Eric’s Ephemera

Thanksgiving Week

If you’re lucky enough to be at a family event with wi-fi availability, you might want to learn a little about the holiday that just made you blow your diet …

About.com has a nice series of links on Thanksgiving, including a fun entry on David Emery’s urban legends blog: “Thanksgiving, De-Mythologized.”

They dressed in earth-tones, not black and white. They didn’t wear buckles on their shoes. The “first Thanksgiving” in 1621--actually a three-day harvest festival held sometime between September 21 and November 11--was the only one they ever celebrated. Wild turkey, venison, and stewed pumpkin were probably on the menu, but there was no ham, no mashed potatoes, no corn on the cob, or cranberry sauce to be had. And they never, ever called themselves “Pilgrims.”

If that gets you hankering for more debunking, head over to Snopes and check out some Thanksgiving and Black Friday urban legends. (This also provides a few more reasons for the non-U.S. readers to laugh at us.)

My parents came to visit on Saturday to stay through Thanksgiving. For the first time, I actually had a place for them to stay, which made the whole experience much nicer for everyone.

Most of the time was spent playing games like “Sequence” or “Mexican Train,” eating good food, and drinking lots of coffee.

My parents also helped with the deliberations that led to me accepting a new job, of which more later …

It was a great week, and I have many things to be thankful for–my family chief among them.

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The Brickskellar

If you even kinda like beer and live near Washington, D.C., you need to visit The Brickskellar at least once. I was there this past Friday to celebrate a friend’s Birthday. I’ve been there a few times and have always enjoyed it.

Beer to avoid: The Wee Beast … it tasted like weak blood, or copper-water. Most beastly.

Beer to try: Young’s Double-Chocolate Stout … nice dark beer with a great chocolately after taste.

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Old Town Alexandria Ghost Tour

Went to Old Town Alexandria’s Ghost & Graveyard Tour with Thuraya.

We’d never been before, and since we’ve lived here a while and are considering leaving soon, and since Halloween and its “spooky” components are favorites of ours, we decided to give it a go.

The tour guide was a good storyteller and added some flair to his tales. In all, though, we only heard of four real ghosts: Vincent, the charming gentleman hanged in Market Square; Short Jack who was decapitated on St. Asaph’s by a trolley and still wanders around looking for his head; the mysterious woman who died in room eight of Gadsby’s Tavern; and Clem, the murderous husband who tried to kill his wife, Rosebud, because she was having an affair with the butcher. We were also told about Ruth’s house and the slaves who died there as part of the Underground Railroad, but once they were freed, there were no more “hauntings.”

Still, the last tale ended in the cemetery at Christ Church, which was a fitting last stop. At $10 a person, it’s not a deal by any means, but I’m glad we did it.

Afterward, a nice late meal at la Madeleine gave this Wednesday a “mini mid-week weekend” feel, to use Thuraya’s words.

If you’re interested, you can learn more about Alexandria from the official website.

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Cox Farms

Went to Cox Farms yesterday with Thuraya

Sunday was “pumpkin patch” day, so we went over to Cox Farms to enjoy their activities and pick out some pumpkins. I’d never been there before and was surprised by how nice the place was and how much there was to do: we pet goats in the petting zoo, took a hayride around the farm, ate some bratwurst while listening to live folk music, took advantage of the free apples and apple cider, and got a huge bag of kettle corn. Of course, we also picked out some pretty big pumpkins, and guests get to take a free “patch pumpkin” (you know, those little ones) when they leave.

For kids, they also have a number of large slides, face painting, and pony rides.

As we were hanging out there, I thought about the ways larger communities and sprawling suburbs like Northern Virginia attempt to re-create some of the charm of small towns. It sometimes seems that we’re paying money (for something like Cox Farms) in an attempt to trick ourselves into feeling like we’re somehow a part of that fictional, nostalgia-coated “perfect small town” that Gilmore Girls capitalized on so successfully. I often think I’d like to live in a small town like that, with a true sense of community, seasonal events that involve the whole town, rural surroundings rubbing right up against nature. But two problems: I don’t even think towns like that really exist anymore; even if they did, I know I’d miss some of the conveniences and culture that a larger community provides. So for now, I’ll go to places like Cox Farms and buy a little Fall fantasy. Plus, the kettle corn is really good.

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Stribling Orchard

Went to Stribling Orchard with Thuraya

One of my favorite activities in the Fall is apple picking, and my favorite place to go for that is Stribling Orchard. The orchard is set on the side of a mountain, so the views are spectacular. You’re free to wander or drive through the trees searching for the best apples or a nice picnic spot. The farm house is full of preserves, fresh-baked breads, and pastries. I recommend the apple cider, apple turnover, and white French bread with its buttery, flaky crust.

Besides apples, the orchard also grows peaches, has a decent-sized pumpkin patch, and a few goats and other animals to admire. I’ve been to a number of other orchards, but none seem as friendly or as legitimately “Fall-like” than Stribling. Always a good time.

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Wreck Diving Beaufort: Day Two

When I woke up on Sunday, everyone was gathered around the TV watching the weather channel. Apparently, the winds were rough at sea and the swells were 5 to 7 feet. They thought we wouldn’t be going out at all, but we headed over to the docks just to make sure and to offer to buy the captain some breakfast.

When we got there, though, we heard him saying to one of the crew that they were going to “give it a shot.” Steve turned to me and said, “Oh shit.” That meant we were in for a rough ride. Once we got all the gear on board and headed out, Steve told me, doughnut in hand, “Let me give you another scuba tip: always chew your food real good because you want to make sure it’s in tiny enough pieces to fit through the regulator when it comes back up.”

The ride was beautiful until we rounded the cape, then it became pounding and the waves breaking against the bow soon had the upper deck soaked. After nearly two hours of that, the captain decided there was just no way to get off shore and we headed back in for another shallow dive. We ended up at the Naeco, which local divers just call “Liberty ship.” It’s located just out of swimming distance from Atlantic Beach — we could see the beach umbrellas from the boat — which meant we were about twenty minutes from the dock we’d left over two hours ago.

The visibility was also pretty bad — maybe 10 feet — and the ship itself was in no more than 60 feet of water. The ship was interesting, what I could see of it, and I hear there was a six-foot sand tiger shark cruising about, but I didn’t get to see it. We only had time for one dive there before heading back to the docks.

All-in-all, though, I had a great time, and it was good experience for my first wreck dive: most will be better than these, so I’ve got plenty more to look forward to.

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Wreck Diving Beaufort: Day One

Everyone was ready and waiting for me by the time I got my gear together. The docks were literally right behind where we were staying, though, so it wasn’t a big deal. We gathered everyone’s equipment, took it out to the boat (the “Outrage V” of the “Outrageous Diving” fleet), and then I waited to get going while everyone else adjusted tanks and checked levels. I watched, asked questions, and Steve prepped me for the day.

One thing I wasn’t prepared for was how they entered the water. I was trained that you inflate your BC, jump in, then surface and give the “OK” sign before dumping air and heading down. These guys (and apparently most wreck divers) jump in with the BC deflated and head immediately to the 15 foot line, get themselves adjusted, then swim down the anchor line to the wreck. That made me a little nervous for my first open-ocean dive — visions of me plummeting down into the deep, deep blue kept swimming through my head — but everyone was worried I had too little weight, not too much, so I trusted their experience.

The swells were around three feet, so it wasn’t a smooth ride, but manageable. However, because of conditions further out, we couldn’t get off shore and had to go for more shallow wrecks.

Meanwhile, because Steve had spent too much time waiting for me last night (which translates to too much time drinking), by the time we got to the wreck, he was sea sick. He shook it off, though, and suited up to go down with me for the first dive.

We were at the Indra, sunk in 1992 in about 60 feet of water. The bow was only 30 feet down, though, so it was an easy, shallow first dive for me. The visibility was decent — about 25 feet — and the highlight was a huge barracuda that kept cruising around us.

The second dive, Steve sat out — still feeling sick — and I went down with a friend of his, following him around as he tried to do some spear fishing … unfortunately without success.

It was a great first dive, though, and I got lots of pictures and some video.

When we came back, after showering, etc., we headed into the town of Beaufort to walk around, eat some dinner and ice-cream, and see the historic (and outrageously expensive) houses. Beaufort is a quaint, sea-side B&B community, so it was a nice walk.

While we’d been out diving, Thuraya had explored the town completely and enjoyed her own adventures. Everyone was shocked by how much she’d seen and learned while we were getting bumped about on the boat.

She and I watched the sunset from a little dock she’d found near the bunkhouse, but after getting devoured by the mosquitos for half-an-hour, we headed back so I could get ready for tomorrow’s dive.

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Wreck Diving Beaufort: Getting There

This past weekend, I made my first open-water wreck dive off the coast of Beaufort, NC.

We left Woodbridge right after work on Friday afternoon … around 3:30. By 5:30, we’d finally made it the 10 miles it takes to get past the Marine Corps base. Even then, the traffic all the way down 95 to Richmond was slow and crowded.

Steve told us to take 64 east to 17 south … so when we got to Richmond, we hopped on 64 east. When we got a call from Steve around 7:00, we were almost to Williamsburg. That’s when we realized he had meant 64 east in North Carolina! So, we had to find 17 in Williamsburg and take that all the way down … which added about two unnecessary hours to our trip.

We finally pulled in around 11:30, dragged our things into the bunkhouse, and passed out … since I had to be awake at 5:30 the next morning.

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