, Mark who owned The Maple Inn. One word . . . Delicious!!! The B&B was packed with other “Leaf Lookers” which made the traditional group style breakfast more interesting. The first full day was rainy, so we took full advantage of indoor events including the Oceanarium and a beer tasting : ) On day six, we trekked yet another mountain in the Acadia National Forest, Mount Cadillac, the highest mountain on the East coast. I didn’t mind this hike too much because it was along the coast which made for some spectacular views of the ocean. Once again, I later found out there is also an AUTO road up this mountain, but again why drive when you can hike ; ) Don’t worry, I keep reminding Jeff how good Santa is going to be to me this year!! Next on the agenda were some well deserved popovers and lobster chowder at Jordan Pond House in the park. The next morning, we said our good-byes to Mark and headed back to Boston. Oh, by the way, Jeff got a whopping $250 speeding ticket on the way ; ) He says we was trying to beat the arrival time on the GPS...

Our B&B, The Maples Inn

Enjoying Maine's fresh lobster and shrimp!

Oceanarium fun on our rainy day

Cadillac Mountain . . . just a "mini" hike

Just like Mount Washington, there is an auto road, but why drive when you can hike to the top?! It was such a "buzz kill" to see people getting out of their cars when we just spent the last several hours fighting the cold and wind . . . but that's why we're in shape, hahah ; )

Days eight and nine were spent back in my new favorite place. . . Boston! We shopped on Newbury Street and strolled through the North End. Again, after a little more walking around this beautiful city and soaking up its endless supply of history, we meet back up with Jeff’s friend Kelly and my friend Beau for some cocktails. I haven’t seen Beau since high school, and it was great to catch up on the last several years. We had a great last night before heading back to our home-sweet-home . . . Chateau DeSalvo.

Park Street Church is where Delta Delta Delta was founded in 1888 ; )

Boston is so rich in its history!

Kelly, Beau, Molly, Jeff . Great night with friends

Sunday, September 20, 2009

Get 'er Done!

I’ve been trying to surprise Jeff with his birthday present (from February!), but we could never find a free weekend…until last Saturday! He’s been bugging me to go shooting, so this was the perfect surprise! Jeff was so good that the owner tried to recruit him for their skeet shooting league! Me on the other hand, came away with a bruised shoulder and cheek….shotgun had too much kick! After talking to several experienced shooters, I shouldn't have put my cheek to the gun like the guide told me too.. he said, “Hug it like it’s Brad Pitt!”

Baby Ashtyn is here!!

On 09/09/09, Melissa and Jesse welcomed their precious baby girl into the world! What a cool birthday! Ashtyn Elizabeth Goldstone was born at 10:13pm weighing in at 7lb 15oz! Congratulations Goldstones!

Monterey, California

Jeff is required to obtain a number of CME (continuing medical education) credits to continue to practice medicine. This year, I picked the conference to attend and there were a variety of destinations such as Montreal, Monterey, St. Thomas, and Hawaii. I’ve always wanted to visit California so this was the perfect opportunity. We arrived two days early before Jeff had to attend his 8am - 12pm classes. We stayed at the Monterey Plaza Resort and Spa, and our room overlooked the spectacular Monterey Bay. In each room the hotel provided binoculars to catch nature at it's best. Sea otters floated by with rocks on their bellies to crack open clams. Seagulls squawked as they flew by. Kayakers were getting a taste of adventure in the bay. We couldn’t have asked for a more enjoyable stay.